If you have a routine do you wake your baby from naps to stick to it?

[BananaHammocks]

I'd really like to start getting my (almost) 3 month old in to a routine but how do i do this if she wakes at different times every morning and sometimes lasts 3 hours for a nap during the day, sometimes half an hour? Are your routines very flexible?

Also do you try to have most of their naps in their cot? DD sometimes sleeps in her cot during the day but it doesn't often last long, sometimes sleeps on me, sometimes in her carrier and sometimes on my bed. Is this a bad habit?!

I HIGHLY recommend the 90min sleep solution book.
They advocate putting the baby down for a nap 90min after they last woke up regardless of how long they sleep for, and not waking them. As they get older some 90min waking periods turn into 3hr periods.
At first it feels a bit random as different lengths of nap mean different times for the next nap but the napping worked really well for us (the science behind it is that there's a natural energy dip after 90mins) and after a while the naps became a pretty predictable length which then made the whole days timings more predictable.
I still recommend reading the book - it explains it a lot better than I have and has more advice.

No, 3 month olds can't have bad habits :)

I wouldn't really wake a wee sleeping baby, mine always seemed to sleep better if they had plenty of naps.

I tried putting them in crib/cot once asleep, but didn't worry too much if it didn't work.

IMO the pattern changes a lot over the first few months and I went with the baby mostly. More of a routine emerged after 6 months as meal times were introduced.

From about 3m, I almost always got my babies up by 7.30 - if they weren't already awake! Once they were down to two naps a day - so, somewhere between 3-5m - I would get them up by 3.30 from the afternoon nap.

I found that these two things helped keep my day going. If they slept too late everything would get pushed on. Sleeping late in the afternoon was particularly problematic, as then they would not settle well at night.

But what works now may not be right in 6m time.

I encouraged my dc to nap in different places, so that they would not be dependant on a specific environment.

Hi Banana
I've followed Gina Ford routines with my DD since she was 3 months old. The routines flex as the babies get older to take into account how long they are able to stay awake for between naps. For me, they worked brilliantly as I knew what to do and when, and could accordingly plan our day (e.g. Walks, trips out, classes) around them. By no means did DD 'nail' the routines every day (turns out that she hasn't read the book herself ) but more often than not it all comes together. It's not for the faint hearted though- the day starts promptly at 7am and you do wake the babies from their naps (if needed) as gently as possible. The only caveat I'd add is that I found Gina recommends cutting out the third and final nap a bit too soon than I think the babies can cope with- I have several friends who've followed the routines and needed the late afternoon nap until 6 months old or even a wee bit later.

I'm in the hell no do not wake them camp!

DS is now 5 months and I know if I take him up for a nap around 2 hours after waking, he will fall asleep pretty easily. If I cuddle or feed him to sleep we get 45 mins max. If I put him in his cot awake and he's happy enough, I can pat his back and he falls asleep himself for anything up to 2.5/3 hours.

Depending on what time he gets up in the morning he will have 2 or 3 naps a day. Maybe a little doze in the sling if out. It's very much led by him but if we are at home it's helped a little bit.

At 3 months I was doing as PP said, roughly 80-90 mins after waking he was ready for a snooze.

I wake from the last nap so it isn't too close to bedtime, and never allow more than 3 hours nap in one go. We get up at the same time every day anyway. Other than that naps can vary in length, though usually awake time is about the same.

Squishy do you put him down on his tummy? Or do you hold him on his side and pat him that way?

I'd like to get DS2 falling asleep in the cot a bit more (he'll do it sometimes if dopey after a feed) but can't quite figure out the logistics

Sorry for the hijack, OP. BTW I generally do the 90 minutes thing, although it's usually more like 2hrs and sometimes longer depending on what DS1's up to - when you have an older one too, the baby just has to fit in as best you can.

Count he goes on his tummy. I know the guidelines are to sleep on their backs however he didn't read up on that and flatly refuses.

After a lot of hand wringing I gave up trying to make him.

Six a 3-5mo on two naps a day!? DD didnt drop her third nap til about 12mo

I was misremembering. 2 of my dc dropped their third nap in the spring, which would have been at about 6-7m. I was mixing them up with my other, winter-born dc, who would have been 3-5m in the spring. All of mine dropped their third naps between 6-9m.

You think you'll never forget!

At 3m the two who dropped their third naps earlier could also stay awake longer (2h) than the one who dropped the third nap later (1.5h).