Our baby is 13 months old and up until early July, she had a pretty consistent nap schedule. In the last few weeks, there have been major developments taking place...walking, talking, more teeth...and I've been working very hard on night weaning, so she has also been learning to become a better sleeper at night, without getting the breast every time she wakes up. So, I'm just wondering are you go-with-the-flow with naps? I've always felt it's pointless to put a baby down at a certain time if they're not showing signs of fatigue, so I just wait for her cues. She might take a morning nap at 9, 10 or on occasion she has held out until after 11 or has skipped it altogether. Afternoon naps have been an ongoing issue these last few weeks. Although I think she needs one and she certainly shows all the signs, she ends up babbling in her crib which eventually turns in to fussing. If an hour goes by and she's still not sleeping, I take her out...and by that time it's usually too late for a nap anyway.
Thanks! I think it's difficult when she's in a transitional period to stick to just about anything! I'm definitely a person who would prefer a schedule and I tried to keep her up today until 11:30/12 but by 10 she was practically begging me to go to sleep. I suspect in the coming weeks a new pattern will develop.
My daughter takes a nap whenever and wherever she chooses. I did not want a schedule or a particular place, like her crib, because there are days where I need to run errends or just have to get out of the house. She sleeps just fine this way and has had no issues with it so far. I do however have a sleep schedule for the night. I put her down at 9 every night, and sometimes she cries, but she is now used to it.
I follow a routine, not a schedule. I too look for signs of fatigue in our 11 mo old. Just remember that MOST kids take afternoon naps long after they stop taking a morning nap.
So if you're trying to get her to sleep better at night and break the night without nursing, perhaps trying to break her of the am nap and instead work on a late morning or early afternoon nap might be better. She may be ready for 1 nap...so try to encourage getting her down later in the morning to consolidate the two naps into 1.
I'm in the same boat as you so I'll be curious to see what you do.
i'd go by a schedule, will help later in the long run, whether she sits and throws a fit or plays in her crip during a nap time, enforcment of a schedule will greatly benifit you to start NOW that way she'll always be taught that MOM AND DAD are in control not her, no matter how hard her fit may be. it will also eliminate going to bed problems later on for her, she's always been in bed when mom and dad say so so she'll follow that easier later on.
i kept a nap schedule with my daughter who's almost 8 and i havn't ever had any going to bed problems or lay down problems when i tell her too, because it's been a rule all her life.
My girls were about that age when they went from 2 naps to one. It took a while for the transition to occur, but eventually they would go in for a nap shortly after lunch each day.
Yes, I never had a schedule for anything with my kids. Although I've heard and I do believe that nap, feeding, etc. schedules are very healthy for kids, and scheduling and routine is definitely the better way to go, my kids (now 16-21) turned out just fine without them. So don't worry TOO much if you don't get your baby on a nap schedule.
My baby usually takes 1 nap a day, 4 - 5 hours after waking up. I just watch for her cues when she is sleepy, and thats when I suggest going to her bed, and she goes right in there and knocks out.
I have never found it harder to put her to bed with this method, for us it works. =)
I always just put my son down when he was tired. It was pretty consistant, but definitely came in stages. As long as I lay him down BEFORE he was overtired he'd sleep and sleep well *most* of the time. There were definite times when he'd just babble or sing or play in his crib, and me on pins and needles waiting for him to "please god, go to sleep", but mostly he'd sleep.
The times when he wouldn't I learned to look out for teething. He was a HAPPY baby while teething, but he wouldn't sleep. A few days of Mr. No Nap, taught me to stick my finger in his mouth and look for a swollen gum after the first missed nap. If yes, then a dose of tylenol would kick him right into being able to go back to his normal nap "schedule" (aka, when he was tired).
It is hard to get a baby on a schedule and I do know some moms who don't really have scheduled naps.
Personally I DO have one...well kind of..
Basically I know my son and I know that by 2pm if he hasn't had a nap he starts to get REALLY cranky. So to make it easier on him and ME I try to get him down in his bed for a nap BEFORE the crab comes out. Otherwise If I wait too long he will NOT sleep. He'll just go in his bed and complain, which then turns into him being cranky the rest of the night.
By the time a baby (or child) is showing signs of fatigue, they are overtired and it's harder to get them down. She may be ready to drop the morning nap and just go to an afternoon nap. Maybe start lying her down at about noon/1pm and see how she does. Try to keep it consistent so that her body is used to being tired around that time. Good luck. I know it's hard when they're transitioning from so many things!
I do not schedule my boys' naps. Many factors effect when they are ready for one, if at all. What they eat, when they wake up, how hard they played physically. So, I wait until they start acting sleepy. I do put them down at the very first signs of needing a nap so they don't get overly tired. But I think going with their body's flow is better. Then they realize oh, that feeling means time for nap. Got it.
