I asked about nap schedules on twitter and I think I need more than 140 characters to expalin. Chase is 2 months old.
He was waking up around 6 or 7 and then taking an early morning nap around 7:30 or 8:30. This nap was anywhere from 50 mins to 120 mins.
Then he would wake up and eat and I would put him back down for a late morning nap after an hour and a half or so. This was anywhere from 80 to 120 mins.
Back up again to eat, back down again after 90 mins. Afternoon nap 40-120 mins.
Up again, eat, down after 90 mins. Early evening nap ranged from 30-65 mins.
One last time he would get up, eat, play and go back down after 90 mins. His late evening nap lasted 35-120 mins.
I asked the pediatrician today about the 30-40 min naps, if those are ok. She said no. Her point, which is valid, is that kids at daycares do get on schedules. That kids at home their mom might go and get them at every little noise they make. I don't think I'm one of those moms. My kid does sleep in his own room at night for 3-5 hour stretches. My kid is also pretty loud and I am going to try to get him on a schedule.
This is where I need your help, advice, and wisdom. If you had a 2 month old on a schedule at home or daycare what was it?
I think this is the schedule I want to try:
7am wake up, eat, play
8:30 nap
11am wake up, eat, play
12:30pm nap
3pm wake up, eat, play
4:30pm nap
7pm wake up, eat, play
8:30pm bed
So that is 4 2.5 hour long naps. Is that good and normal???
That sounds like a lot of napping! When my boys were that age, the usually only had small catnaps during the day. I think for your pediatrician to say that 40 mins isn't enough is WRONG! You can't expect a 2 or 3 month old to be on such a consistent schedule, whether in daycare or at home. They don't have the capability yet! Here is my advice:
ReplyDeleteKeep Chase on the schedule you've got him on which is eat, play, sleep. If he wakes up from a nap after 40 mins and won't go back to sleep, then get him up and carry on with the schedule.
You won't see him get onto a consistent daytime nap schedule until he is at least 4 months old! And when he wakes from his nap or wakes at night, don't rush in, wait to see if he can sooth himself back to sleep. If not, then you can get him up to eat or play....except at night of course, you only want to feed him and then IMMEDIATELY put him back to bed.
Hope this helps Meg!
At two months old, I only see four feeding plus whatever you are giving at night. Infant tummies are not very big--I was surprised when I saw a scale illustration!
ReplyDeleteIf you are breastfeeding, you need to remember it is designed for infant digestion -- maximum nutrient with minimum effort. That means breastmilk digests pretty fast. Even formula, though, isn't designed to carry a two month old for four hours...
My pediatrician recommended not a schedule so much as a rhythm. . . Growth spurts, developmental spurts. . . what the infant needs as far as sleep and nutrition change so quickly. I found my ped was right. The more I watched my babies, the more I was able to get in sync. We were able to have a good rhythm, without worrying about the exact time on the clock.
Hope this helps!
At 2 months old Brayden was no where near able to go 4 hours between eating. He would nurse more like every two hours. We are no sleep experts over here, but I nursed him when he wanted and he slowly got into a nap schedule on his own.
ReplyDeleteMy Henry is on a good schedule and he's 2 months!
ReplyDeleteWake up @ 6- Eat, Burp, back to sleep by 7 at the latest
8:30 Eat, play, nap at 11
12 Eat play nap at 1:15
4:30 Eat play nap at 6
7 Eat play nap at 8:30
9-9:30 Eat and down to bed by 10ish
It's all approximate and his long nap at 1 is the best! He usually wakes up after an hour but I just give him a pacifier and he goes back to sleep. I go on his cues though. I would never refuse to feed him b/c he should be sleeping :)
That seems like a lot of napping to me, but then again Rory and Trace were/are not good nappers. At 2 months, Trace was doing a morning nap and afternoon nap, each about 1.5, maybe 2 hours and a 30 minute evening nap. I woke him up every morning at 7:30 and put him in bed every night between 9 and 10, depending on when I got home from work. He ate every 3 hours at that point. I definitely went off his natural nap tendencies though. If he had been a better napper, you better believe I would have been all over that!! :)
ReplyDeleteI tried from the very beginning to get Rylee on a nap because I wanted my free time. It was hard the first few months- I remember her sleeping on my chest during every nap and me sleeping as well. I knew that had to stop and she needed to start getting better naps. She would wake up around 9am- up for 1 hour- sleep for another 2 or so- up for 1-2 hours. She would eat every 3 hours.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear other moms advice, I'm in need of nap help. I think, if you can get your little guy on this schedule then do it! Personally, J won't nap that long. He's not much of a napper, typically he'll nap for 30 minutes but takes one long (about an hour or so) nap early afternoon. I TRY to keep him on eat, play sleep schedule but sometimes with the shorter naps I hold off the eating for 30 minutes after he eats. The most important thing to me is that he not be dependent on a bottle to be able to sleep, as long as that doesn't happen I'm happy.
ReplyDeleteMy little guy is 6 weeks old and has naps that are around 2 hours or so, my latest post has a bit of a schedule that I follow & some books I got ideas from :)
ReplyDeleteHow are things going?
ReplyDeleteI just stumbled upon your blog via Boob Tube Babble and have felt your napping pain! My little guy didn't take naps longer than 45 minutes (unless I was holding him) until at least 5 months. I felt so much pressure to establish "the schedule" and have it be perfect with those long naps. I actually put way too much pressure on myself.
ReplyDeleteI think some kids can do it early and be trained. I think others just fall into it at a later age.
Just my thoughts and I apologize if these "two cents" aren't worth a darn! But don't pressure yourself! You are doing a great job Momma !