ok, tell me what your "nap" schedule was at 4 months

Since I've just spent the last 1.5 hours trying to get them to take a nap that was NOT in their swing or boppy, and they both "napped" for probably a total of 15 minutes..what do you do? One was in their crib in nursery, the other in the cosleeper in our bedroom. THis is about the fifth time I've tried, but still no success. They CANNOT put themselves to sleep and I can't get one to stay down long enough to get the other to sleep! I really feel they're ready to be on some sort of nap schedule...flexible sure, if they looke tired earlier, or are wide awake a little later, but I do feel they need some sort of loose schedule at this point. They say kids are happier with schedules..... Am I fooling myself? Is it too early? What's the weight limit on the swings anyways? I've got some chunky monkies that need to learn to sleep somewhere else! heehee

Hmmm...I think I wrote a very similar post at 3 months!

 

I'm pretty sure we started to try to follow Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child (Weissbluth). I wouldn't say they were all that ready for a schedule, but I diligently tried creating one then. I would just try to put them in their cribs when they showed signs of sleepiness, and always within two hours of waking. Sometimes this meant putting them down only an hour after they'd been up. There really wasn't a schedule, it was more about not letting them get over tired. The last nap of the day (around 4 or 5pm) was usually taken in the stroller or car, but all the other ones were in their cribs. I almost always put them down together, even if one wasn't ready. Yes, there was alot of crying .

This was one of the hardest things we've had to overcome, but I swear that your consistency will pay off. It will drive you to the brink of insanity, but then one day around 5-6mo, you'll start to see a pattern emerge . A morning nap that starts around 9am, an afternoon nap that starts around 1-2pm, and then maybe a catnap in the late afternoon if they need it.

Hang in there! 4mo, was hands down the most challenging time I've had with the boys so far. I promise you it will get easier IF you start a good napping pattern now. And to answer your question, no, it's not too early to start.

 

I may be in the minority, but mine napped in their swings and bouncies until they were 7 months old. My theory, if they are napping... they are getting their rest, and I am as well. There is no fussing, so everyone is happy right?

 

In bed at 6 pm
Wake up for bottle between 5-6 am
Back to bed until 7 am (scheduled awakening)
Nap between 9 am - 10.30 / 11.00 am
Nap between 1 pm - 2.30 / 3.00 pm
Back in bed at 6 pm

The afternoon nap coincides with my oldest's nap. I had to push them a little bit for this schedule, but it was the only way to keep my sanity, and they got used to it pretty quickly. However they do need the early bed time.

 

HA! I was trying to get mine to sleep probably at the same time you were! I try to get them to nap between 9 and 11 in the morning and then 12-3 in the afternoon. Rarely happens. Usually, they sleep a lot in the morning and hardly anything in the afternoon, leaving me with fussy, fussy boys late in the day!

 

QUOTE(tracymcg @ May 24 2007, 08:48 PM) [snapback]267691[/snapback]
I'm pretty sure we started to try to follow Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child (Weissbluth). I wouldn't say they were all that ready for a schedule, but I diligently tried creating one then. I would just try to put them in their cribs when they showed signs of sleepiness, and always within two hours of waking. Sometimes this meant putting them down only an hour after they'd been up. There really wasn't a schedule, it was more about not letting them get over tired. The last nap of the day (around 4 or 5pm) was usually taken in the stroller or car, but all the other ones were in their cribs. I almost always put them down together, even if one wasn't ready. Yes, there was alot of crying .

This was one of the hardest things we've had to overcome, but I swear that your consistency will pay off. It will drive you to the brink of insanity, but then one day around 5-6mo, you'll start to see a pattern emerge . A morning nap that starts around 9am, an afternoon nap that starts around 1-2pm, and then maybe a catnap in the late afternoon if they need it.

Hang in there! 4mo, was hands down the most challenging time I've had with the boys so far. I promise you it will get easier IF you start a good napping pattern now. And to answer your question, no, it's not too early to start.


I could have written this almost word for word! I agree with all of this. I started attempting a schedule at 4 months, under Weissbluth's rules, and they eventually settled into a routine (meaning more than 30 minutes four times per day) around 6.5-7 months. It was a couple of months of frustration because like I said they would only nap for 30 min., sometimes 45 at a time. BUT they were great sleepers at night at that point, so I couldn't complain too much.

 

our 4 mo schedule was chaos -- things didn't get more regular til 5 months. SO you're close.

then i went to the Weissbluth method of no more than 2 hours awake and watched like a hawk for sleepy signs. it really worked.

Teri D

 

I didn't even know nap and schedule could be used in the same sentence!!! and neither word can be used to describe anything that happens around here!! sorry I am no help!!!

 

funny I was just thiking how easy my twins go down for naps...unless they are overtired
I let them sleep in swings alot, mostly in the morning since I figure they just had a good night sleep.
Recently I have been trying to put them down in their crib at least once a day, sometimes they sleep for 30 min sometimes 2+ hours! Right now I am not too worried about it as long as they sleep at night.

with my first I tried and tried to make her sleep where and when I wanted to and only ended up frustrated. I would do the Hogg hold and put down hold and put down until I was in tears b/c the minute she went in the crib she woke up and cried until I picked her up. this went on for naps until after she hit the 6 month mark, then she was much easier.
she still takes an at least an hour nap to this day.
good luck with your napping whatever you decide to do!

