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Trouble w/ baby's schedule
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Question:
I am having a bit of trouble establishing a routine for my almost 6 mo DS.
Up until a few days ago, I was putting him down for a nap whenever he
displayed signs of being tired. Now, I would like him on a more predictable
schedule. Today I was hoping to get him down at 10 then 2 for his naps.
The 10:00 worked out fine, but he got sleepy at 1:00 so I put him down.
Obviously he won't make it between the time he gets up and the time he goes
to bed for the night so he's going to have to get a late PM nap. I know
it's not advisable to put them down for a nap so late in the day, but he
just won't make it that long. I try very hard to stretch him out at night
even when he does take a late in the day nap and he sometimes has a hard
time making it to 7:00. I've tried putting him down anywhere from 7:00-8:00
and still he gets up during the night. He had a good couple of week stretch
where he was completely sleeping through the night then something (don't
know what) threw that all off track.
He's still getting up twice a night. He'll get up around 4 afters after he
gets put down. I've tried the "cry it out" approach and "just rub his back"
approach, but he still just howls like the wind. I always succumb to giving
him a bottle to get back to sleep which is something I'd like to eliminate
because I don't want him associating falling back asleep with having to get
a bottle. After he gets up that first time, he's usually up again
4:30-5:00. I go through the whole routine again. With an almost 3 yo DD
who gets up anywhere between 6:00-7:30, I don't get a whole lot of sleep
after putting DS down for the second time at night.
I am really suffering with sleep deprivation and need some relief. I do
take a nap when both of them *happen* to be napping at the same time, but my
naps are so short lived (maybe 45 mins) because of my own body (mind) that
won't let me really get into a deep sleep for a nap.
Any suggestions?
Answer:
I hate to say it, but I think you are likely
overly optimistic to think you can get a two-nap, sleep
all night without eating schedule with a six month old.
Some will do it, but I don't think all babies will do
that by a long shot. Also, 6 months is early for some
babies to cut back from 3 naps to 2 naps.
Personally, I'd assume he's going to wake once
or maybe even twice a night for a bit longer and figure
out how you can make that work best for you. Does the
baby get up when your daughter gets up? If not, can
you move his wake time to coincide with hers? When
do you go to bed? Can you arrange for one of his
nighttime feedings to be right before you go to bed?
-FWIW - my six month old only takes two naps during the week (and
sometimes only one on the weekends!), but she also doesn't sleep all
night....She should probably sleep more, but doesn't.
Her nap times and length during the week vary - the babysitter just
puts her down when she shows she's tired. Sometimes that's at 9am,
sometimes 10, sometimes later (depends ALOT on how she did the night
before). Same deal in the afternoon. If she hasn't slept at all in the
afternoon then she'll sleep when we get home - ~5pm for 30-60mins.
Generally I try start the bedtime routine around 7ish, but I also nurse
her to sleep so often it's 8 or later before she's actually asleep.
She generally wakes up 2x/night, I nurse her back to sleep...she's kind
of still reverse cycling. Some nights she'll nurse for an hour,
sometimes 15 mins.
What saves us is co-sleeping. We're actually trying to move her to a
crib now, because I think she's waking up and nursing more because her
food source is within grabbing distance ;-). But if we hadn't been
co-sleeping, I never would have slept these last months.
Not sure that helps a whole lot. I think my DD has fallen into a
pattern, at least during the week, on her own rather than fitting her
into a schedule. The weekends are another problem (I think she decides
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