Hi guys

I'm doing NCSS for day sleeps (library doesn't have the Nap one, I wonder what the difference is?).

Something I have tried doing drawing up a bit of a "routine". Now, we are not a routine house and he is NOT a routine baby (e.g. demand feeding), but this is what I have been trying at the books suggestion.

Getting him to bed much earlier than we were (8-8.30 instead of 10pm)

Drawing up a daily routine, and trying to stick to it within half an hour. So our routine is...

7.30-9.00 wake
9.00 down
9.30 sleep (lol hopefully)
11.00 wake
12.00 down
12.30 sleep
2.00 wake
3.00 down
3.30 sleep
5.00 wake
6.00 down
6.45 wake
7.00 dinner (we've started some solids)
8.00 bath
8.30 boobs then bed (not boobs to sleep!)

I tried to design these times around what he was naturally doing, of course he's not sleeping for 1.5hrs just 45 mins (and I also allowed half an hour settling time, as the wheels were often falling off because I was settling thrugh most of the sleep time). But what I've been trying to do is stay in his room and "settle" until it is "wake" time. I stay quiet and calm and darkened room until wake time. Then I leave the room for a minute (or less if he is crying, maybe 10 seconds or less) then come back in the room turn the light on and be happy and bright "Good morning my bubby".

I was thinking this way he'll learn OK this is about the time I'm supposed to be asleep or at least in the cot, and he would not get confused about OK why is she picking me up? Hope that makes sense.

I've also given him just a short nap at the end of the day so it fits with our nighttime routine better, and TBH sometimes he doesn't sleep at all.

Sometimes I figure that quiet time in the cot is as good as being asleep, especially if he's calm.

Like I said, I'm not really routine driven, but I figured he might learn by osmosis that he should be sleeping a bit longer at these times. Lately I'm pairing this with going back in to resettle him before he wakes up.

Anna you are NOT crazy for planning your weekend around sleep. For a while there DH was considering taking leave to help me teach DS how to sleep LOL.

I hear you on dreading nap time though - I was in the same place at 2 months old, thinking I KNOW i have to get you to sleep 4 times today and I have NFI how I am going to do that. All I can say is it did get a little better for us eventually. Sadly though, this was after I relented and started using a dummy, not sure how you feel about that.

At about 2-3 months old I did find that DS was settling better if I gave him a bit of personal space, so less of the rocking in arms to sleep patting and shhhing. He was responding better if I left him in the room on his own after saying "goodnight", and just went back in to comfort him as soon as he started crying (and I mean AS SOON, so def not CC). I would comfort until he was quiet and leave again. This way he was falling asleep inside 10-20 mins some days as opposed to 1.5 hrs the "in your face" way. I figured he just needed some space. It was about this time that he started to be more wakeful overnight when cosleeping and I noticed he was sleeping better in our bed on his own before we joined him so we also moved him to the cot for the "first sleep" of the night.

Anyway, it sounds like us 3 are having similar issues and are trying similar things, hopefully we can be of good support to each other!!! And I promise not to recommend Save Our Sleep LOL. I'll kill the next person that tells me to read that :P

Cheers,
Tish
xx