When to move from wake windows to a set routine.

[Karma1387]

Just looking for a bit of advice on if there is anything wrong with the way I am doing things with my son.

He is almost 2 but we still follow a very him led/wake window led schedule.

He usually wakes up between 7-8 am. Sometimes a bit earlier or later depending on how he feels.

I usually then have him up for 5 hours before putting him down for his nap. His nap ranges from 1.5hrs to 3.5hrs again depending on his mood. And then I do bedtime roughly 5 hours from whenever he wakes up from his nap.

This routine is a little different at nursery as they put him down for his nap a little earlier than we do and he usually only sleeps 1-2 hrs there. We then do bedtime based on 5 hours after he woke up at nursery.

Is it okay to still be following a very him led schedule rather than having set wake up, nap and bedtimes?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

If it works for both of you, of course it's OK! You might need more structuur when he starts school, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it

3.5 hours is a long time for a 2 year old to nap! Does he sleep through the night?

We did a routine from the start - DT’s went to full time nursery at six months old . The whole household followed a strict schedule. At the weekend we followed the same schedule as nursery used Mon - Fri. Worked well for us . DT’s were sleeping through occasionally from eight weeks and we used a sleep consultant at five months.

Of course it is. I found when my kids were younger anyone with some kind of fixed routine was always stressed out following it and couldn’t leave the house at certain times of day! My kids went with the flow and so did I.

I'm aware its a very long nap which is why I wasn't sure if its okay to let him sleep as much as he wants. Yeah nightime sleep isn't an issue at all except when hes unwell.

Then I would continue doing exactly as you are! I’ve done strict routines and no routines with both of mine and I can honestly say I’m a lot less stressed when following a child led loose routine rather than what I thought I ‘should’ be doing! Sounds like you’re doing great.