Schedule - Ventura,CA

Ben's almost 8 months and he's just moved from 3 short naps a day (9am, noon and 3pm) to 2 naps a day. Recently he was fussy at his 8:30am nap, so I pushed it back til 9:30 and now he's happy again, and he sleeps longer for his morning nap.

His schedule is:
6:30/7am - wake up
7:00 - milk and then solids
9:30 til 11:00 - nap (I always prepare him for his nap by reading to him for 10 minutes in his dark, quiet bedroom, cuddling him til he is relaxed, and putting him down drowsy.)
11:00 - milk
2:00 - milk
3:30 - nap for 30 minutes
5:00 - solids
5:30 - bath
6:00 - milk
6:30 - to bed

M.,

A few things to consider...is he teething? Growth Spurt? Seperation Anxiety can be a factor at this age stage too. Keep in mind this is a huge phase change for your baby, as he gets bigger and becomes more aware of his surroundings.

My son went through this at this age/stage and we have been co-sleepers since he was 2 months old. Even at nap time, I would lay with him until asleep but, as soon as I would move or he sensed I was going to move he'd be sitting up and grabbing me. One thing we did was play a lot of peek-a-boo, made him a part of my daily routine (laundry, dishes, cooking...etc.) and then, I would leave the room while he was in a safe spot for a few moments at a time and before he started fussing I'd return and say 'see Mommy's here!'. He'd get happy and know it was okay, after some time of experimenting we found a way through it.

Also, many introduce the 'lovey'...we called it out dino buddy and he uses it only for sleep on days/nights he's having a tough time sleeping. It's a transition object.

Teething may be one of those things too! Check his gums. My son was teething from about 5 months old until just recently (30 months now) and it's tough on sleep.

Our schedule was like this:
6:30am wake up (offer bottle/breast)
7:30am offer cereal with BM/formula
9:30am Nap Time (same routine for ALL sleep periods...book, sing, cuddle and rock then, lay down)
11:30am (ish) wake up (offer bottle/breast)
12:30pm (offer lunch -- this age just let them eat until they refuse it -- my son ate one jar usually)
2:30pm Nap
4:30pm (ish) wake up (offer bottle)
5:30pm (dinner once he was on a jarred food daily)
7:30pm Bedtime Routine and sleep

It was never down to the mintue, but I tried to maintain it closely...plus, I fed on demand for the most part for the first year. Once my son was on a steady diet of jarred foods, he lost interest in the bottle at night time and just stuck with his daily bottles out of routine...and, weaned off of those eventually too.

Just relax and be patient. These phases will come up again and again. My son is just now at 30 months old really getting a good night's sleep. Well, other than to tell me it's dark outside or that he's done sleeping at 3am...but, it gets better...I promise.

Remember no matter what you do, CIO or other, just be consistent and be positive that what you're doing works for everyone involved.

Good Luck!

Ditto Deanna Leigh.

Things to do & keep:
(1)your routine... ie: pre-nap and pre-bed. But allow some time for him to unwind before you actually put him down to nap. For me, it takes about 1/2 hour to unwind my kids, before they actually go down to nap. For me, I make everything dark, make everything quiet pre-nap/bed.
(2) try pushing his nap back to about 9:30....or 10:00. But try it in 1/2 hour increments first.
(3) give him a good feeding before hand.

Things to keep in mind:
1) at this age, and when they are developmentally changing or hitting milestones, sleep patterns DO change. It's a phase. It will go back to normalcy... but you need to be patient. ie: your son is now pulling-up to standing. THIS is something they do because it is a developmental instinct and 'new' ability...so it DOES throw a wrench into their 'ability' to fall asleep. Once they get used to their new 'talent' they will even out. He is NOT 'refusing' to lay down.... at this age, they DON'T KNOW how to put themselves back down into a perfect prone position to 'sleep' again, like an adult. So, you have to help him.... it's par for the course. Any new "ability' they have, requires you to help lay them down again, unless they can do it themselves. This can be repetitious and they will 'stand' up again and again. It's just their 'instinct' and how they 'learn.' Its normal. THEN... later he will know how to sit down, then lay down.
2) Whenever a 'new' motor-skill develops or a new cognitive ability or separation anxiety, or milestone occurs, this throws a hiccup into their sleep 'ability.' Sleep patterns are NOT static in babies nor children nor teens. It changes. All the time.
3) Rule out the typical, ie: teething, gas, hunger, poopy diaper. These can wake any baby.

