My 14 month old has never slept more than one sleep cycle unless in his own cot where it is nice and dark! Should I persevere with the buggy? Will he get it eventually? Or have I conditioned him to sleep in the dark?
And how do you like your double Mclaren, we’re about to have number 2 and I’m tossing up between the Mclaren and a tandem
Thank you for your comment and question. Yes I believe while out and about in a environment other then the baby or toddlers normal sleeping cot or mosses basket it is important they can see you when they wake up between sleep cycles. I have never put a blanket or any type of cover over a pram or buggy. This is for two reasons one I believe they need to see you and two it can stop the freedom of air flow which might cause a sleeping accident. So yes I think it could be the reason you have out and about sleep problems.
Yes you might have conditioned him to sleep in the dark but why don’t you make his room a little brighter slowly over a week or two and see how he gets on. He might still work out how to sleep more than one sleep cycle in his buggy. Remember to ignore him if you can between sleep cycles and give him a good 20 minutes to get back to sleep. Let him see you are there but don’t chat or make eye contact with him. Just keep walking or pushing the buggy back and forth for the 20 minutes.
The Mclaren, I have always liked them and if you are in Melbourne thier stand is next to us at the baby show and I can show you some, but having said I like them I have to admit I am a bit disappointed with the new one I have and I prefer my 8 year old one. You see the new one is missing the middle handle which was useful when pushing a toddler and a baby because you would push the side the toddler was on and it didn’t feel like it was pulling to one side and also you can’t hang a nappy bag on the back without the third handle.
Hi Tizzie,
I have a bit of a dilemma x 2….
my son Felix (25w/old) is following your routine fairly consistently. Some days his sleeps are a bit shorter and some days perfect 2 x 2hrs:) He sleeps from 7pm-7am with one night feed in between and goes straight back to bed. I find with a dream feed he wakes 3 hrs later wanting another feed anyway so i have stopped and now he wakes around 2-4am for a quick feed then sleeps through til 7am.
In your book you mention leaving the house for some of the sleeps so mums can get out and do things and baby can sleep in the pram. My issue is so many organized events (babys reading group at library etc) happen to fall during ‘sleep times’ and I want him to be awake to experience them.
Today we missed out on an 11am event as my son is sleeping right up to 11 which does not give me enough time feed him and drive there(15mins). Is it ok to wake them from a sleep once or twice a week to do things or will that cause confusion and disrupt his sleeping patterns?
Also I have playgroup once a week from 12:30-2:30 and I have turned into the only mum with a grumpy crying baby. I try to settle him in a corner on a foam mattress(b4 everyone arrives) so he can sleep and he sucks his thumb and cuddles his comforter and tries to sleep but talks and looks around for at least 30 minutes before deciding he has had enough and he starts to cry. This ends up escalating to a scream eventually. The location is full of pictures, toys, mobiles, lights etc so it is very visually distracting for him. Also many of the other mums put their babys to sleep near him and when one of them cries or he sees people moving around he cries as well. It is hard for me to let him cry it out as he is SOOO LOUD and eveyone else’s babys seem to have a quick cry then fall asleep or sleep on the play mats or in their mums arms. He is great with self settling at home or on the floor in a spare room at friends houses etc but I think there may be too many distreactions at playgroup. It is affecting me as I spend most of the time holding a crying baby and am unable to bond with the other mums:( I have tried keeping him up and he is happy enough to sit and play until 1 or 1:30 but then he is overtired and screams and I end up leaving early.
When we stay home everything is perfect but I am sick of sprinting out between sleeps to quickly get things done. I want him to be a bit more flexible so we can enjoy more experiences together.
Any suggestions?
Thank you for your post. It sounds like you and Felix are doing very well. I can give a few little tips but if you would like continued support and advice I will need to direct you to the online advice area.
