COUNTING SHEEP

Think about all the different methods you use to fall asleep.
Watch TV, Read, play on the computer, lay in bed with the lights out and stare at the ceiling...
We all do different things to get ourselves to go to sleep, to stop our minds from racing, to wind down. Most of us have a routine.

Well, routine is super important for babies although I don't advocate adhering to such a strict schedule that your baby flips out when you deviate from it. As oxymoronic as this may sound, schedule some variety into your baby's schedule.

Getting your baby to nap:
Most parents seems follow one of these two methods:

Set Nap Time or Set # Of Hours Awake

Parents who put their baby to sleep at a set nap time are usually prepping the kid for daycare. Daycare has a certain nap time and that is it. Let's say 10 AM. It doesn't matter if you woke up at 7 or 8:30, 10 AM rolls around and you are going back in your crib. The child then adjusts.

Set # of Hours Awake is what I have Joey on and what my mother and sister-in-law used. Whenever she wakes up, 3 hours later she takes a nap. It doesn't matter if she wakes up at 7 or 8:30. 3 hours later is nap time. And she is tired and ready for her nap then. She usually naps for about 2 hours and then she is up for another 3 hours. Naps again for another 2, and then is up until bed time. Some babies may only stay up 2 1/2 hours, some might need a 3rd nap... but you get the concept.

There was a month or so, before I got her onto this routine, that nap time was a real fight for Joey. But now, she doesn't cry, she doesn't complain, she doesn't even fight it, she just goes to sleep. It is a beautiful thing.