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Sleep Schedules


mammag wrote: I was just wondering if you have a nap schedule for your little one. I've always just let my kids sleep whenever they wanted but was thinking of starting Keegan on nap schedules. Is it too early? I'm just tired of these little 15min mini naps he takes and I can't get anything done during the day.

moped replied: OH YES, but I am sure you knew that about me!!! LOL..........

I have a sleep schedule for Jackand have since he was 4 months old.

I also have something on paper about what their schedule should be so I will try and find that.................

luvbug00 replied: Mya had a schdual until She was 3. Then she would nap once a day and to bed by 7. now she's in bed by 9 watches tv until she falls to sleep. happy.gif

mammag replied: Oh yes, if you have a suggested schedule that would be wonderful! I could come up with one probably but I would feel better knowing I was "doing it right" ya know?

moped replied: I got this off the internet............................it looks pretty close to what I have.....................pm me any questions.






Age _________Number of Naps _________Hours of Naptime
4 months __________3 ____________________4-6
6 months __________2 ____________________3-4
9 months __________2 ____________________2 1/2 - 4
12 months ________1-2 ___________________2-3
2 years ___________1 ____________________1-2
3 years ___________1 ____________________1-1 1/2

When should your baby nap?

Timing of naps is important. A nap too late in the day will negatively
affect nighttime sleep. Certain times of the day are better for
napping because they suit your baby's biological clock; these optimum
periods balance sleep and wake time to affect nighttime sleep in the
most positive way.

All babies are different, but generally, the best nap times are as follows:
· If baby takes three naps: midmorning/early afternoon/early evening
· If baby takes two naps: midmorning/early afternoon
· If baby takes one nap: early afternoon "

mammag replied: Thanks so much Jen! I'm going to try to start tomorrow so I'll definitely pm you if I have trouble. I appreciate it!

ediep replied: I tried to get Jason on a sleep schedule when he was about 4-5 months old. He would wake at 6am, nap 9-11am, nap again 2-4 and in bed by 8. That lasted until he was about 1 1/2. the he cut out the morning nap and his afternoon nap changed to about 1-3:30pm,

Josie83 replied: Lol! I knew jen the "sleep nazi" would have some answers!! ;lol: xx

toothytracie replied: I have been trying to get Olivia on a schedule period. The feeding went great but I am having trouble with naps. She has always wanted to go back to sleep 1hr after night waking. Then every 1.5-2hrs during the day. She hardly ever did that though unless we were home all day b/c she won't nap when we are out unless we are on a long car ride. I had her getting up at 7am, napping from 8-10 and then from 2-4 but she wouldn't wait til 2 and would nap right after eating at 1 (usually falling asleep during feeding). Then, for the last week or so she has been really sleepy acting and just screaming b/c she is tired. So, I have tried to get her to wait til 9 then nap til 11 and then from 2-4 and go to bed at 8. I posted a thread in another board and someone emailed me this...

This sleep/nap info is NOT meant for newborns. Your baby must be physically mature enough to sleep through the night. At a minimum I would start this at 3 months, but 4-5 months is when our sleep expert recommend it.

Here is a table showing recommended sleep times.

AGE ---- NIGHT SLEEP --- DAY SLEEP --- TOTAL SLEEP
1 week ------- 8 1/2 --------- 8(4 naps) -------- 16 1/2
1 month ------ 8 1/2 -------- 7 (3 naps) -------- 15 1/2
3 months ----- 10 ----------- 5 (3 naps) -------- 15
6 months ----- 11 ----------- 3 1/4 (2 naps) --- 14 1/2
9 months ---- 11 ----------- 3 (2 naps) -------- 14
12 months --- 11 1/4 ------ 2 1/2 (2 naps) --- 13 3/4
18 months --- 11 1/4 ------ 2 1/4 (1 nap) ---- 13 1/2
2 years ------ 11 ------------ 2 (1 nap) -------- 13
3 years ------ 10 1/2 ------- 1 1/2 (1 nap) --- 12
(taken from "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems" by Dr. Richard Ferber).

First I’ll post some sleep information/education.

Rule #1 - feed the baby when they wake up, not when they’re about to go to sleep - the two must be separated.

Know that motion sleep in not as restorative as regular sleep. So a nap in the car is not an acceptable substitute for a nap in the crib. We’ve all heard of parents that put their kids in the car just so that they’ll nap - I will admit I did that ONCE when the girls were 5 weeks old (they were both freaking and I was alone) - but it is a terrible habit! You don’t want to have your babies only fall asleep when they are being rocked or held or in motion - since it’s just not practical to keep up that kind of bad habit. Also, moving a sleeping baby is like “you going to sleep in your bed and waking up on the front porch” - it’s not recommended!

Rule #2 - schedule car rides/stroller rides for after naps, not right before naps because if the baby falls asleep during the ride, it will interfere with your napping schedule.

