HEEEELLLLLPPPPP - Schedule

Mommy2Isabella wrote: I REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY need to get Isabella on a schedule and quit this letting her do her thing deal ... it just isn't working and not to mention with Isaia due in about 8 weeks ... the thought of not having her on a schedule makes me FREAK OUT ...

SOOO ... where can I find a good schedule or what have you guys found that works best ...

I am open to anything at this point. She is over a year old and on more than one occasion a week we wake up in the middle of the night to play for a few hours ... I can't do this anymore ...

MyBrownEyedBoy replied: Wow, you've got your work cut out for you. I'm a firm believer in schedules, so I've had Logan on one since he was about 3 months old. What does her day time routine look like? Does she still take two naps or is she taking one? If she's still on two, you may need to transition her to one nap. Yes, it cuts down on your me time during the day, but she may sleep better at night. Logan's 3 now and he only takes a nap during the day if he needs one. He'll tell me, "Mommy, I'm ti-red." And then go lay down. Also, when she wakes up at night to play, do you get up with her? If so, that will have to end. As long as you're willing to keep getting up with her, she'll keep getting up.

Calimama replied: BE CONSISTENT lol, no matter what it is you guys do STICK to it and it'll work for the most part. Miabella sleeps from 7:30 to about 8 or 9 am. I started bedtime at that time because that's usually when I witness the crankiness start to begin. Here's the main parts of her schedule (when I don't have class) The empty time is her playing.

8-9am- She wakes up, we brush teeth, get dressed, have breakfast

12:30- She eats lunch, and lays down while I read her a story with some milk.

1pm- A nap.. short about an 45 mins to an hour

2pm- She goes outside for about an hour.. runs off energy.

3pm- She plays while I cook and clean up

4pm- She eats dinner

6pm- Bath time, brushing teeth and then we lay in my bed and read stories until bed time

Good luck!

moped replied: Jack has been on one since about 4 months........the CIO goes along with the daytime routine as well. Hard to have a routine when she gets up in the night still i think.

Tell us what her normal day is like now?

luvmykids replied: Consistency is the key, even though it will be tough at the beginning. At 1yo my kids day looked like this:

7am-Wake up, breakfast, play, etc
10am-Snack and/or sippy cup, nap
12p-Wake up, lunch, play, etc
2p-Snack and/or sippy cup, nap
3p-Wake up, play, dinner, bath, etc
7p-Bed

It made a big difference in the afternoons to make sure they were up by 3. Also, like Kelly said, you might have to cut down to one nap, when we went to one nap lunch was earlier, like 11am, and nap was from 12-2pm.

AlexsPajamaMama replied:
That schedule looks about right
Alex is 3.5, lunch is at 11 and depending on our day he naps at 12 till no later than 3.
Consistancy is key...and a schedule is good for them, they always know what to expect.

Mommy2Isabella replied: Oh gosh her routine ... I am bad ...

7am - wake up, breakfast play time

11 am - nap time

1pm - wake up, lunch

from there its just chaos ... whatever whenever, dinner is usually around 7:30 and then as far as bed time ... its here and there, we try to lay her down at 8:30, and she will sleep until about 10:30 then she wakes up ... and talks to herself in bed for an hour or two, sometimes crawls out of the crib and plays in her dresser, then I will have to go put her back in her crib ..


does this make me a bad mommy??

ETA: With CIO am I allowed to rock her to sleep still, what are the rules with that kind of thing as well. I am not opposed, we just need SOMETHING before this baby gets here or our house will be more madness than it already is, with this dictatorship we have going on!

Our Lil' Family replied: Sounds like she just thinks that 8:30-10:30 is nap time and not nighttime. I think you may have to let her CIO to get back to sleep. Do you have a bath routine right before bedtime? That might help, so she understands she's supposed to sleep for longer than 2 hrs.

It's my understanding, at least the method I used, that the point of CIO is to get them to learn to fall asleep on their own, therefore the rocking would not be recommended.

GL...you're right though, better to get this resolved now.

Calimama replied:
Not at all a bad mommy. I would push dinner to an earlier time and after dinner start a routine with baths, books and whatever else is, but something mellow to get her calm down for bedtime. It's a lot harder to transition into bed time if she's still riled up from playing. Set a bedtime and stick with it. She'll eventually learn the routine and it will be a lot easier on all of you especially with the new baby coming.

luvmykids replied: I agree with Naomi, sounds like 8:30-10:30 is her second nap. Do you ever try to put her down for an afternoon nap? Like Denise said, dinner would need to be much earlier in order for bath/bed by 7 or 8.

Mommy2Isabella replied: Some days she takes two naps others she doesn't. We normally take baths at night but everything is so out of whack.

I will try tomorrow with getting her up at 8:30 -9 ish and then putting her down for a nap around 12ish until 2:30 ??? and then do an earlier dinner and a bedtime routine of bath, books ...

If I can avoid having her cry that would be BEST ... we had to let her cry tonight it was 11:30 and sal was holding her up in her room and she was just talking to him and singing him songs ...

Thanks for the great advice ladies. I will let you guys know how my tomorrow turns out ... hopefully my sanity will still be intact

luvmykids replied: I hope I'm wrong, but just a warning, there will probably be some crying...she's used to being the boss

I don't know that letting her sleep later in the morning is necessarily going to help, I'd say stick to her normal waking up time of 7am. Good luck!

Mommy2Isabella replied: even when she just went to bed at 11:30 ... I should still wake her up that early ...

I was reading she needs like 11 - 12 hours A NIGHT of sleep ... ???

** I am somewhat prepared for the tears, I can't take the crazyness anymore though, we are at our wits end with it ... its like one day she will nap from 11 - 12 and then want to go down again at 6 until 10 and then get up and then sleep from 1:30-2 until 10 the next morning ... **

So tomorrow will be FUN I am sure ... if it means I am one day closer to routine and a not so cranky kid ... IM DOWN!!

luvmykids replied: Just keep in mind it won't happen in a day...be prepared to stick it out and you'll get her there

lisar replied: Here is Raygens schedule and she is 2.5 years old.

7:30am wake up
8am eat breakfast
play till 11:30 then its lunch time
noon: nap time
wake up around 2:30
snacks, play etc......
6pm dinner time
then bath
7pm is bed time and she will sleep ALL night.

moped replied: I think Jack was still taking 2 naps at that age. It was 10 and 2 and for 2 hours both naps I believe, bed at 7pm, up at 7am.

I can elaborate if you like.......

When he went to one nap t was 1-3 and still is.