Getting really frustrated at working really hard to stick to a routine to try to aid good sleep, only to see it fall apart at the slightest thing

[CharlieMouseWillDoIt]

I've never been one for a really strict routine, but as DD (18 months) has got older I have come to realise the benefit of having a solid structure to the day which helps with nap times and bedtime.

The problem is that any routine we get into lasts a week/10 days at most then one little thing throws it out of the window, then we have a week or so of erratic napping and overtiredness.

I'm a SAHM and everything seems to go well when I have no commitments/no vistors/no need to be anywhere at a particular time. I can focus on DD and respond to her tired signals. However, something as simple as it being the weekend (when DH is around during the day) can throw everything out of kilter. As an example - last week DD went down for a nap somewhere between 10.30-11.30am every day. This week has been all over the place and yesterday I resorted to taking her for a walk in the pushchair at 3.30pm as she was cranky and overtired but had fought sleep all day.

It gets rather frustrating, not least because it's very difficult to make plans. If I could guarantee a morning nap, then I'd be able to arrange to do things/see people in the afternoon. However, if DD hasn't napped in the morning, then I want to make sure she has one in the afternoon.

If she'll sleep in the pushchair, can you not just make plans which involve a walk in the morning and afternoon? Then hopefully she'll fall asleep at at least one of those times!

I never really liked routine but also found that DS seemed to do better if mealtimes were set, and then naps kind of happened around that. We used to go to a group every morning which finished at 11 and on the way home from that he would have a pretty regular nap.

Thanks BertieBotts. The problem with her napping in the pushchair is that she tends to only sleep for 45 minutes or so, which isn't enough, whereas in the cot she will have 90 mins or more. I guess as she gets to the end of a sleep cycle in the pushchair she can't shift position and get comfy again easily.

Last summer I would push her around 3 or 4 times a day to get her to sleep LOL. I got to know the local streets very well and came up with names for the various circuits I did. DH knew it was a bad day when I had to do the "old people's home circuit" several times because it was a long circuit and took DD ages to fall asleep!

Oh, and she's quite a light sleeper so transferring her from pushchair to cot once asleep isn't really an option as she'll wake up before I've got the buckles undone.

Yes I've found the same thing. I can't keep to a schedule at all when we go out in the weekends. And 16mo goes really cranky by bathtime because of the lack of sleep. So you have my sympathy.