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

[AnUnoriginalUsername]

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?

I don't plan my life round naps.
I have a routine. A routine which works for my life 😊
Mornings are for adventures, friends, fun. Lunch s then 2 hours of naptime 😎 I need this time as a busy stay at home mum, I need the rest time for my own mental health, scheduled nap times work so well for us all. My children love the routine of their day and we all thrive off it. I've only been very routines with the
Also we can still go out for days out they just nap in the car or in the pram it's never been an issue.

Totally depends on your baby and your personality/lifestyle. Go with it if it's working for you. I personally couldn't bear my DC sleeping on me and co-sleeping was a huge no no for me too. I focused on their sleep from the off and had them in a schedule ASAP for my sanity. I needed the down time with my arms free or I would have mentally lost the plot! But just go with your gut, your baby your rules.

Depends on the child. I had one who would sleep pretty much anywhere, loved sleeping in the pushchair. My other child…from about 3 months old would not sleep in the car or pushchair. It was hell. We were definitely restricted by naptimes.

Baby and schedule in the same sentence?

Some kids will sleep anywhere, when tired, and don't seem to get grumpy and overtired by that. Lots of babies like predictable routines and won't sleep well on the go, especially after 6m, and can be really grumpy and difficult if they miss naps.

Most of the babies I knew who seemed to be ok at sleeping on the go etc were horrific at night!

I knew a few mums who refused to be bound by a routine with regular naps, who struggled with their babies seeming quite high maintenance and I did wonder if some of them were just overtired all the time an desperate for a good nap.

In conclusion you just don't know what will work well for you and your baby til you get there.... but it kinda won't necessarily be wholly in your control.

I was a plan around nap time mum, my 3 DC (and me) really needed to keep to our routine. It was the only downside of having super good night sleepers who all slept through the night at 8 weeks and for 12 hours at 12 weeks.

It changes, at first they don't care where they are, then as awareness increases they do. If a nap doesn't happen it can affect their behaviour negatively for the whole day/throw off the timing of everything.
So it will change but the day they don't need one anymore is a great day. 😁

I have 3 and have never had scheduled naps. Think it depends on your baby though, mine luckily enough napped anywhere and everywhere.

I never have, ds naps when he naps. I have friends who are very rigid with timings and placements of naps but it just always seemed like a huge amount of stress and I can't see ds has suffered by not being like this. He never really seems overtired or anything.

We don't have a schedule. When dc1 is tired they sleep, otherwise they don't. Slept 10hr plus at night from 6 months without a problem. People look at me like I'm mad and comment I'll put a routine in with dc2 but I won't. Some children need a schedule and if dc2 turns out to be that way but I won't force one. It works for us.

DS did. We travelled an hour each way to play groups, we were put day after day, he slept in the buggy. At home he NEVER napped in his cot. Me, the sofa, play pen, whatever.

Now I have TWINS I do try and get them home for naps as they don't sleep so well in their buggy but there's a few days a week when they have to and if we have a day out they nap when they nap

I never planned around naps, and that worked for dd and I. However a friend of mine does, as her dc won't nap anywhere that isn't home so she tries to ensure they're at home for nap time or close to to prevent upset. It really will just depend on the babe in question.

It depends on you and your baby. It's not a case of your baby sleeping anywhere, it's more about keeping your baby awake anywhere - much harder!

Some friends who tried this ended up with babies who didn't care/know if it was 6am or 2am. As they grew older and needed less sleep, it became very apparent that they didn't really associate daylight with being awake. Very tired parents (who still couldn't be bothered to do a routine!).

Other friends tried desperately to do nap schedules and baby just didn't care. It was a waste of effort and they expended unnecessary energy on trying to control things.

Others were very happy to let the baby lead the way and because they were chilled and genuinely didn't mind being awake in the night or unable to put the baby down because they slept easily, had babies who slept easily and were athletic enough to wear a sling all the time.

Me, I read the GF manual, followed it to the letter, noticed that the babies seemed to have read it too and had very regimented but settled babies who slept at night. Couldn't go just anywhere in the car late afternoon because that would have messed everything up, but we felt it was a small price to pay for having proper nights. But I know that isn't for everyone.

It’s all very well saying “they’ll nap whenever/wherever they like I don’t care I’m dead laid back me.”

But then you get to that stage where they get themselves stupidly overtired and turn into monsters and won’t just spontaneously nap even though they need to.

Or they decide to have a nap at 5, when you were about to give them their tea and/or you want to put them to bed at 7, so you can put feet up for a bit. But that will be delayed till 9. Unless they have another nap.

Makes me go all manic just remembering it really.

DD napped happily in her pram out and about until about 6 months, then we had to be home for naptime or she would turn into a screaming monster. I quite liked knowing when I was going to get a bit of downtime on my own each day though

Yes, at that age they can nap anywhere. When he starts to show you he needs longer naps, and needs them at a similar time of day, you might want think about how you’ll fit them into your plans. Buggy on the move/parked up, or in a cot, whatever works

It depends on what you plan to do most days. I had things to do at home/for work (from home) so I liked to have set times when I knew my babies would be asleep for 1-2 hours (or more). If you want to be out and about all day and you're going back to work when your baby's 6 months old then naps won't be an issue for you.

However, my son, who liked long naps in his cot, has been the best sleeper ever - he had a blip at 3 for a few weeks just after toilet training, but other than that he's slept really well every night for ten years...

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.

All children are different but this would not suit most 7 week olds. Lunch and dinner are obviously not relevant to 7 week old babies! 7 month olds perhaps. When they are really young the best approach is to remember how long they've been awake and (during the day) encourage them to nap 1-2 hours after they wake (appropriate wake times at different ages are in the red book or online). The length of the nap is irrelevant. Don't wake them up. Over tired babies sleep worse at night, not better.

I had one baby thy would sleep anywhere and pjs that would only sleep in for. Both very grumpy with no nap. Naps are important for my family but not for others. You have a newborn though, naps won’t always be as easy as they are now. We enjoy the routine a nap gives us (and the break!)

As previous posters have said, depends on the baby! My DS would nap anywhere, now he's 2 and a half and I prefer the days when he has a nap in his bed, so will try and plan around that! My DD isn't a great sleeper at any time so will happily take a combination of pram/car/cot/on me naps!

I tried to have a proper schedule with my first but just found it too restricted and struggled to get out and do things!

Mine both napped in the pram, wherever we were, when they were tired. I will admit it was very freeing.

Autocorrect made me sound mad there that should say:
*I have one baby that would sleep anywhere and one that would only sleep in their cot.

I'm laughing at the posts here.

The "I'm so laid back- my baby just nods off when he needs it" camp - clearly never had the kind of baby that leads to insanity!

Mine mostly fell asleep in the pram or in the car for his naps, until around age 1. After that, he wouldn't go asleep unless in the bedroom or in a car for a while. So we do kind of have to plan things around nap times. For example, I wouldn't plan a play date over the lunch time period when he's due a nap. I might plan a lunch with friends though in the knowledge he'll fall asleep on the drive there so I can eat in peace

It just depends, sometimes you really want to do something that clashes with a nap and you know it will wreck the evening but it's still worth it so you crack on. My first ds used to go to nursery and he would never go to bed till late those days because of 4pm naps. I'd rather he slept than be kept awake and grumpy in the care of others though.
When you have more than one child you have to be more flexible.