Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think I won't need to plan our lives around naps?

214 replies

AnUnoriginalUsername · 01/07/2021 21:05

We have a 7 week old baby. Just saw another thread and though "shit, nap schedules!"
Does everybody have set times and places for naps? Is it really important?
DS currently sleeps mostly on me but also in his rocking chair and sometimes in his cot. We cosleep.

Am I being insane to think he can just nap when he's tired wherever we are?

OP posts:
Youdiditanyway · 01/07/2021 21:27

Never planned my life around naps and have 5 DC. They just tend to nap whenever they’re tired really, usually always in the car and sometimes the pram too.

Mrsdoubtfireswig · 01/07/2021 21:27

First one would be horrifically tired and screamy if wasn’t down for nap at 1pm in cot, would sleep in the car but only for short bursts and then be tearful until bedtime and would never sleep in the pram. He’s 3 now and rarely naps but still very teary and screamy when tired so will easily go to bed at 6pm some nights

Second one needs less sleep than first at that age, he will reliably sleep in cot for morning and afternoon naps (10am and 2pm) if we’re at home, but if out will sleep in car / pram and is quite placid and content even if misses nap. They’re all different.

Cot naps work for us at home as means I can get some jobs done without tip toeing round the pram, and as they get older / more mobile - you might want a break too!

idontlikealdi · 01/07/2021 21:27

I was a schedule queen.

Twins. Had to it was the only way for sanity.

It spends on the baby you could get one that goes with the flow or two who don't.

I actually had an excel sheet to track everything but it was survival, we're the other end of the spectrum now they're older.

You need to find way works for you.

AntiSocialDistancer · 01/07/2021 21:27

We never particularly had a schedule and we were never militant with it but eventually you fall into a grove around 4 months that going out for brunch is better than a late lunch as baby gets crabby if they dont nap at noon (for example)

Its flexible and we just fell jnto a rhythm. Some babies just really need that structure though, depends on the baby.

Coldwine75 · 01/07/2021 21:28

Never planned naps just went with the flow , if we were out they would nap in buggy, might put them down at home but didn't have a nap routine but some people prefer that.

wombatspoopcubes · 01/07/2021 21:28

I'd like to be flexible but the reality is that my 7 month old will only sleep at home in her cot. Otherwise she just cries and cries and will do so for 5 or 6 hours till we're home again and in her cot. She just refuses to sleep anywhere else. Whereas I can still sleep bloody everywhere ( a hard floor, a loud disco, anywhere) so she doesn't get it from me.

DoAsYouWouldBeMumBy · 01/07/2021 21:28

Mine never had a regular nap but would often sleep in the pram when we were out and about. They always slept very well at night, which was more important to me!

Tomorrowsanotherday1 · 01/07/2021 21:29

I'm definitely a planned napper Grin
2 kids now well and truly past nap stage. How I wish they would just once again!
I planned naps for a few reasons-

  • kids were pretty vile if they didn't nap, and I found a set time worked well for them.
  • Naps happened mostly at home in their cots as it was quiet, they slept well and it gave me a chance to have a cuppa, sort house jobs and prep dinner.

I miss naps Sad

Imapotato · 01/07/2021 21:29

We never had a strict schedule. If home they’d have a nap at around the same time, but I wouldn’t not go out because it was nap time. Some of my friends had very strict schedules and it would annoy me that they would have to rush home for nap time! That isn’t for me.

Frankola · 01/07/2021 21:29

A newborn won't need a schedule for a while, until you need to get them used to daytime and nighttime sleeping patterns.

4 months is a totally different ball game. I found that establishing a consistent routine was vital for us all to get any solid rest. Most babies also rely on routine. It provides comfort, structure and reassurance.

The routine you go with is totally led by baby and you though. Some babies only nap I'm their cot. Some only nap in moving prams. Some will only nap with mum.

