Has anyone else wanted to rip their hair out trying to pin down a nap schedule for their infant?! Well holy hell it's been a pain in the **BLEEP** to say the least. Schedules are my LIFE, so it was very bazaar to me when my infant child (now 6 months old) didn't understand this is how I chose to work and he didn't jump on board...
So lets just say that initially in the first few months of Greyson's life, Lee and I adapted to whatever worked as he was still trying to figure us out and vice versa. But, by month 5 I was ready to pin down a schedule! So every day I used my Erin Condren planner (best planners ever created) to write down every single nap (*I did miss a couple) Greyson took. The time he went down, the time he got up, everything. I did this for about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks to try to come up with a schedule that worked best for our little man based on his natural rhythm and this is what it looked like when I put it into a report for myself...ummmm yeah.
So after my husband found me feverishly jotting this all down in a chart, he looked at me like a belonged in the looney bin in which I replied with, "Happy wife, happy life"
So after analyzing it all, I found the 3 basic chunks where he slept the longest and/or started his naps most often, and then created this here fancy schedule and so far it's definitely worked! So as of now, here is where we landed:
- 8:30am (Sleeps until 10am)
- 11:30am (Sleeps until 12:30 or 1pm)
- 3:00pm (Sleeps about 30 minutes)
Now you can imagine my excitement when we went from an all out chaotic nap "non-schedule" where typically I got 25-30 minute naps out of him to now 1-1.5 hour naps! I have heard time and time again that babies NEED structure and routine so really setting the rules and schedules in our house rather than letting out little one decide it all has made things so much better for all of us. This schedule of course will fluctuate as he gets older but right now I'm loving it. So anyone you know that's looking for some help, point them this way as this schedule creation definitely worked for us! Plus you can find your OWN child's rhythm this way rather than thinking you have to follow some schedule that people say you should follow. Following the whole "10 & 2" nap schedule isn't for every baby as I think it's more important to do what fits you and your baby. So now we're relishing in our new nap schedule and hope this will help others out there suffering from angry baby/angry momma syndrome!