Sleep Schedule

I have an 11 month old and he would also not nap in his bassinet, however he would nap in his crib. Now he is too big for the bassinett and refuses to nap in his crib and he still naps in either his swing or play pen. Mainly swing though. As for the schedule I never pushed for a daytime schedule but it just happened. I let him nap when he was sleepy and play when he was awake. Before I knew it I realized he napped at the same time every day and ate at the same time everyday and played in between.

I would recommend that you read the book The Baby Whisperer or check out www.babywhisperer.com. It gives some great advice for getting rid of props like the swing or bouncy and how to teach independent sleep.

As far as a schedule/routine - baby whisperer recommends doing a routine of Eat, Activity, Sleep. At this age my son was on a three hour routine so he ate at 6, 9, 12, 3, 6 with a activity time and then a nap following every meal. Little ones thrive on routine and consistency be it routine, the way they are laid down or anything else. You want to do Eat, Activity, Sleep because it advocates the idea that your child should get energy from food (not that it should be used as a sleeping aid)

Also, I think you need to work on extending night time sleep. The goal for little ones about this age should be 10 to 12 hours (still waking in here to feed a few times) with 2 or 3 naps during the day.

I highly recommend BabyWise. I used it with both my kids and they slept through the night by 9 wks (9-10 hours). They were on a roughly 3 hour routine during the day which stretched out to 4 hours by about 6 months. It's basically an eat, play, sleep routine as well - except at the last evening feeding - where it's eat - sleep. I like it because it shows you how to adjust the routine to whatever you have going on for the day without messing baby up. IE - you don't have to be strictly tied to the clock to get baby into a great routine.

Using the swing isn't a big deal at that age - sometimes they just need the soothing motion. As long as she's getting good uninterrupted sleep - it's fine. My daughter decided at about 5 months that she didn't want to nap in the swing anymore and now she naps fine in her pack n play.

Good luck!

Hi A., Its kinda hard to put a 7 week old baby on a day schedule because sleeping is what they do most anyway.. You can play with her more to keep her up but still she will go to sleep when she is ready. Also its ok for her to sleep in her swing or bouncer as long as shes asleep shes comfortable. Be thankful that she sleeps 5 to 6 hours at night and let her do her own thing during the day as long as its not messing with her night schedule... Hope you find peace in what ive said.. Goodluck.

I also would recommend Babywise. It helped me to put my son on a good day and night time schedule. My son also refused to sleep in his crib until he was about 6 months old and was taking 1 1/2 to 2 hour naps in his swing. As long as your daughter is getting good sleep and you're supervising her, I don't think there is any reason to try to force her to take day time naps in any certain place.

Well, after having three babies, one thing I learned was don't try to hard for a schedule until they are between 4-6 months. Little babies needs differ from day to day, and there are lots of growth spurts in there. Let her sleep when she is tired, and eat when she is hungry. My daughter took all of her naps in her swing until she was about 4 months old, then one day we just started laying her down. Its been a very slow process, but it is one that has been very gentle, and easy on both of us. Just go with the flow .

hi. my daughter is 5 months today and i still have the same problem with the swing/bouncy chair. i tried a lot of different things and eventually discussed it with her doctor. i have homework to do so that schedule is really needed aound here. her doctor gave me some good advice when he told me not to stress about where she was sleeping but to just be glad she is sleeping. i have also found that a palette on the floor works well for her naps. the crib or bassinette are strictly bedtime for her and she knows that. it has actually worked out better for me because i can keep an eye on her at naptime and still have my peace and quiet to get things done. being 5 months old she is very good roller now so i try to use the swing and bouncy chair most often. hope that helps...

I couldn't get my infant to sleep in his bassinet during the day either, I don't know what it was. I started having to make a comfy place on the floor... he seemed to like it and actually napped there. I dunno how you feel about that though. Good Luck!