Rule #3 - don’t hold or rock your baby to go to sleep. Babies must learn to put themselves to sleep alone.

the “natural” time for a baby to go to sleep for the night is around 7:30 PM. “Natural” wake up time is around 7:00 AM. That is what most babies will do. How to fit in the naps? Well, the first nap of the day is really a continuation of night-time sleep (we were told). The first nap should happen 1 ½ to 2 ½ hours after initial morning wake up. The morning nap should last a minimum of 45 minutes (and not longer than 2 hours). The afternoon nap should start 3-4 hours after completion of the morning nap. The afternoon nap should last a minimum of 1 ½ hours (and not longer than 3 ½ hours). Bedtime should be around 4 hours after completion of afternoon nap.

The routine can be something like this:
wake up
drink milk
eat breakfast
play
morning nap
drink milk (& eat morning snack)
play
eat lunch
play
afternoon nap
drink milk (& eat afternoon snack)
play
eat dinner
play
drink milk
night-night (that’s what we call it at our house)


Okay, so how do you actually go about getting your child to sleep?
It’s a secret

(For simplicity sake I’m using a girl baby)

First off, look for cues that your baby is tired. Rubbing eyes, whinny, crying, and most obviously yawning. “If a baby yawns, take her immediately to her crib. If she yawns twice, run, don’t walk that baby to bed!”

At nap time, try to have the baby calm - not wired. Lay her in her crib. Say, “Baby’s going to go night-night,” in a soothing voice. Perhaps play a toy (one of those pull ones) that plays music. Pat the baby (in her crib). Again tell her to go “night-night”. Now leave the room. What happens next will depend on how well your child takes to going to sleep by herself in her crib. Here are the options:

- the baby goes right to sleep - lucky you! Now, as long as she sleeps the minimum required time you are fine!
- the baby fusses - as long as its just whimpering let her be. Wait and see what happens.
- the baby cries - screams - is very unhappy. Wait 5 minutes (this may seem like an eternity). Go back in. Try to calm baby without picking her up. Picking up baby is a last resort. Stay in room for 5 minutes, reassuring baby. Tell baby to go “night-night”. Be calm. Your demeanor is key. Pat the baby. If she sits/stands up, lay her back down, all the time speaking in a low, calm, voice. Do not be entertaining - this is sleep time not play time. After 5 minutes, leave the room. If she cries/screams, wait 5 minutes and repeat for the duration of how long the nap should be (minimum nap time).
- what to do when the baby power naps for 20 minutes instead of 2 hours? This is a problem. When the baby wakes up and wants out of crib before the minimum amount of nap time is reached, you should do what is written above: 5 minutes in the room, 5 minutes out. Remember your demeanor - each time you enter you re-assure your baby but also tell her that she must go “night-night”. Be serious, this is not a time to be entertaining.

The key to this is the 5 minutes in, 5 minutes out routine. It is surprising how fast this works. The first couple of days may not be easy as your baby adjusts, but you must be dedicated and persevere.

Your demeanor when you enter the room after a nap - or after the minimum time that the baby should have napped - should be upbeat, cheerful, smiley, etc… Walk in and say in a happy voice, “Hello baby, how nice to see you, did you have a good nap, my you look well rested, etc…” - you get the picture, just be happy. Your demeanor at the end of a nap (or minimum time) should be very different from when you went in to calm a crying baby.

This approach differs from the Ferber method of “crying it out” alone. That method proposes to let the baby cry from 5 min the first day, 10 minutes the next, etc… before going in the room to “rescue” the baby. The hope is that eventually the baby will not want to wait that long and put herself to sleep. This method fails if you break down and go in after 20 minutes even though you’d previously worked it up to 30 minutes - the child will learn that if they scream that long you’ll eventually go in. you go in after 5 minutes - and remember this won’t go on for days & days - it only took us a couple of days and within a week we had perfected the schedule.


Another point I'd like to make is our structured schedule. I get my share of comments from those that think my babies schedule rules my life - and guess what - it does! But if they didn't what would - my work schedule ? Yes, being on a routine daily schedule doesn't allow me to galavant around with the babies at any time of the day - so I just plan our outings for when the children are well rested and fed - it's not too difficult - and yes we do miss out on somethings but I'm willing to do that for the sake of two very happy babies!

- A napping/sleeping schedule should not be attempted on infants younger than 3-4 months old. They are not old enough to be expected to do this. I am only re-iterating this point because I've heard from sleep deprived very new mommies that want to get their 6 week old infant onto a napping schedule - and this is not what this thread is for - you just need to hang in there and survive the first few months until the baby is mature enough that this thread can help.

- Since I wrote this I've read the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Weissbluth. It re-iterates alot of the posts above. I found it very interesting to read. It emphasizes how important sleep is to young children - that babies/toddlers that nap more/better are more alert during wake time and can therefore learn better, are more adaptable, etc... Makes me happy to know that I am doing the right thing. I bought it because sleep issues are an evolving process - and I know it will be a handy reference as the girls go from babies to toddlers. You can buy it at Amazon.com (use UB link of course!)

