Nap/Sleep Schedule for 3 Month Old

I believe in child-lead parenting at this age. She's only 3 months old. She should be able to eat when she's hungry, sleep when she's tried. That's just my opinion. I definitely let them set their own schedule at this age, even if it changes daily or every few days. A 3 month old is way different than putting a 3 year old on a schedule.

Also, look for signs of when she's getting sleepy... instead of letting her get over tired. It's much harder to get a baby to sleep when they're overly tired.

At that age my son wasn't on a strict schedule by the clock. He still didn't do well with being awake for long periods of time, so we just put him down for a nap 2 hours after he woke up. He slept for 45 min-1 hr. I don't think this is necessarily typical to be taking like 5-6 naps a day at his age, but I thought I'd just share what one mom did :)
Good luck!

Find out what times the Daycare does things for you daughter, then tell your husband and Mother to follow those times. It's easier to get them to change then it would be for the Daycare to change.

Good luck!

Babis do ove routune. That said I would follow the same wake time, sleep times that the daycare does. Usually at 3 months, they can only handle 1 hour of wake time, before getting tired and ready for a nap. Also, does your daycare just put her in a crib and let her fall asleep on her own, while family tries to rock her to sleep? That could be one problem. My dayghter learned to put herself to sleep in the crib and gets aggitated if you try to walk or walk her to sleep, which leads to her getting overtired/overstimulated.

I actually typed up a three hour schedule for everyone to try to stick to. Now if she's hungry sooner etc. IU feed her, but we try to keep those naps cosistently one hour after waking.

My favorite book is Healthy Sleep, Happy Child. I get most of my advice/tactics from that.

Also, it might not hurt to ask your daycare what routine they do etc.

One big thing, sleep begets (sp?) sleep. So, if they're not putting her down for a nap early enough, she's going to wake early.

I do child care in my home and most of my parents follow the routine that I have their children on while at my house. My suggestion would be this... Ask the daycare to write her schedule down for you and then start to follow that routine on the weekends and while she is with dad or grandma. The night time routine will have to be up to you to figure out and stick to the same routine until it just falls into place. Good Luck!

Hello A.. When my daughter was in DayCare as an infant they provided me with a schedule sheet. It had fifteen minute blocks on it and they would write what she did during that time; ie ate 6oz, slept 1.25 hours. I would ask your daycare to do up one of those and provide it to your hubby and mother and ask them to follow that. Granted it won't be easy for them to adhere to it, but it should be easier for them to follow the baby's schedule with it written out as to how she does it at DayCare. They might just want to hold and cuddle her all the time, and who could blame them. Best of Luck!

What I haven't seen specifically addressed is the possibility that Dad and Grandma may be qiucker to pick her up, instead of letting her fuss herself back to sleep. This happens if they're keeping her in the center of things instead of in a bedroom where they can't hear so well. A monitor makes it easier to wait it out. 5 minutes seems like a long time to wait when you're listening to her fuss, but if she's not really ready to wake up, she'll be back asleep in that time. Using a timer makes it easier to sit it out. Another thing, young babies are more secure if you swaddle them tightly in a receiving blanket to sleep. This recreates the safety and closeness of the womb. Good luck with all the great advice.

Would it be possible to have grandma or dad adopt the same routines she is following at the daycare? I'm with you 100% - routines are wonderful for babies because it helps them establish a healthy sleeping/eating pattern and also lessens their anxiety because they can anticipate what is coming next in their day. You've seen what happens when she is overtired; has grandma or dad seen this?

I'd start by having the baby on a same/similar schedule no matter where she is receiving care.

At 3 months, she should be on a three hour schedule. So, she wakes at seven, eats, plays and goes back to sleep around 8:30 or 9, sleeps until 10, eats, plays until 11:30 , naps, etc. Watch her for signs of fatigue such as yawning, staring off into space, fussing, rubbing eyes, etc. When you see these, put her down. She should probably be tired around 7 or 8, so begin your bedtime routine with bath, bottle or breast feeding, story, and a tuck in. For more on scheduling, see Tracey Hogg's book "The Baby Whisperer." Your library may have a copy. By four months, many babies are ready to play more, and move to a four -hour schedule.

Ask what her routine is at daycare and ask Grandma and Dad to follow it. Someone coming in the home may not be as bad as you think. I watch a little one well he is near 3. And I charge much less than the daycare Momma looked into. It didn't matter how many days they had him it was one flat fee. I charge per number of days with extra if he's here all week.
We try to keep the same routine for him. The only difference is if I have a doctor's appointment then my husband has been watching him so he can stay pretty much on the same routine. He's really attcahed to Momma and gets angry when Monday's roll around. But he soon settles down.
Good luck with everything.

A.-
Have them stick to the routine from school it is better for her. We did the same thing it was hard at first... I have four kids and nap time is 1-3 like the center we used to go to but it works for everyone. Good luck putting yoru foot down with mom and dad.... one suggestion is askt he center to write out the daily scheudle to then post on the fridge at home until everyone gets used to it! :-)

I would have your family stick to the routine day care puts her on. That's one of the best things to come out of day care for me...their routine puts the babies on a great schedule for you!

I agree that she is probably doing better schedule wise at daycare - the workers are usually good at getting a schedule for them (I used to be one :-) It's easy at home to be more relaxed, to want to spend more interactive time with her, to run errands during nap time, etc., but they usually don't get the good quality sleep that way and such. I agree with the previous post, try and get a good handle on the type of schedule they're following and try to implement it at home as much as possible. Keep in mind that in daycare there is a room full of kids, the workers, while they probably like your child, do not have the same attachment and it's easier for them to put her down for a nap because that is when they have to take care of the baby next to her when she wakes up, etc. At this age her schedule is likely to change still from one week to the next, but finding a good place to start will help.

I'm sure she gets more stimulation at day care, what with the noise of other babies, etc. Maybe you could write up a schedule for grandma and dad and ask that they try to stick to it. To keep her awake, they can put her on the couch or floor and move her legs, arms, show her toys etc, unless it is her naptime.

it is really hard for a child that young to transision to different routins different days that is why day care is great every day they do the same things at the same time eating feeding playing you might want to have dad and grandma go to daycare for a day(most daycares encourge this) so they can see the routine that works best it is so much easier for the adults to change our day to day than a child a few hints for naptime and feeding time when its naptime everything needs to stop till the child is asleep at daycare everything is quiet at naptime no noise dimmed lights your child will understand it is time to nap feeding time is different im sure you gave the daycare a schedule to go by how much and when most try to go by this so her scheduale there and at home are the same if she doesnt want to eat at home at the same times try making a snack as soon as she see you eating she will want to do the same make sure it is some thing she can smell exp. cup of soup no need to get fancy about it most likly it will be cold by time you get to it as an adult if you smell something good you become hungry for it same goes for your little one

good luck i hope this helps a bit

Schedule is important to all children. If you prefer the schedule at the daycare then find out what it is and ask that grandparents and husband attempt to follow it as closely as possible. Understand different people make adjusts different but they can all try to work off the same page for the betterment of the child.