I'm just wondering if anyone has any tips on the transition from newborns who sleep on and off pretty much all day, to babies who then have a routine morning and afternoon sleep. I am not fussed on forcing a routine, but as Emma gets older she will have one. Any tips on getting started now with good habits for when she does have her 2 routine sleeps a day? And also, at what age did you develop some sort of routine?
At about 6 months Eliza molded her own sleep schedule...now she sleeps from 9.30- 10.00 for a couple of hrs and then again 2.00-2.30 of course this sometimes goes out the window.
Bec
Olivia took about 4 months to get into this nice pattern, & by 5 months old was having a 9.30 to 11.30 sleep, then back to bed around at 2.30 for another couple of hours, then big sleep at 7pm.
Because this worked so well for us with Olivia, I have kind of nudged Charlie in this same direction and he has been in this routine from about 4 months too.......
That said, whilst I love it when they both have nice predictable routines, I don't clock watch, and we kind of go with the flow on a daily basis.
In all cases I help them get into the rhythm of a routine by doing the following:
When they wake up, I always open the blinds, slap the radio on, happy cheery chatting, nappy change and a feed.
Then when they are getting a bit scratchy/tired, take them into their room, turn the radio to Peacebaby, close the blinds, have a cuddle and a whispery chat, then into bed.
I managed to get all 3 of my kids to have the same routine. By about 6 months, they were having a 10am sleep for about 1 hr, then at 1.30 they would sleep again for about 2hrs. When they were about 1yr old, they dropped the morning sleep and only slept in the arvo for 2-3 hrs. Then bedtime about 7-7.30pm.
This post maked me laugh just because it has reminded me how quickly the first year flies but it wasn't long ago that Aidan was a newborn with his feed/play/sleep routine! I wish I could help you but I cant remember exactly when Aidan got into a routine. I can tell you he is 1 (tomorrow!) and has 2 sleeps a day, one around 9:30-10am for atleast 1hr and again at about 3:30-4:00pm for again atleast 1hr. I think he kinda just fell into that at about 6 months old but I am sure without even noticing I helped him into this routine. Natural instinct never ceases to amaze me!
Matthew has recently fallen into his 2 day sleeps, it all happened when he was 6.5 months. He`ll sleep in the morning for 30 minutes to 1 hour and again early afternoon for 1 hr to 2 hrs.
Matilda went to this routine around 6 months, and while I didn't clock watch I knew to look for tired signs around 9am and again around 3-4 hours after she woke up. It happened gradually where her late arvo sleep would get shorter & shorter & eventually dissappeared, and then she went into this pattern. It took around a month to figure it out & once done it was great. But it does take around a month for Matilda to figure out how to get to sleep again anyway
This is all good info, thanks girls! I guss it will just happen by itself, I will just be observant & take notice of the pattern so it may become more predictable I guess. Her night routine is fantastic now (touch wood)
Hey Linda,
I'm pretty much just going to repeat what the others have said. It just kind of "happened" when Gabby dropped one of her sleeps.
She used to be up for 2 hours, down for 2 hours - so she was on 3 naps a day.
Now she is similar to Eliza (Bec G's little girl). She generally has a sleep at 10am and 2pm (give or take).
I remember wondering and wishing for a 2 sleep routine when Gabby was younger... now I am doing the same with wanting just 1 nap! LOL I'm never content...
Jenna's a 2 nap a day girl usually. Today she has only had one, and it just means she'll be crotchety for dinner tonight. Oh well. Its a daily battle...... go with the flow right?
I think we just noticed about 6-7 months old that she wasn't getting tired by 8:30am anymore, and she wanted to stay up til about 9:30-10 before she would start rubbing her eyes and yawning.
Ryley has only ever had one sleep from about 9 months but to be honest i really think they seem to fidn their own rhythm IYKWIM? I just let Ryley show me in his actions when he liked to nap and then i started enforcing it after a few weeks.
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morning & afternoon sleep.....
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