sample babywise schedule for 3 month old?

Hi, I read the babywise book but I'm not completely sure about the nap
schedule thing... I think I read that the baby needs 3 naps during the
day, each 1 1/2 hours long, and to be fed every 3 hours, but I'm not
sure how it works in the afternoon... my DD wakes at 7am and goes to
bed at 7pm... so can anyone give me an idea of what her schedule would
look like? I'm a little confused...TIA

On Sun, 10 Jun 2007 21:35:32 -0700, don_tspamme wrote:

Hi, I read the babywise book but I'm not completely sure about the nap
schedule thing... I think I read that the baby needs 3 naps during the
day, each 1 1/2 hours long, and to be fed every 3 hours, but I'm not
sure how it works in the afternoon... my DD wakes at 7am and goes to
bed at 7pm... so can anyone give me an idea of what her schedule would
look like? I'm a little confused...TIA

If the baby seems to be doing well, that's all that matters. I never pay
attention to what any book says my baby needs in terms of naps.

Neither of my kids were by the book. DD slept through the night her first
night home. I slept so well that I woke up in a panic thinking something
was wrong. In fact, I woke her up to make sure she was okay. Turns out
she was just a good sleeper. I let her sleep through the night ever after.
The ped said to follow her lead. As long as she ate well and pooped and
peed, she was fine. The ped also said that the babies will sleep for a
stretch, maybe not nurse for awhile and then cluster feed for an hour or
two.

Look for when she seems to be sleepy and let her sleep. A routine usually
follows from that. You can always try to tweak it after you see what she
needs.

don_tspamme wrote:
Hi, I read the babywise book but I'm not completely sure about the nap
schedule thing... I think I read that the baby needs 3 naps during the
day, each 1 1/2 hours long, and to be fed every 3 hours, but I'm not
sure how it works in the afternoon... my DD wakes at 7am and goes to
bed at 7pm... so can anyone give me an idea of what her schedule would
look like? I'm a little confused...TIA

Throw away the book--that book in particular. The amount
of bad advice in that book is staggering, and the few nuggets that
might work for some aren't worth it (and can be found in plenty of
other better books).

That said, at 3 months, 2-3 naps is not uncommon. Feedings
may be around every 3 hours, but might also be closer or further
apart. There's often a growth spurt around this time as well,
which can completely muck with any schedule for a while. There's
also a pretty wide variation in how long babies will sleep.
Speaking in very broad generalities that won't work for
every baby, there's usually a fairly early morning nap (with a
7am wakeup, probably by 9am-ish), then a nap in the early afternoon
(maybe 1pm-ish), and then a later afternoon nap (maybe 5pm-ish).
But, that's often combined with a bedtime that's a little later
than 7pm. At that age, mine were going to bed more around 9pm
when they had three naps. So, you might find that it's not
easy to get the third nap in and still have her ready to go
to sleep at 7pm. Or maybe she thrives on a lot of sleep and
she'll be fine with three naps and an early bedtime.
The tricky bit with young babies is that almost as soon
as you get into a groove, they move on to something new. Also,
when they go through the process of moving from three naps to
two naps (or two naps to one nap), there's usually a significant
period of time when everything is awkward. Taking the nap is
too much, but not having the nap is not enough sleep, and you
go through cranky periods. This is also normal and you just do
your best until things settle out.

Best wishes,
Ericka

On Jun 11, 7:44?am, Ericka Kammerer wrote:
don_tspamme wrote:
Hi, I read the babywise book but I'm not completely sure about the nap
schedule thing... I think I read that the baby needs 3 naps during the
day, each 1 1/2 hours long, and to be fed every 3 hours, but I'm not
sure how it works in the afternoon... my DD wakes at 7am and goes to
bed at 7pm... so can anyone give me an idea of what her schedule would
look like? I'm a little confused...TIA

Throw away the book--that book in particular. The amount
of bad advice in that book is staggering, and the few nuggets that
might work for some aren't worth it (and can be found in plenty of
other better books).

That said, at 3 months, 2-3 naps is not uncommon. Feedings
may be around every 3 hours, but might also be closer or further
apart. There's often a growth spurt around this time as well,
which can completely muck with any schedule for a while. There's
also a pretty wide variation in how long babies will sleep.
Speaking in very broad generalities that won't work for
every baby, there's usually a fairly early morning nap (with a
7am wakeup, probably by 9am-ish), then a nap in the early afternoon
(maybe 1pm-ish), and then a later afternoon nap (maybe 5pm-ish).
But, that's often combined with a bedtime that's a little later
than 7pm. At that age, mine were going to bed more around 9pm
when they had three naps. So, you might find that it's not
easy to get the third nap in and still have her ready to go
to sleep at 7pm. Or maybe she thrives on a lot of sleep and
she'll be fine with three naps and an early bedtime.
The tricky bit with young babies is that almost as soon
as you get into a groove, they move on to something new. Also,
when they go through the process of moving from three naps to
two naps (or two naps to one nap), there's usually a significant
period of time when everything is awkward. Taking the nap is
too much, but not having the nap is not enough sleep, and you
go through cranky periods. This is also normal and you just do
your best until things settle out.

