I have a 13 month old and I haven’t started a day or night time schedule. ?
I guess what I’m asking, does anyone have any suggestions on how to start a schedule. I’m talking like a wake up time, lunch time, and bedtime. I tried to start a schedule but when I put him in his crib, he cries like someone is hurting him. It is really hard for me to just set him in his crib and listen to him cry like like. PLEASE HELP. THANK YOU
January 25th, 2011 at 10:09 pm
As for sleep schedules, in the first year of life there’s a pretty wide range of what’s considered normal. Some babies can sleep five to six hours at a stretch by the time they’re 2 months old, for example, while others don’t until they’re 3 or even 9 months old. (In fact, 30 percent of babies don’t “sleep through the night” at 9 months.) As long as your baby seems alert, playful, and happy during his waking hours, he’s probably getting enough sleep.
Regardless of your baby’s tendencies, there are a couple of things you can do to encourage him to sleep longer at night so that his pattern becomes more family friendly: Keep naps short, about one to two hours. And add as much predictability as possible to his day. Give him meals, baths, walks, visits to the park, and bedtime on a consistent schedule.
At the same time, if he seems hungry again before his usual feeding, go ahead and feed him. And if he’s out of sorts, perhaps he needs to get to sleep a bit earlier than planned. Your goal should be to provide your baby with a consistent schedule that respects his natural patterns and personality, too.
Sooner or later, your baby will probably settle into a fairly predictable daily schedule. Even then, don’t count on its being permanent.
Your baby may keep regular hours for a while and then become completely irregular, time-wise — during a growth spurt, for example, or when he’s learning something new, such as how to roll over or sit up. At times, he may need to feed more often or require more breast milk or formula at each feeding. When this happens, rest assured that your baby will get back into a rhythm again, probably after just a couple of days.
January 25th, 2011 at 10:32 pm
I used the book Becoming Babywise. It worked well for me. Wake up/Lunch/bedtime should be on your schedule. Here we get up at 6 am, he naps at 10-12pm and Bedtime at 7:30 pm. At that age, he took a nap in the afternoon from 3-4:30 pm.
January 25th, 2011 at 11:02 pm
How do you normally put him to sleep? Has he always slept in his crib? Does he wake up at the same time every morning? Is he down to one nap or still on two?
And be careful on becoming “babywise”
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