Alyson

 

At 4 months mine were mostly napping in the swing, bouncy seat, stroller, or my lap. We didn't start trying to teach them to fall asleep on their own until 5 months (at which time they took to it pretty well). They'd sleep for an hour or two in the stroller (while I walked my widdle legs into the ground) but otherwise it was 45 minutes max. I thought it would NEVER get better, but magically around 7 months their naps started to lengthen.

 

Our girls are 4 months "adjusted" age right now. We have yet to develop an "organized" nap schedule, but a little bit of a pattern is starting to show. They usually (not always) take a morning nap very well...they fall asleep about 1.5-2 hours after waking up in the morning (AM nap is usually 1.5 hours to 2). And, they are usually falling asleep on their own in their bouncies, swing, carseat or pack-n-play...sometimes one of them needs help calming herself still, but we don't always have to calm her all the way to sleep.

However, after the morning nap we haven't been able to establish a good afternoon nap. One DD still sleeps about one hour out of every three during the afternoon/evening. Our other DD may take a nap or she may not...if she does it's usually later than what I would want...at around 5pm. But, if we don't let her do it she is SO cranky at bedtime and she gets hyperstimulated. I guess I'm not in too much of a hurry to "fix" their naps quite yet because they are both sleeping through the night 90% of the time (from 8:30PM to 6:30AM).

On the weekends I try to have them nap in the PM better, but it's hard when they are at daycare all week because I can't be consistent. I guess I'm hoping the PM nap will fall into place in a few months...maybe that's being optimistic

GL.

 

Mine napped in their swings for a good long while. They didn't regularly nap in their cribs until they were on a pretty good schedule, which was maybe at 9 months (talking a feeding/sleeping good schedule). It didn't hurt their napping ability, they nap fabulously in their cribs today.

 

At 5 months I started to notice a pattern. I would say 5-6 months an actual schedule began.

 

When you started to see some kind of schedule 5-6 mo, what time did your twins wake up in the morning??

 

At 4 months, mine still napped in their swings-which by the way my first child used till she was 1, so they can hold a lot of weight!! I let them nap whenever and wherever. Up until just the last month, they have fallen into a nap schedule. I never pushed it because I didn't want to end up frustrated and crying along with them. Things do fall into place-promise.

 

Breaking them in to the crib for naps is really, really hard. I started it around 10 weeks. We def. followed Healthy Sleep Habits and I feel like his meathods have helped tremendously. I would look at it in stages rather than getting them from A to B too quickly. Firstly, we started by doing lots of soothing till they were really, really drousy, like their eyes rolling in the back of their head drousy. Once we achieved that, we would place them in the crib w/ pacifier. For the first week, there were lots of trips back and forth to re-sooth if they didn't fall asleep. After the first week or two, it got remarkably better and they would sleep in the crib for naps. We did the intensive soothing for probably 2 full months and have recently gotten to the stage were one of our girls can be put in the crib awake, but close to her nap/bed time and she will fall asleep with the paci. Our other one is very close to this but still needs a little bit of help. We do a bit of controlled crying. Our one that needs a bit more help will cry sometimes for up to 10 mins, but then she is out. Sometimes we go in to give her the paci if it goes past 10, but then she is out with the paci.

Just takes time, persistance and support. Its helpful if you can have a person help you. If I was on my own, I would use a bouncer to entertain one why the other was soothed to sleep. Good luck!

 

i'm in total agreement. at 4 months our boys weren't ready for a schedule and we let them sleep on demand. they slept wherever they were comfortable, which usually meant a bouncy chair. it wasn't until maybe 5 months that napping became a little more scheduled and we started putting them down in a darkened, quiet room.

 

My girls are 3 months old and we don't have a nap schedule either. I've just recently started trying to incorporate an afternoon nap from 12-2 or 1-3. Other than that it's spurts of sleep throughout the day. I'm happy if they nap while we're in the car, running errands, or walking the dog. One DD sleeps in her swing and the other on her boppy. This is how they sleep at night too. I can't get them to take to their crib. I'm not a fan of the CIO method and honestly don't think I have the strength or will power to make it work. One DD is just starting to come out of her colic stage so I'm not even sure the CIO method would work with her and the other has decided to only poop every 2 days so her stomach bothers her causing her to cry a lot. I do breastfeed still and am super careful about what I eat.

 

If you are in the minority, then I am in there with ya! Ours also napped in swings until they were 7 months old. They made a super easy transition (thankfully) to napping in their cribs at 7 months. They just seemed ready to be out of the swings so out they came. To the OP - I would recommend that you go with the napping method that works best for your babies - don't worry about where they're sleeping at this point, so long as they're sleeping!

ETA - we didn't really have a nap "schedule" so much at 4 months old. They tended to be unable to stay awake for much longer than 90 minutes at a time so they were having 3-4 naps a day. Only at around 7 months did napping become a bit more regular and since then they've been on a modified 2-3-4 schedule which works quite well for us. I know mine weren't ready for a 2-3-4 schedule at 4 months though.