What's your baby's nap schedule and routine?

[ChristmasLover]

Just need to compare my baby's schedule and routine to see if I could improve things...

-How old is your baby?

-At what times does he/she take a nap?

-How do you get your baby to sleep (or does baby put self to sleep))?

-What is the longest stretch of sleep your baby has at night?

TIA for any replies!!!

[AnnieA]

-DD will be 6 months old in 2 days

-She doesn't have a set time on the clock but I can expect her to be ready to go to sleep about 1-1.5 hrs after waking up. If we are out doing something or there is a lot going on at home, she can sometimes stay awake up to 3 hrs.

-Sometimes she falls asleep eating but usually she is still half awake when we go to lay down for naps. I lay down with her and then get up when she's asleep or sometimes I nap with her. If she falls asleep in my arms, I just lay her down either in my bed or her bed. (sidecarred crib)

-Usually her longest stretch is from 10 PM-4 AM. I do a dreamfeed around 1 AM before I go to bed. (I work 4 PM-Midnight most nights)

[ChristmasLover]

Aww, I have a July baby also!  That was very helpful-- I wonder if I should try to lie down with my baby for naps instead of rocking him.  I would feel like I was in heaven if he'd sleep 10-4am!   Thanks for giving me something to try.  :)

[AnnieA]

You might also try doing a dreamfeed before you go to bed. DD would not sleep from 10PM-4AM on her own if I didn't do a dreamfeed around 1AM. I started it out of self-preservation because I was getting home from work around 12:30 AM and getting in to bed at 1AM and then DD was waking up at 3AM. I can handle getting woken up after 3 hours of sleep but getting woken up after 2 hours of sleep is just cruel!

[Peony]

I have a late July baby. He is all over the place, I just know that he will go down about an hour after he wakes up in the morning. And for the rest of the day he takes a nap about every 1.5-3 hours. The nap is usually while he is on me, he prefer to be in my Beco bounced to sleep sometimes he will fall asleep while nursing. He sometimes will go 2 hours between nursing at the beginning of the night, after that it is frequent. 

[ChristmasLover]

Peony, that pretty much describes what my son does these days as well (except for naps which he has started taking in a  crib).  I've always heard boys were worse sleepers and I believe it. 

 I wonder when kids naturally start sleeping in longer stretches. 

[kacie47]

My son is 7 months.  He wants bed between 7-8pm and he sleeps until 6-7am.  He's teething so every night is a little different.  For the past week, he's been sleeping straight through the night!  Its been great but we'll see how long it lasts. :) Usually he'll wake up once during the night but go back to sleep after I feed him.  I rock him to sleep before bed and if he wakes up during the night. Sometimes he'll be asleep in my arms and he'll wake up when I put him into his crib so I'll try rocking him to sleep again.  If he's still waking up after the 3rd try then I'll bring him to my bed.  Its not good but I'm so tired at that point.  He puts himself to sleep for naps.  I put on his mobile and give him a toy and he's usually asleep within 15 min.  He didn't nap much until he was 5 months.  Now he takes a 2 hr nap around 10am then goes down for another nap around 3.  The 2nd nap is usually only an hr.  I'm sure its different if you're still nursing.  I only nursed for 2.5 months then pumped for another 3.  Now he gets formula. 

[ChristmasLover]

Thanks, Kacie.  It's interesting to see the routine of a baby who is capable of sleeping all night.  Lucky you!

[kacie47]

I spoke too soon! He woke up around 4am and wouldn't go back to sleep until I brought him in my bed!  :)

[ChristmasLover]

Smart baby!  :)

[ChristmasLover]

Well, I think I have found something that gives me a 4 hour stretch at night (and getting a 4 hour stretch is pretty life-changing after getting up every one to two hours).  Baby goes to bed at 6/7, then I noticed that when he gets up to eat at about 9/9:30, it's hard to get him to settle back down.  On nights I turn on the tv, he wakes up and watches it with me for about 30 minutes, then he eats again, and I will end up getting a 4 hour stretch from 1-5.  At first, I thought it was a fluke, but last night was the THIRD time he woke up to watch House Hunters with me and then he later slept for the 4 hour stretch!   I will try again tonight to see if it is a definite thing. 

[kacie47]

Interesting.  I hope it works out again tonight!  Are you nursing?  If not, how much is he drinking throughout the day?  Is your baby eating solids?  I think that may have helped with my son.  I started solids a little before he was 5 months and thats when he started to take longer naps and slept longer stretches at night.  Could just be a coincidence....  

[kacie47]

another thought... does your son sleep on his belly?  If not, maybe try that.  That's the only way my son would sleep since he was born!

[Sweetserene]

My little guy is 4 and half months old. He normally waked up between 6 and 7 a.m., and be awake for about 2 hours before napping for a short time: usually 30-45 minutes. Then he takes a long nap sometime between 12 and 1, and is out for about 2 hours. Normally, he puts himself to sleep, though he sometimes needs a little help (today, for example!). So I wear him for a little while, then rub his back in the bassinet. At night, he goes down at 8ish, then waked up a few hours later for a feeding. After that, he mostly sleeps the rest of the night.

I put him to sleep on his back, but inevitably he finds his way to his belly to sleep, and seems to do better that way. We recently phased out of co-sleeping, and now he sleeps in a co-sleeper bassinet next to my bed. He seems to be doing really well with that transition, and he seems to really need his space when he's sleeping: he moves and squirms and will crawl a bit in the bassinet.

[MrsBone]

DD is 8 months old and ready for bed between 7 and 7:45 pm and is up by 7:30. She used to sleep straight through but she's been teething so she wakes once or twice. SSometimes she puts herself back to sleep, sometimes I go in and nurse her. Naps are not really on a schedule. As long as she gets an afternoon nap and is up by 4 I consider it a good day. I'm really horrible about staying home all day, and planning my outings around two daytime naps so DD ends up skipping her morning nap so we can go do stuff, especially playdates for my 3 year old. I live about 10 miles from anything so trips aren't quick. For naptime I rock and nurse her til she's sleepy then she takes a paci and goes in her crib. Bedtime is dinner, bath with brother, nurse, rock, paci and bed. she likes this schedule. Brother was never good at schedule and still isn't. His bedtime varies from 8:30 to 10pm.