OT: Schedulers - wake a sleeping baby???

[Lynnw]

Hi friends,
I'm trying to get my MOTH schedule going again. I have a 9month old (and a 3.5yo, 5.5yo, 7yo, 10.5 yo). She some days sleeps as late as 8:30 - but when I try to "schedule" everyone it would make more sense for her to be up earlier so that she had already nursed and had cereal by 8 or so. Also, some days she takes two naps, but sometimes she takes one big one and then just goes to bed a little earlier that night. I have such a hard time waking a sleeping baby (I love the quiet and the opportunity to get things done ) - I'm trying to think about if I should wake her earlier in the mornings and if I should shorten her morning nap so she will always take an afternoon nap.

So.... advice? experiences? Better to wake her or let her get the sleep she needs when her body thinks she needs it?

Thanks!
Lynn

[8arrows]

This can be a heated topic (so to each his own), but I wake mine. With soon-to-be 8 children in the house, schedules are pretty important. And, in our family, when children miss naps---well, it isn't always the day I dreamed it would be (smile!).

[pollo_la]

Honestly, I think it is about what works best for your family. Does the day go more smoothly when you wake the baby up, or does it go better if you let her sleep? We are not strict schedulars at my house, but we definitely have a routine and flow to our day. For the most part I follow my baby's cues for when she is tired or hungry (she is just a couple weeks shy of turning 1). However, I do like her to nap with my toddler in the afternoon, so in the morning if she does seem to need a nap, I just let her nap for about 25 minutes. That is just long enough to "take the edge off," but she will still sleep in the afternoon when I need her to. I say do whatever you need to do to keep yourself, your children, and household running smoothly.

[Dustybug]

I have always let a sleeping baby lie. But, I also think that you should do what works best for your family. I only have two kiddos right now, so I'm not sure, if I had a few more if I would still follow that or not. lol

[Lynnw]

I have always let a sleeping baby lie. But, I also think that you should do what works best for your family. I only have two kiddos right now, so I'm not sure, if I had a few more if I would still follow that or not. lol

Yes, this is where I have been - letting the baby sleep... but now that I have five, I think it's time to change, LOL.

Thanks all for the replies - I appreciate it! The first schedule I came up with had a wake time pretty different from what she's been doing on her own, so I re-did the schedule with a wake time closer to what she is doing on her own. My thought is that it will be less of a shock to her and to me!

Thanks!

[sharonb]

I've always let a sleeping baby sleep too. But about a month ago my baby (5 1/2 months then) was staying up until midnight and then sleeping till 9 am or later. That just wasn't working! So, I made sure she was waking up at 8 am with the rest of the children, and would not let her take a late nap (she was falling asleep at 7 pm or so and only sleeping for an hour before waking up for a few more hours). I admit, I had to let her do a little bit of cry-it-out at bedtime for a few nights, but fortunately she only cried for a few minutes before falling asleep. She now goes to bed by 9 pm at the latest and sleeps until 8 am. Sometimes she wakes for a feeding during the night but most of the time she doesn't. Suddenly her naps are more predictable and I'm able to get a lot more done. So, if you feel like you need to wake up your baby and encourage a different schedule/routine, then I say go for it. BTW, we don't do a strict schedule on when the naps happen. Those vary by a bit, but I do try to keep her awake in the late afternoon/early evening so she'll go to bed on time.

[Carrie]

I used to let my babies sleep as long as they desired in the mornings, however with our last couple little guys I did go to waking them up in the morning to get on schedule with our school day a bit better. I was surprised that it actually worked quite well, and it really helped my sanity as my planned teaching times worked better if the baby was more on schedule.

Blessings,
Carrie