Let's talk NAPS!

[blondebunny]

Okay so my little munchkin will be 6 weeks old on Sunday... Right now I just let him sleep when he falls asleep or if he stays awake i entertain him, i try to time and monitor how many naps he is getting but it gets hard... But I have some questions on how to handle naps during the day.. Oh and we dont plan to really get a schedule going until he is 2 months old (hubby will have 2 weeks off so we figured that would be the perfect time to introduce a real schedule that works for us) Right now we just try to feed him when he's hungry and let him sleep when he's tired and we have been trying to introduce a bedtime routine.. its just been hard around when he is hungry but we try to either give him a bottle first then bath or bath then bottle then bedtime around 9pm-ish we start this.. But I really want to get an idea of what we could try.

1. Do you try to have your baby take a nap at the same time everyday?
2. Do you swaddle/swaddle sack your baby when they nap or just at bedtime?
3. How many naps a day does baby take?
4. When did you try to start a routine/schedule with your LO?
5. If you were successful on getting your LO on a schedule, how long did it take?
6. Did you only let them sleep a certain length of time?
7. Where do you let them nap? Only in the crib or is the swing okay? or just wherever they pass out as long as its safe?

Obviously I dont have any high expectations going into this, but any advice/tips would be great!

 

[amc80]

1. Do you try to have your baby take a nap at the same time everyday?
Not at 6 weeks. Not even at 16 weeks. He sleep when he's tired. Day care doesn't even try to get them sleeping on a schedule during the day until they are over a year old.

2. Do you swaddle/swaddle sack your baby when they nap or just at bedtime?
Just at bedtime. We stopped swaddling all together around 6-8 weeks.

3. How many naps a day does baby take?
Hmmm. Three? He takes a long nap in the morning, and then two in the afternoon. This has gotten better when time. When he was younger he barely napped at all.

4. When did you try to start a routine/schedule with your LO?
The only routine we have is for night time, and that started around 6-8 weeks. Bath, bottle, out. Some days he is hungry before his bath...but then still expects a post-bath bottle. So he will drink an ounce or so and then fall asleep. But, man, he gets pi$$ed if he doesn't get that after bath bottle.

5. If you were successful on getting your LO on a schedule, how long did it take?
N/A

6. Did you only let them sleep a certain length of time?
It usually isn't an issue. Every now and then his 2nd afternoon nap will be too long (like 3 hours +) and I'll wake him up.

7. Where do you let them nap? Only in the crib or is the swing okay? or just wherever they pass out as long as its safe?
Anywhere he sleeps.

I think 6 weeks is pretty early to attempt any schedule. What we did that REALLY helped was we got better at recognizing when he's tired. That was our big parent fail. I no know that if he's dry and has eaten and starts to get fussy, he's tired. So I'll rock him in my arms for a few minutes and he'll usually pass out. Before, I just thought he was fussy, and I'd try to make him stop, which would just keep him up longer and make him fussier.

 

[lliang_chi]

1. Do you try to have your baby take a nap at the same time everyday?
No, he napped as needed. At that age, he'd wake up, eat, hang out with me for a little while (diaper change, tummy time etc), then when he started to get tired again, I'd put him to sleep. At that young age, he was probably only awake 2-3 hrs at a time.

2. Do you swaddle/swaddle sack your baby when they nap or just at bedtime?
Swaddle with every nap and bedtime. He *loved* the swaddle.

3. How many naps a day does baby take?
It's kinda a haze, but I think he used to get up early, like 5AM, eat, sleep another 2 hrs, the up for the day at 7:30. Nap again sometime mid-morning. Nap again early PM like lunch time-ish. He'd go down again late PM, like 4-ish. Snooze. Eat again around dinner time, snooze. He''d be up once more for milk, late evening, after 10PM, then he'd sleep until 2AM. Repeat.

4. When did you try to start a routine/schedule with your LO?
I think I started to REALIZE the routine around 8 wks.

5. If you were successful on getting your LO on a schedule, how long did it take?
We didn't really put him on a schedule. But day care helped get him on a schedule-ish too. He had to be out of the house by X time, and picked up by Y time.

