My 6 month old daughter is not good about taking two naps. She takes about an hour nap around 10:30am, but she won't get tired for a 2nd nap until 6pm. Bedtime is about 7pm sometimes 8pm. She sleeps good at night (doesn't really have a choice, I close her door. hee hee).
I'm wanting to know from you moms that are awesome with routines in your household to let me know what your 6 month old schedule looks like. My 2 yr old son at her age was taking 2 regular naps a day and was Awesome with routines so I am ready for her to have a SET routine and stick to it. Ready or not...here it comes....
My daugther took two naps for at least a year, maybe more. So, I figured my son would be the same way. Not so. He went to one nap really early on, and he's still on that schedule at two years. He goes down right after lunch and sleeps for 2-2.5 hrs. Bedtime is 8pm, and he's not cranky in the evenings. He wakes up at about 7-7:30.
I'm another fan of Dr. Marc. I have an almost 3 year and a 6 month old. Wish I had the book 1st time around. My 6 month old wakes up around 8:00, 1st nap is an hour later (I know it sounds crazy. Sleeps for about 2 hours. Up for another 1.5 - 2 hours. Naps again for about 2 hours. Up again for about 2 hours. Short (1 hr) nap around 5. Down for the night about 7.
This all just came about this week after really sticking to Dr. Marc's advice. You have to become an expert on when YOUR baby is tired. I look at my baby more than the clock.
I posted last Friday because I chose that day to start "sleep training" that day and thought I would lose my mind and needed advice/support. And only 1 week later, I see tremendous success.
I am the last person who I would have thought would subscribe to sleep training, but I was getting no sleep and was very grouchy and short with my boys during the day. So after trying every other method, I tried it and IT WORKED!
P.S. My baby is exclusively breastfed and was in the family bed, so he also was waking sometimes hourly.
The best schedule for a baby to be on, is the one that works (ie they sleep) and not necessarily one mandated by some book, older sibling's baby nap patterns or parent's best intentions. If that means napping later in the afternoon, then so be it I say. What's important is that they sleep, are happy, etc. Not all babies respond well to imposed sleep schedules. In that case, it's better to listen to the baby's cues.
My son's naps changed several times throughout his first year (and second) depending on what developmental milestone he hit. I found that carefully watching and listening to him was important in determining how to best deal with the nap. Fighting them, or trying to alter them only made him more tired (and cranky). I will say this, nap time was a sacred time in our house and was an important part of our daily "schedule". These sorts of changes are completely normal and to be expected btw. At six months (exactly) he started crawling and cruising. He wanted to nap later in the afternoons since things were so interesting.
As long as your baby is sleeping, and sleeping well at night, consider yourself very fortunate. I'd say don't try and fix what isn't broken. It's ok to let your child have a "say" in his schedule -- especially if it makes things easier for you.
My daughter is now 7 months. She has a great schedule, but I prefer that the most important of her sleeping times is the one from 8:00PM until 7:00 AM. Her naps are around 10 am as well and sometimes she will grab a second one between the hours of noon and four pm, and sometimes not at all. If she is really tired after five, I just try to keep her occupied, or give her one of those mesh bag chew things with bananas in it or grahm cracker in it and she loves it. That keeps her occupied until its time for bath at 7:30. Hope this helps. (Mesh bag is my best friend)
When my son was born, I read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth. It was FABULOUS! The two take aways that really helped with setting up my son (he's 14 months now) on a routine was the following: The morning nap should start no more than 2 hours after he woke up. And don't let your child sleep past 8 am, so as to not disrupt his morning nap.
So, if your son wakes up at 7 am, he should be going down for his morning nap around 9 am. It really worked for me. After our son is awak about 1.5 hours, I start the "bedtime" routine: quiet play, reading books, changing diaper, etc. Then, if he sleeps one or two hours, you still have a couple of good hours around lunch time for playing and getting him tired again.
The other thing I always did was put him in his crib, even if he didn't sleep. I would try to put him in his crib around the same time every day so that he would know it was his quiet time. If he didn't want to sleep, he didn't have to, but at least it was his quiet time.
I hope some of this helps! Routines are so good, for the parents and the babies! And children crave structure, so kudos to you for trying to give your children that!
Good luck.