My daughter would only properly nap in her pram or her cot. One of my friends however had a baby who would nap on a washing line if needed! Grin

Forstarters · 01/07/2021 21:29

It also depends on what you want. If you have no routine the baby will be fine but you will find that a few months down the line whilst your friends are putting their kids to bed at night and having a personal / social life you are up half the night with a child that doesn’t know its bedtime. Seen this with lots of parents who argued about being ‘free and easy’ is best.

toastjam · 01/07/2021 21:30

Mine are 11 months and 24 months and nap from 12-2 every day. If they don't sleep, they are an absolute nightmare, so I try to accommodate it as much as possible

Floralnomad · 01/07/2021 21:31

We never had a nap routine , when my eldest was born I still had 4 horses / ponies , 3 were on full livery but even so they all needed seeing and they were at one point spread over 3 yards . I’m afraid our baby had to very much fit in with what I was doing so he slept whenever and wherever which was mainly in his car seat . He was always a good sleeper at night anyway . With the second we just carried on as before + the school run for the oldest (25 minute drive each way) , she was never much good at sleeping anyway even overnight .

ZenNudist · 01/07/2021 21:31

I think it depends on the type of parents you are. I found some people being really rigid about nap times to varying degrees of success to whether baby then had a halfway decent night's sleep.

Wing it by all means. I don't think you need a routine in the early days when life is one long nap feed poo cycle. As they grow they start to get overtired and you need a schedule. It can be difficult to get a baby to sleep say round your mates house or when supermarket shopping. Out in a pram or the car is OK but not if you have to take them out.

You end up getting a feel for it. I liked to have time to myself in the morning and afternoon whilst they slept so would go out sort of around nap times. I could also get an overtired child to snooze on the boob in a pinch so I could finish my coffee and chat. We've all been there rocking a child in their car seat when really we just need to leave and they can sleep properly.

You don't want to be the parent whose child can only sleep in a dark room in perfect silence. Rod for your own back etc.

Bingbongbooo · 01/07/2021 21:31

Mine needed naps, can't remember the last time I wasn't in the house 11-2

ZenNudist · 01/07/2021 21:34

Ust reading other responses. It's true you need some routine and day time napping contributes to good night time sleep. A tired child is a grizzly child. So you are going to have to factor in naps somehow.

MazDazzle · 01/07/2021 21:34

I’m a laid back person and hate routines, so I wanted to be completely flexible about nap/bed times.

My eldest had other ideas. She wanted a strict routine and would scream blue murder if we deviated from it.

Airyfairymarybeary · 01/07/2021 21:34

NO! You do not want to be one of those nap schedule people! They are so annoying!

MazDazzle · 01/07/2021 21:36

And she would only sleep in a cot, in complete darkness in silence, despite my best efforts!

It took me six hellish months to suss that one out.

Forstarters · 01/07/2021 21:44

You don't want to be the parent whose child can only sleep in a dark room in perfect silence. Rod for your own back etc

This was my child as I had a routine. But on the other hand she’s slept through the night from a few months old. I think sacrificing a couple of hours a day for a year or so was worth it!

headintheproverbial · 01/07/2021 21:47

I found it really useful to have the nap schedule and often found the children slept longer and better on schedule. Mine would sleep in a pram if out and about but it's not ideal if they will ONLY sleep on the move! More than anything it's good to know when YOUR breaks are coming up!

At 7 weeks you could start to move towards nap 9-10, nap after lunch 1-3 and possible a short 30 minutes before dinner.

Slipperfairy · 01/07/2021 21:49

One child hated naps, but needed them. Also didn't sleep much at night and was constantly on the go. Turned into the most chilled child.

2nd child needed naps and would sleep almost 2 hours. Would have been bliss if she'd been my first. Dfil used to see his arse cos he'd visit the same time every fortnight and she'd be asleep and I wouldn't wake her for him.

MuchTooTired · 01/07/2021 21:52

I think when they’re little babies they’ll sleep wherever, but once mine got to 1-1.5 I had to plan my life around naps as they just would not sleep unless in their cot. They weren’t bothered about light/dark/noise at home, but the outside world was just too interesting for them. It was hell if they missed nap time, so I had to be home by lunchtime or the rest of the day would be messed up.

MuchTooTired · 01/07/2021 21:56

Just to add, I didn’t create a routine on purpose, my DTs came with their own routine from birth which I followed.

They’re now 3, absolutely brilliant terrors and actively rebel at any attempt at routine And do not nap EVER. I miss the guaranteed 2 hours in the middle of the day for nap time so much!

PurpleFlower1983 · 01/07/2021 21:58

When they’re young babies it’s easier but toddler naps are a different ball game.

Swipe left for the next trending thread