Should 3 month old have a daytime nap routine??

[BotBotticelli]

Ds2 is 3 months old.

We are FFing on demand and he usually drinks a 5-6oz bottle every 3 hours during the day.

But the days are pretty chaotic still: the only thing that's reliable is the fact that 2 hours after waking up in the morning he will need to go back down for a nap. He has this nap in his cot (30-45 mins).

But after that the day is just madness...! He naps sporadically, 40 mins or so every 2 hours. Longer sometimes if we are out in the buggy.

He will sleep in my arms (not useful with a toddler in tow!), or in the buggy in the hall (I rock him to sleep in it), but will NOT entertain his cot after that first morning nap.

Is this within the realms of normal for a 3 month old?? I think I have blanked this out from ds1....am wishing I could fast forward to the time when he is a sensible toddler with 2 predictable naps per day in his cot :-/

My 3 month old is the same. These babies aren't very practical when you've got big ones to care for!
Only thing I can guarantee is that he will go to sleep on the school run each morning and sleep through JK unfortunately my toddler doesn't nap....ever....
So our days are chaos but they seem fine so I'm not stressing it.

Watching with interest....no idea how to get my 3 mo into a daytime napping routine...she's great at night but napping on demand during the day. Doesn't cause me only problems but feel like I "should" be a bit more regimented!

My 5month old was similar, the only consistency was that she was ready for bed at around the same time every evening. It's only over the past few weeks that she's settled into a sort of regular routine of 3 daily naps, at around 9:30, 12ish and 4ish. Depending on the length of naps, she usually has two shorter nap and a longer nap.

My 12 week old is the same feeds every 2 hours, will nap but only for 30 minutes & never in his cot. Nights time isn't to bad.
I look for sleep cues and know he needs a nap every hour & half but if I put him in his cot he just lies and either cries straight away or will be happy for awhile & will eventually cry, but will not sleep. I don't have any advice as you are in a similar position to me. Hopefully someone can advise if this is normal

We're approaching 16 weeks and our days look like this:

7am up, nappy change, dressed
730: 7oz feed
830 - 930: ready for a nap between these times. Will sleep for anything from 30 mins to 2 hrs
1130: 6oz feed & nappy change
1230 - 230: nap at some point between these times as above
3pm: 6oz feed & nappy change
There may be a 30 min nap at some point between 330 - 5
6pm: nappy change, pjs on, feed
7 - 730pm bed time
930pm 6oz feed, nappy change, back to bed

There is no real set time for naps or length of naps, i just try to follow his lead. Ive noticed that when he is tired he gets grizzly and rubs his face so at that point its off to his cot. I have noticed that he'll go a few days of sleeping for 2 hrs in the morning and then on the 3rd day i'll think 'oh... i'll vatch up on some TV' and thats the day DS is guaranteed to only sleep for 30mins

No, in my experience even the most routine driven 3mo babies don't nap at set times. I wasn't and am still not too routine driven however, DS found his own rhythm and started napping more in his cot from around 6/7mo. I know others who used a Gina Ford style routine and managed to get set nap times by about 4mo. However the downside was that they then only wanted to sleep in their cot at those times. Do-able with one baby but not so much with a toddler.

I think if you wrote down what was happening each day you'd see that actually he is in a routine of sorts. Anyway, there's no "should", only that it's nice if what you're doing suits you and your family.

My 9 week old is in a loose routine based on what my other DC need (school runs and meals).

My 5month old is the same. Naps used to be 20mins here n there but recently she's started napping for 30mins!
But there has been no rhyme or reason to her naps.

She's FF every 3hours as well. I do now put her down for a nap about an hour after her bottle. And when I say down, it can often take 30 mins for her to actually fall asleep as she will fight it something chronic despite the fact she can barely keep her eyes open!!

I do try to get her napping in her cot but generally it's only the morning one, if we are out then it pram/car seat/floor (if at my parents )

Only thing I'm consistent about re routines is her bed one. Bath at half 6, bottle then bed.

hth

I have noticed that he'll go a few days of sleeping for 2 hrs in the morning and then on the 3rd day i'll think 'oh... i'll vatch up on some TV' and thats the day DS is guaranteed to only sleep for 30mins

Yes my 5 month old is like this too! Like I said she usually has one longer nap of around 2-2.5hours, and then two shorter ones of around 30-45mins but if/when that longer nap happens is a complete lottery. If we're out during any of her usual nap times (which we often are due to having an older dd) then it all goes out the window, she very rarely naps longer than 20-30 minutes when out unless she's in the car. Can be quite stressful when we get home and she's severely over tired but that's life with more than one dc I guess. I found when dd1 got to around 6/7 months she dropped the third nap and started taking two longer naps instead, it was bliss. Hoping dd2 goes the same way.

For those who's baby's fight sleep even when they're tired, I find dd2 does this when I've put her down a bit too late and she's verging on overtired. There does seem to be a 'window' and If I time it right she goes down really easily. I've found that sometimes when they're showing tired signs it's too late so maybe try taking them up 10/15minutes earlier than you usually would and see if it makes getting them to sleep any easier. It might work, it might not but its worth a try to make your life easier.

DS is 3months and no real routine here either. Other than i know when hes ready for a nap and will do something to get him to sleep at that point.

He is not good at napping on his own (laying down) so we either time it for when we go out so he will sleep in the car or pram, put him in the sling, or Moses basket where i have to rock him for the length of the nap 30 minutes.

He's pretty good at night though.

Thanks everyone this is all very reassuring! I felt sure that everyone else's babies were doing very regimented sensible things and mine was the only errant baby being very random during the day. It's nice to know you're all in the same boat!

I have decided to give up on cot naps for the moment and am just gonna use the buggy in the hallway as he seems to settle better in there.

He is prett good at night - goes to bed at some point between 1830 and 2000 depending on how well he has napped in the afternoon. He then sleeps well until we give him a dream feed around 2200/2300. Then he sleeps well until around 0200/0300 when he wakes for a bottle.

He goes back to sleep easily after this but then is unsettled and windy from 0500 onwards and usually comes into our bed to try and drag him out until 0630 when the toddler wakes everyone up anyway!