OK, mamas and papas, help me out! I have the worst time getting Shepherd to take his naps. Apparently he is supposed to be taking two or three a day, and we are lucky to get one in, usually around 1 or 1:30 in the afternoon.
He is a champion sleeper at nights, but every time I put him down for a nap, he screeches and screams and is obviously a tension increaser, because crying it out just ain't working. I have tried to follow his nap time patterns in an effort to create a predictable daytime routine, but he's just not that into napping.
Here's our regular schedule:
6:30 a.m.: wake up for early morning feed. I call this the first awake period of the day because it's after the sun rises. He nurses and then falls back to sleep.
8:30 a.m.: up for the day.
10:30-11 a.m.: try to lay Shep down for a nap. Scream. Scream scream scream. If I'm lucky, he will shut his eyes for about 15-20 minutes during this time.
1/1:30ish p.m.: try for nap time numero dos. This is usually when we have the best luck; if he's going to nap, it will be in the afternoon and not in the morning. Sometimes, he doesn't nap, and he ends up falling asleep closer to 3 p.m.
Down for bedtime at 8:30 p.m.
So, any thoughts? Do I need to wake him up earlier or keep him awake longer? Should I just follow his natural schedule a little closer and see if I can tweak my times to better fit his internal routine? Am I just out of luck?
Thanks in advance!
3 comments:
You are definitely NOT out of luck! I would just follow his natural schedule. It sounds like around 1:00PM is when he is ready. I wouldn't force it, that just makes it worse with lots of unnecessary screaming. Since he is not up for the day until around 8:30AM he may not need a morning nap.
I'd count the early morning "back to bed" as a morning nap. I you're dying to get that morning nap later you can try keeping him up longer everyday to get to that 9 or 10am slot, but don't push it. It does sound like he's getting enough sleep - 13 to 15hrs. depending on the child.
my say, follow his natural schedule. and although my only experience is from a fussy/colicky baby who didn't nap regularly until 5 months, i still say he just needs his momma. sometimes we get so caught up and worried on what they should be doing that we forget to enjoy this stage and it's ok for him to sleep in your arms. i know you are getting ready to go back to work and i'm sure his sleep schedule is laying on your heart, but don't fret he'll eventually figure it out. and it's not always in our time frame :)
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