Firstly it is quite normal for babies to sleep different amounts of times each day. 2 hours is the maximum sleep time but anything over around 80-90mins is acceptable. It is also fine to not do the dreamfeed, some babies don’t respond to this well and it is better to let them wake naturally. I assume you have started solids following my advice so you should very soon see the night feed dissappear.
With getting out and about you can vary the routine a little. For example, with your 11am commitment you could get him up at 10.30am and transfer him to the car and arrive at your destination to feed him there and then he can be involved. If you find when you do this he gets tired before the 1pm sleep time you can put him down a little earlier to catch up on lost sleep from the morning, as long as he then sleeps through until his next feed time. Once you have the routines working well at home which is sounds like you have you can make small little changes such as this to allow for going out and about.
In regards to Playgroup, It is really not safe to leave a baby of 25 weeks to sleep on a play mat at playgroup or anywhere unfamilar and not supervised. If could be very easy for him to fall of the mat or another child to go up and try and pick him up etc. A safer option and one that will likely help with the stimulation problems is putting him to sleep in his pram at playgroup and when staying with friends it is much safer for him to be in a portacot or supervised in his pram. I suspect asking him to sleep on a playmat is very different for him and you may not be using bedding so he may not be warm enough to settle. I would try settling him in his pram with it facing you so he can see you and using his safe sleeping bag and appropriate bedding for the room temperature. It is ok to rock the pram a little inbetween sleep cycles to help him back to sleep if he wakes after a catnap as described in my video above. Please note when your baby is asleep in a pram you should always have the pram right with you and be supervising your baby.
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8 thoughts on "More on the 1pm sleep and Mummy time"
Love Darragh’s big yawn and head down on the table. What a great actor (even if it wasn’t prompted!!)
Awesome Tizzie!
Hi Liv:
Its funny isn’t it, I didn’t see him do it until I saw the video!
Le gach dea-ghui, Tizzie
Hi Carrie:
He was very cute and it will be nice to have these videos to look back on when he is older and the lambies and more lambies are a thing in the past.
Le gach dea-ghui, Tizzie
Hi Tizzie,
My 14 month old has never slept more than one sleep cycle unless in his own cot where it is nice and dark! Should I persevere with the buggy? Will he get it eventually? Or have I conditioned him to sleep in the dark?
And how do you like your double Mclaren, we’re about to have number 2 and I’m tossing up between the Mclaren and a tandem
Thanks and keep the videos coming!
Nicole
Hi Angelina:
Thank you for your comment and question. Yes I believe while out and about in a environment other then the baby or toddlers normal sleeping cot or mosses basket it is important they can see you when they wake up between sleep cycles. I have never put a blanket or any type of cover over a pram or buggy. This is for two reasons one I believe they need to see you and two it can stop the freedom of air flow which might cause a sleeping accident. So yes I think it could be the reason you have out and about sleep problems.
Here is a link to the study that talks about in pram/buggy orientation and it’s effect on babies – http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/talktoyourbaby/Buggy_research.pdf
Le gach dea-ghui, Tizzie
Hi Nicole:
Yes you might have conditioned him to sleep in the dark but why don’t you make his room a little brighter slowly over a week or two and see how he gets on. He might still work out how to sleep more than one sleep cycle in his buggy. Remember to ignore him if you can between sleep cycles and give him a good 20 minutes to get back to sleep. Let him see you are there but don’t chat or make eye contact with him. Just keep walking or pushing the buggy back and forth for the 20 minutes.
The Mclaren, I have always liked them and if you are in Melbourne thier stand is next to us at the baby show and I can show you some, but having said I like them I have to admit I am a bit disappointed with the new one I have and I prefer my 8 year old one. You see the new one is missing the middle handle which was useful when pushing a toddler and a baby because you would push the side the toddler was on and it didn’t feel like it was pulling to one side and also you can’t hang a nappy bag on the back without the third handle.
