is a nap routine realistic at 5months?

[katechristie]

DD is 23 wks and has so far not settled into any routine whatsoever. If this worked for us that would be fine, but I never catch any sleepy signs, so never know if she's hungry, sleepy or both. I've tried to write down nap / feed times (altho' am not very good at it, as I'm not really that hot on strict routines ) but even when I've managed to there's no real pattern from one day to the next. DS is 2.7, so I'd really like a bit more of a routine to DD's naps to give me a bit of time with him whilst she sleeps, but he seems to spend the day waiting for me to finish feeding, or helping her to sleep. i've given up on trying to get her to nap in the cot at the moment, as could be up there half an hour or more, so until I can get rough times of when she's definitely ready to nap, I'm sticking to the pram in the dining room, to be consistent.

Any suggestions most welcome - or is it betterr to wait till weaning kicks in now and will naps actually fall into place (finally) by themselves around meals and feeds in a few months? TIA

Hi Kate, this is about the time my DD did settle into a nap routine - two longish naps at roughly 9 and 12/1 and a very short one at about 4. Then bed between 7 and 8. I generally try and get her to have a nap after being awake for between 2-2.5 hours. If I wait for her sleepy signs it's usually too late and we have a screaming nightmare. Dr Marc Weissbluth Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child is good on how baby sleep habits develop and he says that between about 4-5 months this is the pattern most babies fall into. It took us a traumatic couple of weeks to get DD to nap in the cot however but glad I persisted as now she naps well in there. Good luck!

My DTs are 4.5mo - I'm using Sleep Sense as a guide and that focuses on how long they can stay awake rather than what time they can go to sleep. From memory, 5mo can stay awake about 1.5 - 2 hrs - then they need a nap. I find that this means we don't have a timetable for the day, i.e. naps don't alwasy happen at the same time because they depend on the time they woke up last, but the pattern of the day is the same, with wake periods and sleep periods. The book's worth a look for lots of tips on spotting sleep signs and settling for naps.

thanks it's good to hear what others are doing at the same stage - I remember DS settled into a pattern of 2 naps mid morning and after lunch, and maybe a cat nap later on, so was hoping DD would get there soon - I've tried not to impose a schedule on her and let her find her way herself, but at the moment it feels like such a mess and she doesn't have any consistency - starting to make me feel like it must be me and I should help her out a bit. - Also makes is difficult to make plans as I have no idea when she will feed or sleep.

Yes, it's hard to plan ahead isn't it? However I do find that I can plan during that day e.g. while they are napping in the morning I can work out roughly when they'll nap next and what time that afternoon and then plan around it. I try to always get a nap at about 4pm too, so that they are tired for bed between 6 and 7pm and often do that by going out in the car or the pram at that time.

oh i'm so glad it isn't just me that resorts to going for a drive!