HTH!

mammag replied: Wow! Thanks toothytracie!!!! That is very helpful! I'm going to print that out to give it a try!

toothytracie replied: Your welcome. I hope it works. It doesn't work on Olivia b/c she doesn't do anything "normal" and I have no idea what to do when she won't do what that says!

bhutchison replied: Haley has been on a regular sleep schedule since she's been a year old. I always spend one half hour before nap and bedtime sitting with her doing a calming activity like reading, counting and the alphabet. She goes to bed with no problems unless of course she's not feeling well. If she gets off schedule and rarely does I have one cranky little girl even after nap time. She naps from 2:30pm-4:00pm and in bed at 9:00pm. She looks forward to quiet time before bed and never any problems with the calming activities.

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied: I've done a lot of what Jen and toothytracie says. I believe I read it in Baby Whisperer though...it's been so long, I can't remember. But I practiced the sleep, eat, play, sleep, eat, play method...and it works for us! I give Wil a bottle when he wakes up instead of when he goes down. And I never let him sleep anywhere except for his crib...unless we're out or on a long road trip, because I don't think a quick snooze in the car is a "real" nap. And from experience, Wil usually won't go down for a "real" nap after he's had one of his short snoozes. So all hell breaks loose!

Wake up around 7am
Bottle and breakfast
Play a bit
Nap from 8:30-10:30am (sometimes longer)
Bottle
Lunchtime around noon
Play
Naptime somewhere around 1:30 or 2ish
Bottle and snack
Play
Sometimes another nap around 4ish or so
Bottle and dinner
Play
Bedtime at 8pm

I know the 4ish nap seems late, but I'm a strong believer that if a baby can't go to sleep at night, it's not because he/she napped too long during the day, it's probably because they didn't nap ENOUGH. So I would NEVER wake Wil in fear he won't sleep at night. But I would try putting him down a third time if I felt he hadn't had enough.

I know this isn't true for all babies, but I have a friend who says her daughter doesn't nap at all, and if she does, she will only fall asleep on someone. Well if that works for them, fine, but I think she started too late on even trying to get her child down. She would NEVER put her child in her crib while she was awake. I don't think she would acknowledge her signs of tiredness...she just waits for her child to finally just konk out on her chest from pure exhaustion. So if that's how she naps, fine, but who wants a baby to only nap when they're on your shoulder. Naptime to me means MOMMY alone time! So if you can catch the signs early and put them in their crib BEFORE they fall asleep, well then I think they'll get used to the need to nap and understand it's now "quiet time". Some people may find this cheating, but I give Wil his pacifier and put on a CD. I think he knows that this means "nigh nigh" time.

blahblah.gif Sorry...I'm going to stop now.

moped replied:
thumb.gif Maybe I should change my username..........LOL. That really is what DH calls me!!!

rolling_smile.gif

toothytracie replied:
How much does he drink at a time?
This is the most similar schedule to Olivia's that I have seen ANYWHERE! However, she will not eat that much. If you give her a bottle, she won't eat again for 3-4hrs. That is why I have had such a hard time with her schedule. She won't eat until she is starving!!

jacobsmama replied: Listen to Jen...My life changed after I met the sleep nazi!! Jacob goes to bed every night by 8pm and sleeps all night. He has always had his nap schedule on though now he is 18 months and takes 1 nap about 2-3 hours long from like 11-3 or so.. Good Luck. rolling_smile.gif

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied:
Wil typically has an 8 oz bottle at each feeding...so about 24 oz per day. Sometimes he only takes 6 oz, but sometimes 10 oz. As long as it's close to 24 oz, I think we're doing okay. And I've also started to give him water at night time because we live in Colorado and it's super dry here. So unfortunately he is waking up at night (once), but only to sip a bit of water and then back down.

The schedule really works for me, but needless to say, I am VERY flexible with it. Naps are not always at the exact same time. I need a life and sometimes Wil and I will go do something that interferes with his nap. As long as it's somewhat close, he's okay. But yes, my son does expect a bottle as soon as he awakes from any type of sleep. I think the routine comforts him, which makes the day a whole lot better for us both.

Sorry I feel like I'm hijacking here... wasntme.gif

Hope you find what works for you Jeanne!

jaedynsmommy replied: I hear ya about not getting anything done with those mini naps! Jaedyn does this sometimes sleep.gif She has a morning nap about 11:00 am and sometimes she'll sleep for an hour, sometimes sleeps until 2pm. If she has a short nap in the morning she'll want to nap by 4:00/4:30 pm and that lasts for an hour or so too unsure.gif

Jordan's_mama replied: I have always let Jordan nap when she wants. Usually she wakes for a bottle at around 8am then goes back to sleep until about 11am. Then takes a nap from around 4pm to 5pm (sometimes longer). Then she's in bed by 10pm. It varies slightly, but I don't mind. She's flexible so I am too. It works fine for us.


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