Best wishes,
Ericka

I agree with Ericka. No book can tell you what your child should be
getting in sleepwise. All kids are different. You watch your baby and
adjust the schedule accordingly to where it seems the sleep baby is
getting is good quality sleep and is beneficial for baby.

My first would wake at 7 a.m. and go straight back to bed after
breakfast at around 8:30-9 a.m. for about 1 hour for at least the
first six months of his life. He also took a nap around 2-3 p.m. for
1-2 hours and then one at around 6:30 p.m. for 30 minutes. He went
down for the night around 10-11 p.m. As the third nap disappeared, his
morning wake time lengthened and the late bedtime got earlier, as then
he was napping once in the late morning and once in the mid-to-late
afternoon.

My second baby catnapped a ton until we could manage to keep her awake
for longer stretches and figure out the nap schedule that she needs,
and I don't even dare try to type that out. lol. Rest assured,
however, eventually she was on the three naps a day around 4 months
and then eventually the two naps a day.

My third baby is 19 months old and was just the easiest to figure out,
probably because I had done it a couple of times already. We just
watched for his sleepy cues and down he went and repeated. His awake
time lengthened in duration as he got older, which resulted in trying
to schedule naps in for the day. We would tweak the naps by trying to
keep him awake by playing, etc. until we were able to do the 3 naps a
day. He would wake at 8 a.m. and go down at around 10 a.m. (around 2
hours in between each nap of awake time). He would wake again at
around noon, more or less -- just depended. He would go down for nap
#2 anywhere from 1-3:00 and up again 2 hours later. He would go down
for nap #3 anywhere from 5-6:00 and was up again quicker the last nap.
He would go down for the night at 9 p.m. and sleep until 8 a.m. He
then went to 2 naps a day and is now on 1 nap a day at 2 p.m. for
mostly 2 hours and sometimes 3 hours. He still goes to bed at 9 p.m.
and still wakes up at around 8 a.m.

You will figure it out and it usually just takes time to figure out
what your baby can do, how long baby can and wants to stay awake, how
much sleep they need to wake with a smile, etc. I had wished my third
baby would take on that later bedtime like my first because I really
needed my two hands free during bathtime, etc. for my first two and I
felt they needed that little bit of time from me they could have
gotten at that particular time, but he didn't seem to be able to last
that long. He just went down at 9 p.m. permanently night after night
after night; the same time they did. lol. It was a bummer to all of a
sudden not be able to take turns snuggling the other two at bedtime
like I had been doing and to not be able to read each a book of their
choosing, but now I can see it was probably for the better. lol. Now I
hold baby as we tuck in the older two and he blows them kisses like
crazy from the doorway while saying "nigh-nigh" and then he and I go
into his room, read him his book, and I place him into his bed with
his favorite blankie and doggie, turn on the nightlight musical
aquarium and walk out the door. He is out cold in a matter of
minutes.

As for feeding, definitly don't follow a book. They can only offer a
guideline to a norm, not THE norm for every baby (same for sleep
really too). Feed baby when he/she seems hungry, and not every cry
means hunger.

Chris wrote:

I agree with Ericka. No book can tell you what your child should be
getting in sleepwise. All kids are different.

Just to be clear, I do think that you can learn some
things about infant sleep needs and patterns from books or
from other people. There are some tips and patterns that
help with many infants, though ultimately you have to be
sensitive to your child's individual needs. It's just that
_Babywise_ in particular is a *bad* book when it comes to
this stuff. Much of the advice is in direct opposition to
advice from experts. The history associated with Ezzo's
methods is positively sordid. Not only have experts reported
potential and actual issues with his recommendations, but
I personally know people who've used his methods and ended
up struggling with babies diagnosed with failure to thrive.
Google will turn up all sorts of information for those who
are interested in the details.

So, I agree that it's important to focus on a child's
individual needs, but I do think there are patterns that apply
to many children and I think there are tips that can help some
people who are struggling with establishing healthy sleep
patterns. I just don't think this is a good reference for
any of that.

