I use a routine to a point but am flexible with it. I did read a book, but I just picked a few things out of it. Such as my youngests son always went down around 9am and 1pm for a sleep. I never every woke a sleeping child just because a book says to I figured if one day they needed 3 hours then their body needed it.

If we were going out I just tried to keep with it. Say we spent the day in town I would still give him lunch around the normal time then at 1pm I would lay his pram back give him his dummy and teddy and he would pretty much go to sleep.

There were days though (especially with 2 older brothers and fitting in kinder etc) where the routine just didn't happen.

I think the key is flexibility, my little man knows that when he is put in a sleeping bag, dummy and teddy then it means sleep whether we are at home or staying at Grandma's house.