6. Did you only let them sleep a certain length of time?
Ethan was never the sleep for hrs type of baby. Well, when he was a wee baby and was swaddled he'd sometimes nap for 2+ hours (under 3 though). Now that he's older (9 mo) and out of swaddles, he rarely goes over 1 hr.

7. Where do you let them nap? Only in the crib or is the swing okay? or just wherever they pass out as long as its safe?
He slept in a bassinet in our room until he was 12 wks. Then he moved to his crib in his room. He always slept in the bassinet or his crib. Unless I fell asleep nursing/feeding him during the MOTN feeds. That happened practically every day. On vacation a few times he'd snooze in the bed, and now that he's older sometimes we do that just to get him to quiet/calm down and sleep. The other night he slept in my arms because he was screaming and couldn't/wouldn't be consoled. (Not to scare you or anything)

 

[NewEnglandLady]

1. Do you try to have your baby take a nap at the same time everyday?
At six weeks, no. At that point I think we had a loose sleep/eat/play routine with no set number of naps. We kept the sleep/eat/play routine until a 3 naps/day schedule formed arond 12 - 14 weeks.

2. Do you swaddle/swaddle sack your baby when they nap or just at bedtime?
Our baby never loved the swaddle. I swaddled off and on until she was around 10 weeks, then I stopped altogether. I do think it helps soothe for most, though.

3. How many naps a day does baby take?
Ours formed the 3 nap/day schedule around 12 - 14 weeks, then started transitioning to 2 naps/day around 6 months (the transition took about a month).

4. When did you try to start a routine/schedule with your LO?
Nighttime routine (bottle/nurse, bath, massage, book) started around the two week mark, sleep/eat/play routine started soon after. Then we moved to the two naps/day schedule (very loose schedule) around 12 - 14 weeks, which is also when she started her 7pm bedtime. Still, her wakeup time was shifting around, thus a real schedule was never firm. At 9 months, she still doesn't have an exact schedule, but it's pretty close.

5. If you were successful on getting your LO on a schedule, how long did it take?
The 7pm bedtime schedule has been in place since she was ~4 months. The daytime schedule is tougher and only now is it starting to really be firm. 75% of the time she takes her naps at 9am and 1pm, but it can still shift by a half of an hour (at most) depending on how she slept. She's also occasionally taking 1 nap/day instead of two, so that can alter her schedule. Once she's transitioned to 1 nap/day, I think we'll be on a real schedule.

6. Did you only let them sleep a certain length of time?
Ideally, our baby does best when she gets about 3.5 hours of naps per day. That keeps her sleeping 11 or even 12 hours at night, which is what I prefer. Her morning nap is typically 1 hour and the afternoon nap is 2.5 hours. There have been times where she's slept more than 2.5 hours in the afternoon and I THINK about waking her up, but I can't. I can't wake a sleeping baby--the amount of sleep just fluctuates depending on growth spurts, if they're sick, if they're teething, etc., so I assume if she's sleeping, she needs it.

7. Where do you let them nap? Only in the crib or is the swing okay? or just wherever they pass out as long as its safe?
At 6 weeks, I think anywhere safe is a good place to sleep. Swing, car seat, in a soft carrier (ours would nap in the Ergo when I took our dog for a walk). When we moved to a 3 nap schedule, I started putting her in a pack and play or her crib. At 6 months, she was only in her crib because she slept best there (dark room, I wasn't around to distract her)

I'm torn aobut this one--on one hand, some books say that once they are past the newborn stage, they should always be in a crib. Sleeping in a stroller. the car seat, etc. is "junk sleep" and should be avoided. Other books say that kids should sleep in a variety of places so that they get used to falling asleep anywhere when they are tired. I was more afraid of Katie getting "junk sleep", so I always put her in her crib for naps and scheduled my day around her nap schedule. But now she has a hard time sleeping anywhere other than her crib.

 

[FrekeChild]

A is 12 months now, but I'll share anyway.

1. Do you try to have your baby take a nap at the same time everyday?
I used to be pretty militant about it, but now I'm a little more lax, since we seem to be down to one nap per day.

2. Do you swaddle/swaddle sack your baby when they nap or just at bedtime?
No. She was only swaddled for the first couple of weeks because she hated it and fought out/would cry until we took her out.

