I have a 6.5 month old who gets up in the morning anywhere between 5-5:30am. He is starting to fight his 3rd nap. I put him down for his third nap anywhere between 2:30-3:30pm. Since he is fighting it noq, I have been putting him down for his 2nd nap between 12:30-1pm. He usually sleeps an 1.5-2 hours. With this being said, his stretch from the time he is up from his 2nd nap and bedtime is around 4 hours. He is exhausted by bedtime.
I know eventually he will have more energy to stay up, but until then, how do I schedule his nap, so he isn't as exhausted. Any help would be beneficial.
I would go ahead and try to put him to sleep for the night at an earlier bedtime. I would try 6- 6:15 pm. This worked for my children. My 22 1/2 yr old still goes to bed by 6:30(the lateset) sleeps till 7am, goes down for a nap at 1 sleeps til 2:30 and off to bed by 6:15. The early bedtime sems to work well.
What time does he go to bed at night? My daughter is also 6 1/2 months and she is usually ready for a nap 2 1/2 to 3 hours after being awake and active. This is her sleep schedule:
wake up -- 7:00 am
1st nap-- 8:30/9:00 -10:00/10:30am
2nd nap-- 1:00-2:30 pm
3rd nap-- 4:00-4:30 or 5pm
bedtime-- 7:00 pm
Of course, these times are just estimates and can vary by 30 minutes or so. The important thing is to pay attention to your baby's cues (rubbing eyes, yawning, fussing) and start winding him down and getting him ready for his naps/bedtime when he shows you he is tired.
According to the book Good Night, Sleep Tight: The gentle guide to helping your child fall asleep and stay asleep, babies that are 6 1/2 months old should be asleep for their first nap around 1 1/2 to 2 hours after waking in the morning. They should be asleep for their second nap no later than 3 hours after they wake from their second nap. Again, pay attention to his cues and if he seems tired earlier (and especially if he didn't nap at least 1 1/2 hours the first time) you can put him down for his second nap earlier. The same thing with the third nap.
The third nap can be optional depending on how well he slept the first 2 naps. If for some reason he didn't sleep 1 1/2 hours each nap then he will probably definitely need the third nap. If he already napped for at least three hours during the day and doesn't appear tired, you can skip the third nap, but maybe wind him down and put him to bed a little earlier than usual.
good luck!
I would suggest getting rid of the 3rd nap and try an earlier bedtime. For awhile my daughter was going to bed at 5pm when we eliminated her 3rd nap. Unfortunately it's all trial and error!
What time is bedtime? Maybe try putting him to bed a little earlier.
Why do we have to control our children naps? Is anybody controlling yours? If you were forced to sleep without needing it, how would you feel? I let my boy sleep whenever he wants as he is the only one who knows if his body needs it or not. Believe it or not, he has put himself on a schedule, I did not have to do anything. I just followed his biological clock and it worked great. He is 4 months old and sleeps through the night. He takes 3 naps every day, lasting between 1.5 and 2 hours each. I do not put him down just because "it's time for the scheduled nap". If he doesn't want to nap, fine, we can enjoy each other more. If he's tired, he'll let me know through clear signs that he would like to sleep, then yes, I put him down because HE wants to sleep, not because I want him to or I think he needs to. Following your clock and not his will eventually lead to a cranky and (as you've already mentioned) an exhausted baby. Good luck :)
With my little guy, I always did 2 naps. The first one was from 9-11:30 or 12 and the second was from 3-4:30. This worked well until he was about 15 months old and transitioned to 1 longer early-afternoon nap. I think 3 naps might be a bit much - maybe try to merge the 2 morning ones and put him down a little later in the afternoon. The one thing I learned when shifting naptimes is that babies will tell you what you need if you let them - listen to him and work around his schedule.
Good luck!
T.
None of my four boys took 3 naps. They started out with 2 and went down to 1 and right before their 3rd birthday, they quit napping.
They would wake up, eat and go back to sleep until around 7, then nap at 10 wake up for awhile and nap at 2 or 3. Then they would go to bed around 7 or 8.
If you have the flexibility, I would kind of play it by ear for a few days and watch your son and follow his cues. No, you won't get much done, but doing this would help figure out his daily routine.
Try to push his morning nap a bit so that he's up a little longer in the morning, and then he will be ready to go for a second nap a little later. That is what has worked for all three of my kids, and what I will be doing as soon as my 5 month old figures out his schedule.
This is probably a dumb question (and something you've already tried), but have you just tried putting him back to bed when he wakes up at 5/5:30? It's true that some kids are just natural early risers, but maybe he's just hungry. ?? Maybe nurse or give him a bottle then lay him right back down. He may surprise you and go back to sleep!