Best wishes,
Ericka

"Ericka Kammerer" wrote in message
. ..
don_tspamme wrote:
Hi, I read the babywise book but I'm not completely sure about the nap
schedule thing... I think I read that the baby needs 3 naps during the
day, each 1 1/2 hours long, and to be fed every 3 hours, but I'm not
sure how it works in the afternoon... my DD wakes at 7am and goes to
bed at 7pm... so can anyone give me an idea of what her schedule would
look like? I'm a little confused...TIA

Throw away the book--that book in particular. The amount
of bad advice in that book is staggering, and the few nuggets that
might work for some aren't worth it (and can be found in plenty of
other better books).

That said, at 3 months, 2-3 naps is not uncommon. Feedings
may be around every 3 hours, but might also be closer or further
apart. There's often a growth spurt around this time as well,
which can completely muck with any schedule for a while. There's
also a pretty wide variation in how long babies will sleep.
Speaking in very broad generalities that won't work for
every baby, there's usually a fairly early morning nap (with a
7am wakeup, probably by 9am-ish), then a nap in the early afternoon
(maybe 1pm-ish), and then a later afternoon nap (maybe 5pm-ish).
But, that's often combined with a bedtime that's a little later
than 7pm. At that age, mine were going to bed more around 9pm
when they had three naps. So, you might find that it's not
easy to get the third nap in and still have her ready to go
to sleep at 7pm. Or maybe she thrives on a lot of sleep and
she'll be fine with three naps and an early bedtime.
The tricky bit with young babies is that almost as soon
as you get into a groove, they move on to something new. Also,
when they go through the process of moving from three naps to
two naps (or two naps to one nap), there's usually a significant
period of time when everything is awkward. Taking the nap is
too much, but not having the nap is not enough sleep, and you
go through cranky periods. This is also normal and you just do
your best until things settle out.

Best wishes,
Ericka


Ericka's post is excellent and right on the mark IMO. But as a new parent
what I needed to hear was, no there is nothing you can really do about it
except watch you baby. And no you are not doing wrong or badly. You are
doing fine.

Stephanie wrote:

Ericka's post is excellent and right on the mark IMO. But as a new parent
what I needed to hear was, no there is nothing you can really do about it
except watch you baby. And no you are not doing wrong or badly. You are
doing fine.

Well, and for the most part, if you tune in to your
baby, it generally comes out right in the end. We all pretty much
just keep putting one foot in front of the other and try to
keep leaning in the direction we eventually want to go (despite
the inevitable detours). And most of what seems to muck us up
is second guessing, guilt, and that sort of thing, rather than
ignorance of where we want to go or how to get there! ;-)

Best wishes,
Ericka

"Ericka Kammerer" wrote in message
. ..
Stephanie wrote:

Ericka's post is excellent and right on the mark IMO. But as a new parent
what I needed to hear was, no there is nothing you can really do about it
except watch you baby. And no you are not doing wrong or badly. You are
doing fine.

Well, and for the most part, if you tune in to your
baby, it generally comes out right in the end. We all pretty much
just keep putting one foot in front of the other and try to
keep leaning in the direction we eventually want to go (despite
the inevitable detours). And most of what seems to muck us up
is second guessing, guilt, and that sort of thing, rather than
ignorance of where we want to go or how to get there! ;-)

Best wishes,
Ericka


Precisely. And in my case the certainty that despite everything I was
hearing to the contrary, I was never going to get to sleep again. I like
sleep.

Stephanie wrote:
"Ericka Kammerer" wrote in message
. ..
Stephanie wrote:

Ericka's post is excellent and right on the mark IMO. But as a new parent
what I needed to hear was, no there is nothing you can really do about it
except watch you baby. And no you are not doing wrong or badly. You are
doing fine.
Well, and for the most part, if you tune in to your
baby, it generally comes out right in the end. We all pretty much
just keep putting one foot in front of the other and try to
keep leaning in the direction we eventually want to go (despite
the inevitable detours). And most of what seems to muck us up
is second guessing, guilt, and that sort of thing, rather than
ignorance of where we want to go or how to get there! ;-)

Precisely. And in my case the certainty that despite everything I was
hearing to the contrary, I was never going to get to sleep again. I like
sleep.

Even tiny problems seem insurmountable when you're
sleep-deprived!

Best wishes,
Ericka

don_tspamme wrote:

Hi, I read the babywise book but I'm not completely sure about the nap
schedule thing...

That is a bad book.

Follow baby's cues to feed (bringing fist to mouth,
turning head side to side) and follow baby's cues
to sleep (rubbing eyes, yawning, or just falling
asleep!).

-- Anita --