Le gach dea-ghui, Tizzie
Hi Tizzie,
I have a bit of a dilemma x 2….
my son Felix (25w/old) is following your routine fairly consistently. Some days his sleeps are a bit shorter and some days perfect 2 x 2hrs:) He sleeps from 7pm-7am with one night feed in between and goes straight back to bed. I find with a dream feed he wakes 3 hrs later wanting another feed anyway so i have stopped and now he wakes around 2-4am for a quick feed then sleeps through til 7am.
In your book you mention leaving the house for some of the sleeps so mums can get out and do things and baby can sleep in the pram. My issue is so many organized events (babys reading group at library etc) happen to fall during ‘sleep times’ and I want him to be awake to experience them.
Today we missed out on an 11am event as my son is sleeping right up to 11 which does not give me enough time feed him and drive there(15mins). Is it ok to wake them from a sleep once or twice a week to do things or will that cause confusion and disrupt his sleeping patterns?
Also I have playgroup once a week from 12:30-2:30 and I have turned into the only mum with a grumpy crying baby. I try to settle him in a corner on a foam mattress(b4 everyone arrives) so he can sleep and he sucks his thumb and cuddles his comforter and tries to sleep but talks and looks around for at least 30 minutes before deciding he has had enough and he starts to cry. This ends up escalating to a scream eventually. The location is full of pictures, toys, mobiles, lights etc so it is very visually distracting for him. Also many of the other mums put their babys to sleep near him and when one of them cries or he sees people moving around he cries as well. It is hard for me to let him cry it out as he is SOOO LOUD and eveyone else’s babys seem to have a quick cry then fall asleep or sleep on the play mats or in their mums arms. He is great with self settling at home or on the floor in a spare room at friends houses etc but I think there may be too many distreactions at playgroup. It is affecting me as I spend most of the time holding a crying baby and am unable to bond with the other mums:( I have tried keeping him up and he is happy enough to sit and play until 1 or 1:30 but then he is overtired and screams and I end up leaving early.
When we stay home everything is perfect but I am sick of sprinting out between sleeps to quickly get things done. I want him to be a bit more flexible so we can enjoy more experiences together.
Any suggestions?
Hi Jennifer;
Thank you for your post. It sounds like you and Felix are doing very well. I can give a few little tips but if you would like continued support and advice I will need to direct you to the online advice area.
Firstly it is quite normal for babies to sleep different amounts of times each day. 2 hours is the maximum sleep time but anything over around 80-90mins is acceptable. It is also fine to not do the dreamfeed, some babies don’t respond to this well and it is better to let them wake naturally. I assume you have started solids following my advice so you should very soon see the night feed dissappear.
With getting out and about you can vary the routine a little. For example, with your 11am commitment you could get him up at 10.30am and transfer him to the car and arrive at your destination to feed him there and then he can be involved. If you find when you do this he gets tired before the 1pm sleep time you can put him down a little earlier to catch up on lost sleep from the morning, as long as he then sleeps through until his next feed time. Once you have the routines working well at home which is sounds like you have you can make small little changes such as this to allow for going out and about.
In regards to Playgroup, It is really not safe to leave a baby of 25 weeks to sleep on a play mat at playgroup or anywhere unfamilar and not supervised. If could be very easy for him to fall of the mat or another child to go up and try and pick him up etc. A safer option and one that will likely help with the stimulation problems is putting him to sleep in his pram at playgroup and when staying with friends it is much safer for him to be in a portacot or supervised in his pram. I suspect asking him to sleep on a playmat is very different for him and you may not be using bedding so he may not be warm enough to settle. I would try settling him in his pram with it facing you so he can see you and using his safe sleeping bag and appropriate bedding for the room temperature. It is ok to rock the pram a little inbetween sleep cycles to help him back to sleep if he wakes after a catnap as described in my video above. Please note when your baby is asleep in a pram you should always have the pram right with you and be supervising your baby.
Le gach dea-ghui, Tizzie