Nap time and having a life

I finally figured out that one of the boys was ready for a nap in his crib. Jonathan has been so fussy this past week that I was pulling out my hair. Leave it to my Mom to say, it sounds like he needs to be put in his crib. Jonathan is my social butterfly and will stay awake when we go places during the day. If he falls alseep, he does not sleep well.

Yesterday, we fed as usual in the afternoon and I took him to his crib. I layed him down on his tummy, covered him with a blankie and he was out like a light. He slept for almost 3 hours! His brother was the same way. When they woke up, he did not scream and was ready for a bottle. The day ended just as good.

So, I would like to go to church today, but I am scared to ruin our greatness we had yesterday. So, how do I have a life and have wonderful, rested kids like we did yesterday. Can I not go to church again?

Please help...thanks,
Jenn

 

We didn't have much of a reliable schedule until nearly 3 months when they started feeding way less (eating more at a time). Now, we can plan our day around the twins and it normally works out fine. On a side, note, I'd be so nervous to put the babies to sleep on their tummies. I still don't do it with mine.

 

It is amazing what the babies tell us if we can understand them. My mom did the same thing with DD when she was a baby.. she was screaming... and we put her in her crib (with plug) and she was out. Wow! GOod luck.

 

We don't do nap schedules. We tried but it was too constricting for all of us and I got tired of fighting the babies to get them to sleep on a schedule at preferably the same time as each other. One of mine has far less sleep needs than the other. Also, it was hard for me to get anything done if I had to plan around nap times (like grocery shopping, errand running, etc.). I know that all the books and "rules" suggest to have structured naps, but that's something we've chosen, at least for now, to do our own way.

Our boys nap whenever and wherever they like. They nap in the car or stroller if we're out and about, they nap in their playpen if we're home. Sometimes I move them to their cribs if they seem to want to go there for a nap. Since giving up on the whole structured nap thing both of the boys sleep better at night and at daytime, seem happier, and I'm a much happier mommy.

Every baby is different and we, as parents, have instincts to guide us to what works best for our babies, ourselves, and our lifestyles.

 

Church is important enough to us that we suffered through the disruption in schedule. But we were also pretty lucky because for the most part they'd sleep ok in their carseat carriers to make it through. There was another family at church who had twins 11 days older than mine and they always pushed the stroller into church with their sleeping boys. There were a few times when the girlies just weren't coping well and we left early. I think you can just try to make it work for you on Sundays, if you're really wanting to go. Then keep to the schedule that works the rest of the week.

 

I think you'll be able to go to church again w/out worrying about naptime when they are 3/4 months. We were able to get more of a routine going and things were more predictable. Does your church offer a Sat. evening service?

 

Of course you can go to church! My hubby, babies and I go every Sunday. And, yes, it falls right during their morning nap! Of course. It's not a big deal though. My children are on a rigid nap and bedtime schedule and they have been since birth. It was established well before 3/4 months old (I read that somebody said it doesn't tend to happen before then...it did for us LOL). They nap in the morning (9:30am-12noon), the afternoon (1:45pm-4:00pm), and the late afternoon (5:30pm-6:30pm). Bedtime is at 8:00pm sharp. When we go to church, service is at 9:30am...right when the morning nap is supposed to begin. Now it would be great to drop them off at the church daycare/Sunday School and have the people nap them, but everyone wants to hold them! They end up missing the nap altogether every Sunday. It's not a biggie, we just come home, by 11:00am, and either feed them their lunch an hour early and put them right down, or we sleep them from 11:00am-12:00noon, feed them lunch and then put them back down right away with no awake play time. It usually works better to feed them as soon as we walk in the door, even though it's early, change their diapers and put them right down. They end up making up for the missed morning nap by taking a 3.5-4 hour long afternoon nap. By the time they wake up at 4:00pm for dinner (we don't feed dinner earlier just because lunch was earlier...it can't throw off our WHOLE DAY), the day is back on schedule and we go about our business. I am the most militant person I know when it comes to strict scheduling (the only way we all survive!), but even my kids can cope with a day of "off-ness". I'm sure your LOs will be fine, you just have to tweek things a bit, but it's TOTALLY possible. Life must go on!

 

I didn't go to church w/the boys until they were 8 weeks old. I've gone since then. It does mess up their napping schedule but since I'm pretty careful to guard their sleep the rest of the week, they usually handle it pretty well.

 

We got on a pretty predictable schedule around 4 months starting with the morning nap. There were plenty of days that they took that nap in the car.ardon:

You have to do what is best for you and your family.

 

We have a flexible nap schedule most days. Usually they take a long morning nap and a shorter afternoon nap, sometimes yet another nap thrown in. I think that a lot of the time, you don't have a life when they're napping so often.

We do our best to make it to church, but as it is usually during naptime we often have one baby have a complete meltdown during the service! Oh, well. This, too, shall pass. And, I figure if there's one place where babies - even screaming - should be tolerated well, it's at church. Most parents have been there, done that, and I think they understand.

 

We make it to church every Sunday. A few tricks can help. Once babies are napping well on their own, it seems hard to get them to sleep by holding them in church. What seems to help my girls is that I bring their blankets they sleep with to church with me (I still swaddle). So when it is nap time, I step out to the nursery/cry room and swaddle them up and give them their paci. It usually signals nap time to them and they are usually don't fight the nap too bad. I hand off the sleeping or almost asleep baby to whoever is helping me that day and then do the same for the other one.

I remember for my DS I would sing the same song at nap time every time, so when I took him out and sang or hummed it to him in the nursery, he usually got the hint that it was time to go to sleep.

Sundays being a little off schedule didn't seem to mess with the schedule the rest of the week.