My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Join our Sleep forum for tips on creating a sleep routine for your baby or toddler.

Sleep

Too late for daytime routine for 3 month old??

10 replies

singingpinkmonkey · 10/04/2017 10:52

Is it too late to implement a daytime routine for my 3 month old?

He is a nap avoider and although he sleeps well at night I'm panicking that he isn't getting enough daytime sleep as just catnaps and it's a real battle to get him to sleep at all in the day. I watch him like a hawk for sleepy cues but still seem to end up in a battle of wills - he wins!!

On a night we start a bath, massage, bottle and lullaby routine at 6:15 ish with an aim to get him asleep by 7. This is usually successful but sometimes he takes longer to settle and maybe wakes up once while trying to put him in his cot. He will then sleep through until 3-4am where he wakes up for a bottle and nappy change if necessary and then goes back down until 7ish.

So roughly he gets about 12ish hours a night.

Daytime sleep has always been tricky for us even when he was a tiny newborn. So far I've been Baby led during the day and things have been a bit haphazard with both feeding and trying to get naps in.

I am just wondering if a routine might help. I plan to spend the next few days in the house trying to help him get to sleep as I feel I've become reliant on the pram and car.

Any advice for routines or opinions on whether I've missed the boat or not would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

OP posts:
Report
singingpinkmonkey · 10/04/2017 10:53

Sorry I forgot to add, he is formula fed.

OP posts:
Report
BertrandRussell · 10/04/2017 10:54

I would honestly just leave it and carry on being baby led. Anything else will pile the stress on you, particularly if you feel it's not working. What makes you think he's not getting enough sleep?

Report
JohnLapsleyParlabane · 10/04/2017 10:56

I think the majority of babies don't settle into a routine till after about 4 months. Generally, speaking, I'd be aiming for approximately 1 hour awake time before each nap at that age but really I wouldn't worry about a routine as such, baby is still very tiny. Routine and schedules will be useful in the future but for now I'd just go with the flow.

Report
BreatheDeep · 10/04/2017 10:56

Definitely haven't left it too late. IMO babies don't settle into routines until at least 3 months. With both of mine I have just been baby led as much as I can and they develop routines that suit them when they are ready (with a little nudge in the right direction!).

Report
FATEdestiny · 10/04/2017 11:03

Limiting his awake time will create a natural routine.

For example the normal length of a daytime nap at this age is 20-45 minutes. Awake time wants to be about double the length of nap time (aporoximately).

So if baby generally has naps that are 30 minutes long, you want to aim for 1 hour awake time between naps. If baby generally has 45 minute naps, an hour and a half awake time. If baby suddenly has a obe-off short nap of 20 minutes, awake time until the next nap wants to shorten to 40 minutes too.

This creates a predictable routine to your day. If you know baby only usually naps for 30 minutes, you can note the time when baby wakes in the morning and know you need to get him back to sleep in an hours time. During that time you know you need to fit a feed in.

Then once back to sleep, do t stress or worry about catnaps, short naps are to be expected. Pay attention to how long the nap is and use that to know when the next nap needs to be.

Do this for a couple of weeks and you will probably start noticing routines timings starting. Like naps being at specific times each day and naps being consistent lengths.

Report
Bubbinsmakesthree · 10/04/2017 11:10

I think it is common to find naps much harder to crack than bedtimes. It's very normal for babies not to be good a settling for naps unless rocked etc at this age.

The other difference between bedtimes and naps is that bedtimes basically stay the same (or similar) but nap needs change all the time so your routine has to adapt.

Depends what you mean by 'catnaps' but mine didn't start having a regular long nap (more than 25 mins) until they were quite a bit older. Before that regular short naps were needed.

Report
singingpinkmonkey · 12/04/2017 09:33

Thanks for the reassurance and advice. I was just panicking that I had left it to late to start trying to get regular naps established and would cause him to be upset. I think I'll just carry on being baby led and see what consistencies I can spot from his cues!

Thanks again!

OP posts:
Report
Dueindecember2016 · 16/04/2017 19:23

I personally think it's difficult to create a day time routine. If you are out and about in the car or pram, the baby will most probably fall asleep. Otherwise you are housebound for all the times baby should be napping

Report
FATEdestiny · 16/04/2017 19:29

Dueindecember2016 - families with older children who have school runs and nursery pick ups have an unavoidable routine to their day anyway.

You just have to make sure baby's naps work around the family routine. This inevitably means baby's day is also routines, right from the beginning.

Report
notjustamum2 · 16/04/2017 19:37

Heres my routine from both of mine from around 3 months
7am up and bottle
9am nap for hour
10 am bottle
11 am nap for hour and half
1pm bottle
2pm nap for hour
3pm bottle
4pm nap for half hour
7pm bottle and bed
1030pm dream feed
Sleep til 7 am
Thats very rough and not always went to plan but mostly this gives you the gist!

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.