figuring out this whole sleep routine thing

[KellyandBean]

I'm embarrassed to say my DD is almost 9 months old but we still can't figure out a nap routine. I know it isn't to big of a deal as she is growing and learning and usually is a happy kido but the unpredictability of our day is really starting to get to me. I hear other mom's say that their baby has a "bed time" but i still do it according to when she wakes from her last nap. I do 4 hours from when she wakes up is bedtime since that is the longest i know she can stay awake without a meltdown. So it could be anywhere from 6 to 8 depending on how early she got up that day and if she fought any of her naps (happens a lot) If she wakes up to earlier from her last nap (like today she was up at 2pm) then i have to put her to bed at 6pm OR get her to take a THIRD cap nap which is impossible unless i take her for a drive. Then i feel like if she does three naps then 12 or so hours awake during the day is WAY to much for her and she ends up sleeping poorly with lots of wake ups.

Do you think if i woke her up at a set time every day (say 6am?) she would get more into a predictable pattern? I just have the hardest time doing something and sticking to it for some reason. I am a SAHM so i don't have a time that i need to be up in the mornings which doesn't seem to help any.

I'd love to hear how other people figure this stuff out. I've tried tracking her sleep for a long time to see if there is a pattern but it is always different and 50% of the time she fights her naps because her tired signs are so hard to read and i find out i waited to long...OR it isn't even that but just that she gets to excited at a play date or something and can't unwind. any advice?

[newmamalizzy]

Funny, I just came on to post almost exactly the same question about my 7 month old, right down to that conundrum with her waking up too early from her last nap but not having any luck going down for another one later, then having to hustle to a really early bedtime, LOTS of night-waking...The only one in this house getting any sleep these days is the cat, so we're heading into a major sleep overhaul and I'll let you know how it goes! Also eagerly awaiting any ideas....

[KellyandBean]

newmamalizzy- thanks for the response. good to see I'm not the only one having a hard time with this. She'd be a pretty easy kid if it wasn't for sleep problems. She wakes sometimes every hour at night so we are pretty much co-sleeping most of the time so that i can actually get some rest. I still can't shake the feeling that i am over thinking things and there is a simple way of fixing our problems. Maybe just having a more set in stone schedule would be enough to fix things? Who knows. On average how many hours does your baby have of awake time in a day? I once read that most babies around 7-9 months are doing a nap 2 hours after waking up and then another 3 hours after waking form that one and bedtime 4 hours later but that only = 9 hours awake time which doesn't seem to be enough for her as we always end up with a 3am play session. ugh!

I hate those darn 6pm bedtimes since my hubby doesn't even get home until that time some nights. :/

let me know how your attempts to fix things go!

[Knitting Mama]

The early bedtime is hard for WOH spouses, but it has really helped my Cecilia sleep longer. If she goes to bed between 6-7 she sleeps way better than if she goes to sleep later. And we co-sleep as well, and I know for a fact that she doesn't wake as many times when she goes to bed earlier. She generally follows a 2-3-4 pattern but sometimes does a 1-2-3 or 1-2-4 instead.

[KellyandBean]

Originally Posted by Cecilia's Mama

The early bedtime is hard for WOH spouses, but it has really helped my Cecilia sleep longer. If she goes to bed between 6-7 she sleeps way better than if she goes to sleep later. And we co-sleep as well, and I know for a fact that she doesn't wake as many times when she goes to bed earlier. She generally follows a 2-3-4 pattern but sometimes does a 1-2-3 or 1-2-4 instead.

You are right it is so true that they sleep longer when they go to bed early. if i put her to bed at 6pm she sleeps until 6am. I haven't really taken notice to if she sleeps BETTER then but i will keep note next time i put her down early.

Sometimes it seems like she wants to do a 1-2-4 schedule like you said yours does but it just isn't enough wake time so then i have to deal with her playing at 3am. Last night she actually fell off the bed for the first time because she woke up and started crawling around! oops.

[Knitting Mama]

Yep, Cecilia is still the same way. I don't know, I guess I've always been sort of relaxed about sleep schedules because I myself rarely slept through the night pre-baby either, so it doesn't really surprise me that she doesn't sleep through the night. Sure, I'm tired when she gets up to play at 2 am, but I generally doze on the floor while she's playing and she lets me know when she's ready to nurse and go back to sleep.