3. How many naps a day does baby take?
1. this changed from 2 only in the past couple of weeks. At 6 weeks, she slept whenever and where ever she could/would. I think once she fell into more of a routine, she was doing 3-4 naps per day. For several months we were doing 2 months, one nap 2 hours after waking up, second nap 3 hours after waking up from her first nap. Then bedtime at 8.

4. When did you try to start a routine/schedule with your LO?
Never. She told me what she needed. Still does. The most we did was take her for walks outside in the afternoon when she was very little to help set her circadian rhythm.

5. If you were successful on getting your LO on a schedule, how long did it take?
Not applicable.

6. Did you only let them sleep a certain length of time?
No, I only woke her up if I had to. I regretted it every single time if I accidentally woke her up or on the days that I had to wake her up. When she was really little, she'd sleep through anything and everything.

7. Where do you let them nap? Only in the crib or is the swing okay? or just wherever they pass out as long as its safe?
Anywhere. Crib, on me, swing, carseat, floor, whatever.

 

[mayerling]

Are naps in the stroller junk even if the stroller is parked and fully reclined?

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Mayerling, I think some schools of thought would say that any sleep in the stroller is "junk" sleep. I think it's more about the surroundings--if the baby is in a stroller (even reclined and parked), they likely aren't in a dark, quiet area, which is conducive to the best sleep. A good friend of mine recently hired a sleep consultant and the sleep consultant told her "no sleep in the stroller EVER!" My friend nearly had a mental breakdown because it was impossible for her to stay at home for every nap.

Ultimately, she found a way to make it work with one short nap in the stroller and now things are much better. I tend to think that if you find something that works and everybody is happy, then great. Even if it means a stroller nap here and there.

 

[mayerling]

Well, I'll take what I can get. Though I should say that N's stroller naps have been in a parked, fully-reclined stroller, in our dark (blinds drawn) dining room. I basically walk around until he falls asleep, and then put him in the dining room for his nap - I can't have him in the bedroom as that's upstairs.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

I can't imagine that's a problem, Mayerling. It's not like you're on the go. It sounds like movement is a good soother for N, so that probably works well!

 

[lliang_chi]

Mayer, seems like N's liking the motion, can you try a swing, so at least you can get things done while he's swinging away?

 

[mayerling]

I'm afraid the swing doesn't put him to sleep, I've tried. Also, I think he doesn't really like the motion. He falls asleep while strolling, but sleeps best when I park the stroller (if we're still out and walking around he'll do his usual 30 mins, if I park him in the dining room he usually does an hour).

 

[pancake]

1. Do you try to have your baby take a nap at the same time everyday?

Yes, but S is 10 months old. Until the last few months I set the routine, she set the times, and that worked well for us. In the last month or so I have set the times as well (but very much guided by what I see in her behaviour and what her natural rhythms suggest).

At 6 weeks we just did eat-wake-sleep. No set times, although I would try and help her through her sleep cycle transition when she went through phases of short naps.

Actually, I'll answer all the rest of the questions for when Dot was around C's age.

2. Do you swaddle/swaddle sack your baby when they nap or just at bedtime?

Swaddled for all naps and bedtime.

3. How many naps a day does baby take?

At that age, 4 naps. She didn't drop to three until quite late - around 4 months or so, when her bedtime got earlier and earlier, eventually settling around 6:30.

4. When did you try to start a routine/schedule with your LO?

Routine - from very early. Eat-Wake-Sleep - we did this until she dropped feeds. No schedule until the last couple of months, although her times were always predictable within 45 minutes or an hour or so.

5. If you were successful on getting your LO on a schedule, how long did it take?

N/A

6. Did you only let them sleep a certain length of time?

In the very early days, I would wake her after 4.5 hours if it was during the day. But from around C's age plus, no. The only exception was that I would wake her for the bath-feed-bed routine, as if I let her wake of her own accord she was hungry and expected to feed - which made for a very stroppy baby in the bath!

7. Where do you let them nap? Only in the crib or is the swing okay? or just wherever they pass out as long as its safe?

S would sleep 90% of the time in her bassinet. If we were out, she slept in the Ergo, or at this age, in the pram.