A 'schedule' I've had for my son, who is now 2.5 years old:
7:00a.m.= he wakes
10:00= morning nap for 2 hours
3:00p.m.= afternoon nap for 2 hours
8:00-8:30= bedtime
In between that, is his meals and play/activity time.

My son, since I"ve had the same routine for him since a baby, is so used to it... and he is like 'auto-pilot' with naps/bedtime now. He does not protest about it. He will in fact even tell me if he is tired and wants to nap, and then will go about getting in his 'routine.' During any developmental changes or inability to nap... I just push his nap back a little. Or, if he cannot nap (which is rare), I just take him out of the crib. Then, he will nap at his next nap time. So, you also have to be flexible, but while keeping to a routine about it....

My daughter, who is 6 years old, has also napped in the afternoons at the same time as my son... because I have the SAME routine for BOTH of them. They know it, and they don't argue about it. Thank goodness. I think because it is such a 'normal' routine for them.. and I have done it with them all this time. But for my daughter now at her age, if she cannot nap or does not want to, I don't push it... and we just have "quiet" time.

No routine will be perfect everyday... but if you keep to it... and allow for temporary changes... it will still provide stability in your day and their naps. Which is important.

The main thing is, is to 'cue' into your baby... and try to put him to nap before they get over-tired. My son goes to nap at a certain 'time' because I "know" that that is when he gets tired.

You don't have to have baby cry it out... or cry to fall asleep. Just going in at short intervals to reassure him is fine... but if he ends up 'not' being able to nap.. .then take him out, and maybe 1/2 hour later try again to put him to nap. He's probably just changing.

All the best,
Susan

My boy's routine is different now that he's older, but back when he was eight months, it was approximately the following:

6:30am - wake up
7:30am - breakfast
9:30am - bottle 7 quiet-time
10am - nap
11am - wake from nap
11:45am - lunch & get ready for daycare
12:30pm - drop off at day-care

Now, I don't think he was kept on a schedule at daycare, it was more like, whatever he felt like is what he got. In general, because he'd eaten at home, he wouldn't be hungry when the others were getting lunch at 12:30pm, so he'd play around with the others. At 2:00pm, they had to pickup schoolkids, so he napped in the car until about 3pm, when they got back to the house. He then ate with the big kids during their after-school snack and we picked him up at 4:45pm. At that time, if was hungry he'd get fed in the car on the way home. Sometimes he hadn't napped becuase of all the excitement and at 4:45pm he'd go down for a quick nap, usually until about 5:15-5:30pm when we got home. At home we'd have playtime and/or dinner, depending on whether he ate or napped in the car, then at around 7pm he'd get bath. This took anywhere from 10-45minutes, depending on how much he wanted to play in the water, whether he was okay with drying his hair and how much he'd allow for tooth & hair brushing. Usually by 7:45pm we'd be at the book-reading phase, quietly playing in his room, then at about 8:30pm, he climbed into my lap so I could sing him his prayers and that was it.

Hope that schedule helps you figure some things out. One of the things I learned was that his schedule was changing every 3-4 weeks, and they we'd cycle through some schedules. Nowadays, he's on 1 nap/day for about 1.5-2 hours, and bedtime at 8-8:30pm.

Hi M.,

If your son is fighting it that much, then try moving it back. The AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) says that infants need to coltrol their own schedule. hey should be fed when they are hungry, and allow themselves to sleep when they feel the need. This allows them to grow into their own schedule. Every child is different, but as your son grows he will push his own nap tme back, and then eventually cut naps down to once a day. I remember the frustrations of finally understanding my sons schedule, and then they would change it. Hang in there, you are doing great having a routine, but maybe it needs to be tweaked along the way as he gets older.

M.,

Maybe he is trying to tell you he does not need that morning nap anymore. Try going a few days with out it and you never know his afternoon nap might get longer.

Good Luck

It may just be a short phase. I have a 13 mo old, and she is on the same schedule. Up around 6:00-6:30 in the morning and back down for a nap around 9:00-10:00. But htere have been weeks where things were different. My husband always says maybe she is having a growth spurt. I know that makes no sense withthe nap schedule...hahahaha. Eight mo old, he is probably learing and exploring so many new things. Be patient and i am sure things will return to normal soon.

