My daughter started sleeping through the night when she was about six weeks old. I remember everyone telling me that newborns never sleep, but hey, my kid was sleeping through the night and I was well rested… so what did they know? When Chloe was around seven months old, she hit a major bump in the road. She was never a great napper to begin with, but I could at least count on her to sleep through the night. At seven months old, she was teething , her papa went on his first business trip since she’d been born, and she hit a major sleep regression patch. This sleep regression lasted well after her first birthday when we finally said “enough is enough” and Papa Jumper sleep trained her.
Now that she’s sleep trained, I can count on her taking a 2-3 hour nap every afternoon and being in bed by 8pm. We cherish this routine. Nap time means I can get housework done, catch up on work for my clients, take a shower without worrying about the baby, or even take a nap if I feel like it. Her 8pm bedtime means Papa Jumper and I have extra time for ourselves in the evenings, and a few extra hours alone on the weekends while she naps. We’ve gone from our baby refusing to nap and sleep in her crib to walking to her bedroom every night at 8pm. Sounds perfect, right?
Well, there’s a catch.
How flexible are you when it comes to sleep schedules? How much does it affect your LO when you change their schedule?
blogger / nectarine / 2010 posts
I could have written this! Little M hates to nap and if we go anywhere in the AM he will fall asleep in the car. A 5 minute nap is all he needs to recharge for the day and not nap at all! It’s exhausting. We don’t really have a nap routine, but I’ll be starting one this weekend since he’s apparently a great napper at daycare, albeit for 45 minutes.
Our bedtime routine, however, is something I never stray from. He STTN at a few weeks old and we haven’t changed a thing since (except creep earlier and earlier.) It’s bath at 5:30 and bed by about 6. We can push it about a half an hour occasionally, but I don’t like to. There’s really not that much I’d like to do that trumps a good night’s sleep. So when DH asks if I want to meet up after work with friends, I usually just prefer a nice bath and rock with my boy…and a glorious night’s sleep.
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
We’re very strict with her nap and bedtime schedules. We just figure we need to do what’s best for her so she gets the sleep she needs. Especially on weekends, she needs her naps because she doesn’t nap well at daycare. I have swim lessons planned for her and am praying they don’t bump up against her naps which are shifting right now.
hostess / wonderful grape / 20803 posts
*I* am strict about the routine. My husband wishes for more flexibility. He JUST called me asking if we could go out for pizza after work…..at 6….when our son’s bedtime is 7. His reasoning is that he can just “sleep in.” My son never, ever, sleeps in, so it was a stupid suggestion.
grapefruit / 4717 posts
I was just thinking about this over the last week. My son is a terrible napper, and he’ll only nap maybe a total of 1.5-2 hours at daycare and isn’t much better or more predictable at home. He’s getting better at sleeping at night. We went out on Sunday from around 1-4:30p, and I knew he was tired. Tried a stroller nap, but there was TOO MUCH TO SEE, so that just didn’t happen. Ended up with a slightly earlier bedtime. (He goes down around 7p, and we’re strict about that.)
Since we established his strict bedtime, we haven’t dared stay out too late. Just not worth messing things up.
And I’m scared to travel for a weekend to visit family, as that will surely mean a disruption of our “routine,” and the last time we did the same trip, his sleep was SO messed up for months after.
kiwi / 549 posts
Our life revolves around nap and bed time… but we wouldn’t have it any other way. LO won’t sleep otherwise, or things all get thrown off for days. When baby doesn’t sleep, mama doesn’t want to sleep. When mama doesn’t sleep, all hell breaks loose.
guest
We never sleep trained, and have kept a very flexible schedule on purpose. Our son napped when tired, and went to sleep when tired, be that at 7 or 10 because we were bbqing with family. Of course there were difficult times getting him to sleep, but now that he’s almost 3, we can do anything with him. A 20 minute nap in the car is fine, going to bed really late and sleeping in works too. We take him out to dinner, over to late “parties” at friends houses, and even summer outdoor concerts. We cherish having him with us for everything we do.
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
charlie is 3 and i have to say that i have absolutely no regrets about being strict with his routine. we’re much more flexible now that he’s older and on the cusp of dropping his nap. but a routine helped us stay sane as parents because the days were more predictable. plus they helped charlie get all the sleep he needed!
we’re still sticklers for routine with olive, and i suspect we will always adhere to some sort of routine for many years to come!
persimmon / 1081 posts
We are pretty strict about schedules, and I think it’s served us well. We will stray from our schedule for holidays, travel and special occasions, but in general DD seems to thrive on the routine.
guest
Like Erin, we also don’t follow a strict schedule on purpose. Our 2-year-old has traveled many times with us to different time zones and done really well adjusting. We love being able to bring her with us when we go out to dinner and outdoor summer concerts. She will sleep in when she needs to and take longer naps to compensate for a shorter night. Every kid and every family is different, so we just find what works for us!
blogger / pomelo / 5400 posts
We try to be as consistent as possible. Honestly, it’s more for *our* benefit, though — I like being able to count on a certain number of child-free hours! However, for special occasions we can deviate a bit and he usually does just fine. A car nap always works in a pinch, though I try to make sure we’ll be in the car at least 90 mins. so he can get a decent stretch of sleep — you’re right in that 20 mins. doesn’t do anyone any favors!
blogger / pomegranate / 3201 posts
We are pretty strict about bedtime, but never have been about naps. I really like the flexibility to be able to do things during the day without having to worry about his nap schedule and I don’t think he has suffered because of it. He’s a pretty happy guy most of the time, even if he doesn’t nap well. I guess I’m lucky?
hostess / eggplant / 11068 posts
My LO is the same! She is SO set on her routine that it is hard for us to be flexible. HOWEVER, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I don’t mind not being flexible if it means that LO’s sleep schedule is predictable and healthy.
guest
We’re very strict about LO’s bedtime. If she’s not in bed by 7:30-8 ish, she’s up all night and it takes forever to get her down. Nap time however is different, we like to be able to go out and do things so we’re not too strict about naps. She naps in the car or the stroller, or if we’re home in her crib. It made the transition to day care a lot easier for us too.
persimmon / 1472 posts
We try to keep her routine consistent and plan our weekend outings at least after we first nap. DD is in the edge of possibly dropping her 3rd nap so I’ve been pushing her wake time a bit to see what works. She is in bed by 8pm latest except during special occasions when we go out – those cases usually end with a melt down in the car, rushing through bedtime routine once home, and lights out right away. She has been getting better at tv occasional changes and taking naps on the fly but bedtime is still very important.
guest
Isn’t this what everyone does? I feel like it’s me who suffers if my kiddos aren’t sleeping their best, so yes, I bend over backwards to schedule around nap and bedtimes for them.
It can be challenging, and what it usually means is that my husband and I might miss out on something fun for ourselves. But it’s a consequence I”m willing to accept. Temporarily. They’re little. And some days it seems interminable, but it’s not. Give it a year and I’ll bet your schedule grows surprisingly more open.
hostess / papaya / 10540 posts
We aren’t as strict with set times as we are the routines surrounding things, especially sleep. When we are at home, it’s great. If we are anywhere but home, it’s super rough. LO is so used to reading in his chair, then sleeping in his crib. So, when we don’t have his chair to rock in and especially when he has to sleep in a pack n play while we are on vacation he just doesn’t sleep well. And naps, we are lucky to get him to nap.