When to implement nap schedule?

Question

I have a non-napper who gets pretty grumpy throughout the day. She is 7 weeks currently I was wondering if she may fall into a nap schedule on her own or if I should try to implement a one for her. Is she ready for an implemented nap schedule? I got her to take a nap for 2 hours a couple days ago. Mimicking what we do at night with a swaddle and white noise and soothing sound hippo with rocking.

Answer

My little guy is 6 weeks old. I also have a 17 month old. I’ve followed a bedtime routine since the day we came home from the hospital. With my 6 week old I try and make sure he is napping after being awake for an hr and a half to 2 hrs. If I didn’t he’d just scream at me all day. So we do eat, play, sleep pattern all day. If He is up for a little longer of a stretch and content then I won’t force a nap. My 17 month old is down to just a nap after lunch. So it helps if I can get little one down first so I can rock my oldest. If he’s not cooperating then I tell my daughter that she’s gotta be big girl and put herself to sleep. I also let him nap in the am in the living room with the curtains open and normal noise level. I put him in his crib for my daughters afternoon nap. And then when we get closer to bedtime if he’s napping I will try to wake him and keep him up so that he goes down for bed when my daughter does around 730/8. Still working routine out with the two- my partner works 12 hr swings so when he’s on 3rds I’m alone a lot. Consistent routines are important for us. Sorry if this was all over the place lol 😊

Answer

My little guy is 9 weeks and I honestly wish I would have started a nap "schedule" sooner. I do a bedtime routine with him every night and make sure he is awake around the same time every day. Then, make sure he is napping every 1.5-2 hours. His naps aren't at the exact same time every day because his wake up time in the morning is a "wake window" of an hour between 7-8am. So his naps vary depending on what time he woke up. I then just make sure his last nap will leave him at least an hour before bed. If he naps late one day, I just wake him from his last nap to make sure he has that hour buffer. I've only been doing this for about a week but his night time sleep is great ever since! Good luck mama!

Answer

You can try but it likely won’t happen. She’s still very young for that. I would focus on having a nap time routine so that she builds good maro habits.

Answer

I have a non-napper also who sounds exactly like your daughter. I have implemented as much of a schedule as I can. 
After she eats I try to keep her up for 45-an hour. In the morning she is still sleepy and naps pretty easily in either her swing or docka tot. Around lunch time I do the whole shebang with swaddle, sound machine, in her crib etc. early afternoon another swing nap or in her car seat if we go out to do errands or for a walk with the dog. Late afternoon another full swaddle/crib nap. She goes to bed around 8 and sleeps 7 hours for the first stretch. 
I would like to eventually get to a more firm 3 nap schedule and not have to swaddle her but were just not there yet. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Answer

My son is 2 months old and for probably the last month I have just been trying to encourage him to take a nap if he’s been up for 1.5-2 hrs or if he’s acting fussy before then. I was mostly using the swing or carrier to get him to sleep or just laying him over my shoulder for a nap on me... He usually has 2 long naps a day lasting almost 2 hours and then the other naps are 30 mins-1 hr. This helps to avoid him getting over tired. It’s not an exact schedule, like I don’t put him down at exact times each day but so far this is working. In the last week or so I’ve also started trying to get him to take one nap a day in his pack n play to mimic the crib he will soon be in at daycare 2x/week.

When to implement nap schedule?

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