I have an 8 month too, but she takes VERY short naps. She goes all day with about an hour to an hour in a half between 2-3 naps, but I guess since you didn't say I'll assume he's more of a normal napper. I went to like 4 hours awake time to try to get her to sleep longer... which sometimes I can get an hour.
I think whatever method works for you as far as getting him asleep is up to you. My baby normal either falls asleep in the car (older child keeps us busy) or breast. Other than that sometimes I do a little routine and then just put her in bed and she'll cry for about 10 minutes and go to sleep. I worry that if I start doing all that extra stuff she won't learn how to go to sleep on her own. But do what works for you.

M.,

I would spread his naps out to 3 hours from the time he wakes up and give him a bit more of play time until he needs to lay down. Also, you probably need to start to just leave him alone once you put him down for his nap. I know it is heart wrenching to listen to his crying but he has learned that you will come back to him because of his crying and you need to break the cycle. It seems to me that after you have come back into the room 3 or 4 times to calm him, he is more than likely just finally too exhausted to cry anymore and finally passes out. So re-train him...read him a book (or as many pages as you can before he becomes disinterested :) ) to calm him before nap time then lay him in his crib with his favorite small stuffed animal (so he has someone to talk to), give him a kiss and tell him it is nap time, then leave. And do not return until he wakes from his nap. At first he will cry until he falls asleep which may take a while but after just a few days he will know that nap time means nap time and Mommy is not returning until nap time is over.

It will get easier for you and he will start going down easier without crying. I had to do this with my daughter who just turned one and it worked perfectly. Now when I put her down for her nap she may cry for just a minute or two, then she will just sit in her crib talking to her dolly until she falls asleep. Sometimes she will even talk for a half an hour before finally falling asleep but she is still getting quiet time by herself. As long as I know that she is safe, not hurting, fed and has a dry diaper I just resolve that she is fine even if she is crying and just give her her space.

Good luck!
W.

Try to "wing it" for a few days and write down what seems to be his natural rhythm. After about 3 days a pretty clear pattern will become (unless he is sick or there is a major change like a trip or visitor in the house) clear to you and you can develop a routine based on that.

Babies go through so many changes in the first year - what worked at 4 mos may not be right for him anymore. Maybe he needs one long nap right in the middle of the day or a later morning nap.

At that age my daughter was waking between 6:30 and 7 am, napping around 10ish for 45 min - 1 hour, then napping again at 2ish - 4ish. Of course this was all give or take a half hour or so, and some days all bets were off if she was teething or it was a holiday, we did a day trip, etc.

Good luck!

my second daughter did this too. i tried and kept trying to get her to nap but basically, she was done napping! (in her little mind.) what i did was play with her in her room at her prior nap time. so, i broke the negative thought of the room being a boring, alone-time place. somedays she'd get tired and want to take a nap and others she'd stay awake until after lunch time and be ready for her nap then. about 11:30 sometimes not until 12:30. this was really different than her sister, who was still taking 2 naps a day at 3 years old!
one daughter was on the clock and the other was a free spirit! hope this helps!

It sounds like it may be time to adjust your schedule. His sleep needs are not the same as they were when he was 4 months. My daughter is 7 months and also wakes up at 7:00. She doesn't go down for a nap until 10:30 or 11:00. She seems to do well with 3 to 4 hour wake sessions before napping. I would suggest pushing his nap back a little at a time and see how that changes his reaction.

Good luck! I know it's not fun, my daughter fought sleep for the first 5 months.

Hi M.,

I have an 8 month old right now also so it was good to read everyones responses. My little guy wakes between 6:30 & 7:00 & he has cereal & fruit for breakfast (he still wakes around 4:00-5:00 a.m. for a feeding). Then play time until about 8:00-8:30, then milk. Within 3 hrs of him waking (depending on what time that was), he'll need a nap. I usually lay him down when he starts rubbing his eyes or getting cranky. Typically, the more tired he is, the more he'll hollar when I put him down. But, often he'll just talk to himself & fall asleep. Sometimes he'll hollar a bit & then fall asleep. I usually don't let him all out cry very often. Anyway, so if he goes down for a nap by 10:00, he'll usually get up by 11:30/12:00. Then milk by noon & then he eats food about a half hr/hr after that. Then he'll usually need another nap by 2:30/3:00. He'll sleep for about 1 1/2-2 hrs. Then milk when he wakes up. I feed him dinner around 6:00 p.m. then bath by 7:00 & book reading by 7:30/7:45 & I nurse him again by 8:00. I then lay him down usually still awake, but drowsy.

I am about to start a new job so I'm sure his schedule will change for daycare. Ugh..the stress!