Nap routine.....how important?

[Chantal1310]

My little one (13 months) goes to bed at 7:30/8 pm and sleeps through until 7:30/8 am which is great! What I'm not so secure about is his nap routine because basically he doesn't really have one...if we're going out he tends to sleep in the car for 15-20 mins in the morning between 10 and 11. Then if we're coming home in the afternoon he'll sleep in the car again for about 45 mins at around 2:30/3/4pm. When we don't go out though he's really unpredictable... sometimes he'll have a morning nap and no afternoon one or vice versa. Should I be implementing a stricter routine or just roll with it? He really fights it when he's at home. Sometimes when he's with his grandparents he just drops off! When I go back to work and he's at the childminder I expect there'll be more of a routine but he'll also be more tired than he gets when we're at home. Any guidance greatly received..... Please don't judge me!!

Usually it's a nap over lunch at this age. My son is 19months and sleeps 11.30 - 1.45pm. I put him down the exact same time every day and just plan my day around that. That suits me.

If you aren't bothered then surely it's fine... But it is nice having one long sleep!

Children generally do fair better when they have structure, rhythm and routine in their lives (in fact the same is true of many adults too!). It will certainly help for when starting preschool.

Do what feels right for you.

We never had a strict routine as DS varied. Some people like it down to the minute but I don't, and he didn't. His nursery didn't expect a set time in baby room where he was for several months from 14 mo and then in toddlers, he did need some help sometimes but napped with everyone else then.

A preschool or nursery that can't cope with rough pattern rather than to the minute is not one I'd use anyway.

(mostly posted to be an opposing viewpoint)

@tootiredtothinkofanewname

Yea routine is best, but once you've got multiple DC you can't expect the older one's to fit in around a toddlers sleep refusal nap schedule. We'd never go out if we had to be back by 11:30 or couldn't leave till 2pm!

My youngest does the same OP. Gets his naps in when he can. Usually in the car. It does mess up bedtime occasionally but it's what works best for us overall.

Yes I can understand that of course. I work from home so I need to work when my son sleeps so it ends up working out well for us. Would be very tricky with more than one!

once you've got multiple DC...

... baby's routine fits in with the already-established routine with siblings. It has to, there's no other way. Having a school run to do with older children, and having their established mealtimes, it's inevitable that baby has to grow to fit with that.

I couldn't decide not to take DC1 and DC2 to school because I had a baby. Or decide that toddler DC3 couldn't eat dinner because I had baby DC4.

When you're juggling multiple children (4 in my case), it actually makes life easier with the youngest because literally from birth they fall into a family with already established rhythms and routines.