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Forum Is Currently Closed — We apologize for your inconvenience 6-8 Months How Do I Put my Inconsistent Son on a Schedule?

How Do I Put my Inconsistent Son on a Schedule?

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6:58 pm
February 8, 2010

cblashes

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My 6 month old son is so inconsistent, and I keep reading that I need to put him on some sort of schedule, but my problem is i'm not sure how to do that. There will be a few days that he goes to bed and wakes the same time in the morning (b/ 6 and 6:30), and then before i can blink, its changed again.. and he'll wake up.. earlier (never later) (sigh) ;)

Anyhow. I know that he should go back to sleep usually within 2 hours , sometimes he manages 2.5 hours but I usually just gage him.. I dont know how some people have their 9am and 1pm naps ?

I have no problem following his lead, but sometimes the struggle is.. that even when he wakes up in the morning, especially his early wakings (5-5:30 am or so) he's yawning & rubbing his eyes & tired and I know he needs more sleep.

There have been some times where I just nurse him and he goes back to sleep, but others that's not what happens. I know he needs more sleep and he acts like he does, so i put him back in the crib, but then he just lays in his crib for a while & chats until he's fed up & has had enough.

There are also days that he absolutely fights naps.. Or he'll take even less of a nap . 20 minutes.. and he is a 30 minute catnapper to begin with :\\

(of course then he has restless sleep at night) :(

Anyhow. Should I just keep him up after he wakes in the morning for a couple hours even if he shows 'sleepy cues'?

He typically goes to bed between 6:30 and 7 and normally he falls asleep ok.. He does wake throughout the evening (sometimes for pacifier, i think) and normally just once for a nursing (although.. there have been a couple times that i havent had to nurse until the morning)

He does go to bed at night awake when we place him down so i know he knows how to put himself to sleep.. sometimes at night he just doesnt?

I havent done any 'sleep training' (ie: cio) as i'm not sure if i'm capable of that? is this my only option?

If anyone has any suggestions, I'd really appreciate it.

9:16 am
March 26, 2010

KEK

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I have nothing to offer you in the way of actual help, just comiseration – we're in the same boat with our 8 month old.

I've got an email in to Nicole – I'll try to remember to pass along any suggestions that work for us!

11:10 am
April 2, 2010

Kimberly

Admin

posts 100

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@cblashes- Babies do thrive on a consistent schedule. I would recommend reading Nicole's series here on the different sleep training methods that one can try. You can find that here:

http://www.babysleepsite.com/s…..es-part-1/

I would also recommend reading Nicole's post on 6 month old's schedules for an idea of what kind of schedule to implement.

http://www.babysleepsite.com/s…..-schedule/

If you want real tips and ideas for how to implement a schedule and sleep training, then I highly recommend you considering ordering Nicole's book on Help Your Child Sleep- a Step by Step guide, which you can find here: http://www.babysleepswell.com/

I would try implementing some sort of sleep training and schedule and then feel free to post back and let us know how it's going.

Kimberly

The Baby Sleep Site (TM)

11:10 am
April 2, 2010

Kimberly

Admin

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@KEK

Glad to hear your getting some direct help from Nicole. I look forward to seeing you post back and letting us know how it's going!

Kimberly

The Baby Sleep Site (TM)

2:52 pm
April 7, 2010

carito

Canada

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Hello Everyone

On this same subject, I am trying to put my daughther who is 8 1/2 half month old on a schedule and also trying to teach to learn how to fall sleep on her own…But I am lost on which way to start.

I have been working on the schedule Nicole has for 8 month old baby…it's been a working process. So far this is how our days looks like:

Wake 2:00am – Nurse back to sleep

Wake 4:00 am or 5:00am – Nurse back to sleep

Wake 7:00 or 7:30 for the day.

8:00am or 8:30 am Solid Breakfast

9:30am Nurse

9:30am or 10:00am 1st Nap (Usually falls asleep bounced on a ball or singing and dancing)

The 1st Nap is about 40 min to 1 hour.

Today I tried a 11:30am Solid Lunch

12:30pm Nurse

and this is where my problem starts….because today I tried an earlier lunch she took a 2nd nap at 1pm but this is usually not the case. I wsa giving her a solid lunch at 12:30 and she wouldn't nap until 2:30 or 3:00pm, sometimes for 40min or an hour or sometimes for 2 hours. I am going to try the early lunch tomorrow again.

Today she had a nap at 1pm for 40min

2:30 Nurse (She was hungry and asked for it, I was going to wait until 3:30pm)

Then fell asleep on her own on our bed on her tummy at 3:15pm. I was right beside touching her back. She has done this about 3 times!!!

Then bed time which I am trying to make at 7:30pm, I have only managed to do that once but usually bed time for her is around 8:30 or 9:00pm.

The time she went at 7:30pm, she woke up at 8:30pm, then at 9:30pm, then at 1:30am we nurse back to sleep all 3 times.

Now this how our day looked today but this very well can change tomorow and go totally different. The only thing that we have consistent is wake up time at 7:00am/7:30am and the 1st nap then everyday is different.

