Naptime schedule?

Hey :-)

Sara's nearing 7 months old and not on solids yet (lots of allergies at
least on my side of the family, so we'll start in about a month). She's
on a weird schedule right now where she's nursing nearly non stop in the
morning when we're home alone and Sam's in school. I think most of it is
just comfort sucking (maybe she's finally teething, but who knows. Her
gums look like teeth are about to erupt, but they have been looking like
this for at least two months now). During this time she falls asleep
often, but only for short periods of time. If I try to put her to bed
she'll wake up about 5 minutes later screaming bloody murder. If I put
her on her sheepskin to play she'll occasionally play for a while then
fuss and cries for a bit and sometimes gos back to playing if I
encourage her (give her a different toy, put everything back into the
basket so she can pull it all out again,..).

So, now I'm wondering, should I start putting her down into bed, stay
with her until she falls asleep ad then leave and get her used to
naptimes or is it really too early still?
She's clearly tired, not hungry. But I'm worried she's just nursing to
fall asleep and can't fall asleep any other way now. But I'm not sure
whether or not this is a bad thing. I don't really mind her nursing to
sleep, but I do want her to learn to fall asleep without nursing eventually.

She hates pacifiers, so giving her one isn't an option, besides I think
that would just shift the "problem" from boob to pacifier.

So, should I try getting her on a schedule with naps or is it too early?
I'm not really getting around to the housework until Sam is home and can
entertain her a little, or my brother "takes mercy" on us and takes her
for a bit. ;-)
Also, I've noticed she has a hard time falling asleep at night lately, I
guess she's too tired by that point and she wants to nurse nurse nurse
like there's no tomorrow, which is starting to annoy me a little because
she's pulling of a lot and that _hurts_.

I guess this sounds more dramatic than it really is. We have the easter
holiday coming up, and I guess the three of us are just _really_ ready
for some lazing around *lol*

Well, I wrote all that before picking up Sam from School, and during
homework Sara fell asleep an *knock on wood* she's been out for almost
an hour now. Let's hope tonight will be easier for all of us.

Still, do I try to get her on some kind of sleeping schedule? Or do I
wait till she's older? I can't remember what I did with Sam as he
preferred sleeping in his own bed due to his perception/sensory
problems. I know that at about 10 months he was napping from around 10
till 11 or 12 and then from 3-5 or something like that and then went to
bed at around 9 and we got up at 7 or 8? I'm just not sure anymore.

cu
nicole

NL wrote:

So, now I'm wondering, should I start putting her down into bed, stay
with her until she falls asleep ad then leave and get her used to
naptimes or is it really too early still?
She's clearly tired, not hungry. But I'm worried she's just nursing to
fall asleep and can't fall asleep any other way now. But I'm not sure
whether or not this is a bad thing. I don't really mind her nursing to
sleep, but I do want her to learn to fall asleep without nursing
eventually.

I think it's totally not too early to move towards a daily
routine that includes naps. I think there is a natural transition
from nursing to sleep to going to sleep on their own. At first,
they can't help falling sound asleep when they nurse, but they
naturally tend to drift gradually toward being more awake when
they're done eating. After that point, you can let them comfort
suck until they're out cold, or you can be in the habit of putting
them down when they're done eating. I would opt for the latter.
That gives you a nice, gradual progression for them going down
more and more awake and drifting off to a sound sleep on their
own.
Also, I would not assume that she needs to be rocked
or soothed or patted or whatever to sleep once she's put down.
I'd get her nice and full and comfy and then leave. If you
need to come back in and soothe, by all means do, but no need
to introduce that step unless it's needed. If it is needed,
try to gradually back off from soothing her all the way to
a sound sleep over time.

She hates pacifiers, so giving her one isn't an option, besides I think
that would just shift the "problem" from boob to pacifier.

That depends on what you think the problem is ;-)
For very sucky babies, pacifiers can be a blessing if non-stop
comfort sucking doesn't work for you all that well.

So, should I try getting her on a schedule with naps or is it too early?

Not at all too early--and the morning nap probably needs
to be much earlier than you expect. They often are ready for the
morning nap after only being up for an hour or two. If you wait
until she is fussing and rubbing her eyes, she may already be
overtired and it may be difficult for her to get to sleep.

Also, I've noticed she has a hard time falling asleep at night lately, I
guess she's too tired by that point and she wants to nurse nurse nurse
like there's no tomorrow, which is starting to annoy me a little because
she's pulling of a lot and that _hurts_.

Poor quality daytime sleep often leads to poor quality
nighttime sleep.

Still, do I try to get her on some kind of sleeping schedule? Or do I
wait till she's older? I can't remember what I did with Sam as he
preferred sleeping in his own bed due to his perception/sensory
problems. I know that at about 10 months he was napping from around 10
till 11 or 12 and then from 3-5 or something like that and then went to
bed at around 9 and we got up at 7 or 8? I'm just not sure anymore.

At 7 months, mine were still usually doing three naps a
day--around 9-ish, 1-ish, and 5-ish. Not too long thereafter,
they moved to two naps per day with an earlier bedtime. I think
there is no benefit to waiting to move toward a fairly consistent
rhythm to the day. I think it makes everything easier. You can't
always snap your fingers and make it happen overnight, but you can
certainly head in that direction.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Still, do I try to get her on some kind of sleeping schedule? Or do I
wait till she's older?

Even the more attached, follow the baby kind of books seem to think
babies are ready for some kind of scheduling by this stage. On
kellymom.com, there are several extracts (with permission) from "The
no cry sleep solution" by Elizabeth Pantley, the list is here
http://kellymom.com/pantley/index.html. Does sound rather like the
early signs are being missed and she hits her 2nd wind, then is in the
wrong state to go to sleep.

Good Luck
Anne

Anne Rogers schrieb:
Still, do I try to get her on some kind of sleeping schedule? Or do I
wait till she's older?

Even the more attached, follow the baby kind of books seem to think
babies are ready for some kind of scheduling by this stage. On
kellymom.com, there are several extracts (with permission) from "The
no cry sleep solution" by Elizabeth Pantley, the list is here
http://kellymom.com/pantley/index.html. Does sound rather like the
early signs are being missed and she hits her 2nd wind, then is in the
wrong state to go to sleep.

It's more a matter of her going to sleep just before we need to leave to
pick up Sam, or take him to sports, or going shopping, then she wakes up
after having been asleep for something like 5-20min and is happy and
awake for a while until she gets grouchy (of course) but there's not a
lot I can do about having to pick up Sam...
Sam's school schedule is so crazy...
mon 8:45-12:30
tue 8:00-13:10 sports: 16:00-17:00
wed 8:00-12:30
thu 8:45-12:30
fri 8:00-11:25

It takes me about 15 minutes from here to school/sports, including
getting dressed and the bike trailer "warmed up" for Sara, so, a good
time for her to nap would be between 9 and 11. Except on Thursdays we
meet her father at 10-11 and sometimes we have to move that "date"
because of his work schedule or because Sam gets off school early, like
this Thursday.

Also, she doesn't have a drowsy "mode". She'll be waving her arms
around, making happy cooing noises then her arm drops down to the pillow
and she's dead asleep. Just like that.

So I guess I'll have to find a way to get her to sleep sooner so she
will get more sleep before I have to wake her to pick up Sam...

I'll check out the link you gave me :-) Thank for your help :-)

cu
nicole