A.M. asks from Latonia, KY on October 09, 2008
Nap/Sleep Schedule for 3 Month Old
Hello ladies,
I have a wonderful 3mo old daughter. She is a happy baby and so much fun. I work full time and she attends daycare part time with family and her dad watching her the other days. We are having an awful time getting a schedule worked out with naps/feeding/bedtime rituals. I'm thinking that it is because she has different days. 3 days she is at daycare where she naps wonderfully and eats pretty regularly and a fair amount. At home, when she stays with Grandma or Dad, she takes on little catnaps and drains bigger bottles and it just seems that she is thrown off. I don't want to take her days away from grandma and dad but am almost thinking that the routine is better. With health insurance and bills, staying home or paying someone to come to my house is not an option. Has anyone else run into this problem...or what is a good method for establishing schedules. Por girls is overtired most days and those are the only real fits that she throws...when she is exhausted.
Thanks so much~
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E.M. answers from Terre Haute on October 12, 2008
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.
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D.T. answers from Muncie on October 09, 2008
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!
1 mom found this helpful
J.L. answers from Cleveland on October 10, 2008
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.
M.P. answers from Indianapolis on October 10, 2008
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.
H.M. answers from Cincinnati on October 09, 2008
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.
L.D. answers from Columbus on October 10, 2008
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!
R.N. answers from Columbus on October 10, 2008
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! :-)
C.W. answers from Cincinnati on October 10, 2008
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.
S.B. answers from Columbus on October 11, 2008
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
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