How do I get my 3.5mth old into a routine??? He is all over the shop. He has a routine for about 3 days and then changes and keeps the next one for 3 or 4 days and so on and so on. It is driving me bonkers. He is so hard to put down for a nap during the day and when he does go down it's only for 20 mins or a max of 40 mins.
He won't sleep if I notice his tired signs and put him in the cot...he will just scream and scream. it's even gotten to the point where we have started putting him in our bed so we can all get some sleep. i don't want that to keep going on though. i don't know how to go about it all. if anyone has been in the same situation your feedback would be gratefully appreciated
My 4 month old won't usually sleep during the day if I put him in his cot either - but on the floor with a relatively boring toy seems to work better...
He'll also nap better if we are out and about - either in the carseat, pram or sling. He seems to find shopping centre chaos soothing!
I just try to give him opportunities to sleep during the day - by going for a walk or playing on the floor. If he's really tired he takes them. But he will rarely have a big sleep in the day.
I find that they change their sleep/waking patterns really frequently. Once I see tired signs I put DD in her cot even though she won't sleep- it is her down time and mine. I leave her there for about an hour as long as she is only playing, not screaming. Work out how long your DS needs to sleep (there are charts in books etc that are only guides) in 24 hours- say 16 hours, for example. Then if he has 12 hours at night, he needs 4 during the day. Divide these into 3 for a morning, midday and afternoon nap and put him down at set times eg 9am, 12pm, 3pm even though sleep may not happen. He may be overtired if he is screaming when you put him in. Could you feed him to sleep until he gets back into a napping pattern? If putting him inyour beds works foryou, keep doing it. There is no harm. Don't worry too much about routine. As I said, it will change again anyway and will do so for the next year maybe.
Go and get yourself the book, save our sleep by Tizzie Hall. I had the same problem with my DS. He was driving me insane. I ad the book in the cupboard from my first bub, and didnt really use it as she is such a good sleeper. I have had my DS on her routine for the past 3 days and now he is sleeping two large sleeps during the day and at night he goes from 7.00pm to 7.00am. The routines have to be followed to the dot, but its well worth it!!
Good luck... The book save our sleep has a website so you can download a routine for a small cost online. I got the book, it has lots of tips and advice.
most babies don't come with a routine.... they are little individual creatures and not something you can make function based on a clock. in all honesty my dd's days didn't start resembling anything like a routine until around 10months when her sleep started settling down.... there's nothing wrong with taking each day as it comes and following your baby's lead each day, in fact i would recommend it. in my personal experience of spending the first six months obsessing about getting my baby into a routine, they are absolute BULLS#%T!! i wasted a good deal of time trying to force her to be predictable, which i now realise was a completely unrealistic expectation... if your baby comes with some predictability then great, what a bonus, but if not (like most) i certainly wouldn't worry about it..... (now that i know better!!).... just enjoy the freedom of not having to watch a clock!!
Hello
Some babies thrive on routine, others don't seem to.
I've found with mine the best thing I can do is just try to be consistent.
No matter how much sleep they've had the night before, I get them up at 7:00 and start over.
Jordan's usually ready for another sleep by 9:00, and from then on around every 2 hours, with a micro nap while he's feeding around 4:30 - 5:00, and then down at 7:00 again.
My eldest still wakes around 7:00 on her own, has a nap at midday and is down again at 7:00 at night.
hth
help....no routine!!!!!!!
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