I also want to break the bouncing and nursing sleep association but I don't know if I should get a schedule down 1st. I also want to try the no cry method that Nicole has on her website. Has anyone tried it?? Any suggestions on my schedule so far???

Any help is really appreciated…

2:18 pm
April 8, 2010

Kimberly

Admin

posts 100

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Hi Carito,

I know that Nicole recommends working on daytime sleep and schedule before trying to work on nighttime sleep so it sounds like you are right track with that.

I do have a couple of questions….

Are you moving her lunch to earlier because you are trying to get her to go to bed earlier?

For the second nap of the day, does she also go to sleep through the bouncing or dancing?

It seems like that second nap of 40 minutes isn't long enough and that's why she's needing the third nap and falling asleep not too long after the second nap. Then the 3rd nap can be affecting her later bedtime.

I would recommend trying to extend that second nap so that the 3rd nap isn't needed. Ideally, it would be good if you could get her to fall back asleep when she wakes after 40-45 minutes during that 2nd nap for some additional napping time. And it would be even better if you could work on teaching her to fall back asleep on her own without feeding or bouncing. Have you tried not going in right away when she wakes after 40 minutes? If she's just fussing a bit or whining, I'd trying giving her 10-15 minutes alone and then seeing if she falls back asleep on her own. The 40-45 minute mark is often a time when babies hit their light sleep cycle and often wake up but aren't really ready to get up. The trick is to figure out how to help her learn to get through that light sleep cycle towards a little longer nap.

How long is she sleeping during that 3rd nap? If she's falling asleep around 3:15 for that 3rd nap, I'd recommend not letting that nap go past 4 pm to help with getting her to that 7:30 bedtime.

To honest though, you're current schedule does sound like it's working pretty good overall. Please post back and let me know how it's going. Then we can address how the no-cry solution might work for you and your baby.

Kimberly

The Baby Sleep Site (TM)

3:23 pm
April 13, 2010

carito

Canada

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Hello KImberly

Thanks for your reply. Sorry it took me long to get back to you. In regards to your questions.

Yes I am moving her lunch to an earlier time so she can actually have a nap around 1pm and an earlier bed time.

For the second nap yes she falls asleep through bouncing or dancing…although I have been trying putting on her tummy and lying beside her rubbing her back…it worked for a few days but now she just cries and cries and does not settle to go to sleep.

I have also tried not going in as soon as she wakes up after that 40-45 minute mark but she starts calling me and if I don't go in, she just cries and cries and gets worked up and then is harder to make her go to sleep. I have tried nursing her as soon as she wakes up (which I know it's not a good idea) but this seems to be the only way that I can get her to sleep longer or the other option is if I sleep right beside her. Now there are some days where none of these works and she just won't go back to sleep.

Last night she went to bed at 7:30pm after several awakening she woke up this morning at 6:30am……..she took her second nap at 10:00am. I put her on her tummy as soon as she showed sign of getting tired but she just wouldn't take a nap. Finally I had to feed her because was hungry and that is how she fell asleep. I wasn't feeling too well so I lay beside her on our bed and she slept for 2 hours. We had lunch, then got her to fall sleep on her tummy at around 3:20 and she woke up 15min after that. Then I couldn't get her to nap until 4:25pm…she was really tired but she just wouldn't nap…I bounced her to sleep. She woke up at 5:10pm

So on a day like today our schedule went out the window….!!! :(

So some days I can get her to follow the schedule but if anything changes it really seems to have a big effect on the rest of the day. AS well if we go out for some reason when she has to nap she won't nap if we are out…so sometimes I feel confined to our home in order for her to have a schedule. Some days like today I feel really discouraged.

Any help???

Carito

3:46 pm
April 16, 2010

Kimberly

Admin

posts 100

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Hi Carito,

It sounds like the schedule and consistentcy part isn't working that well, in part, because, it really isn't that consistent. That is, (and I completely understand it), when she's tired or hasn't done well with part of the schedule, you are willing to let her deviate from it to catch up on sleep. My suspicion is that this is part of the problem. I know that in Nicole's book about Shifting Schedules, she advises to work on shifting and getting your child on a schedule without letting them make up sleep along the way. At this point, I'd really suggest that you consider either checking out getting her book on Shifting Schedules or consider purchasing her 2 email consultation package. You would be so surprised how much you and her can accomplish in just two emails. Nicole is really good at helping come up with a plan that is specific to your situation.

You can find more information on the e-book here: http://www.babysleepsite.com/w…..too-early/

And you can find info about Nicole's consultation services here: http://www.babysleepsite.com/b…..-services/

Try not to feel so discouragesd. I know it's hard but you are doing a great job. You clearly care very much about your daughter, you are very in sync with her needs and I can see that you are working hard to help her with healthly sleep habits in a way that works for you and for her. Do not hesitate to keep posting back here and I'll continue to offer encouragement or even suggestions when I can.

Kimberly

The Baby Sleep Site (TM)

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