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I care for a 4.5 month old baby who doesn't have the most consistent schedule. She usually takes 2 naps during the day depending on how long she naps in the morning. Some mornings (like this morning) she naps for over 2 hours so the she doesn't usually nap in the afternoon. And some mornings she naps for an hour or less so then she does nap in the afternoon. Is she old enough that I should I be keeping her on more of a consistent schedule?
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Sorry I didn't mean to post twice... and I don't know how to delete. -
At this age I would be moving toward consistency, and try to have one of the naps during your regular naptimeComment
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I personally don't think she's old enough to put on a schedule. I don't put babies on any type of schedule until they are around 12 months (give or take a month, depending on the child). Imo, developmentally they need to eat and rest as their bodies need to.Comment
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I definitely am pro routine. I would have a baby that age on three naps a dayComment
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I am actually rethinking baby care. The routine is so different from a typical day. I'm 8 weeks pregnant so I think I will just stick with my own little one for a while. I keep getting calls for babies, though. I'm thinking infant childcare is hard to come by where I am.Comment
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It's the same here. When I was advertising for an open spot, most calls were for infants. Here, we can only have 4 children under 30 mo and only 2 out of those 4 can be under 18 months so spots are hard to come by.
I love having babies in my fcc! It seems overwhelming at first, but once you do it, it's not a nerve wracking as I thought. I just took on an infant (4 mo. old) and I love it! I was a little nervous at first because my youngest dcb is 1.5 along with my son so I haven't had a teeny in a while, but I love her! But I have also been a lead infant teacher for the last billion years (before I opened my fcc last year) so I'm used to babies. Some providers don't like taking care of infants, but I love it! I do admit that sometimes taking care of an infant does mess with the things we/the other kids are doing, but we it's not too bad.
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I love infants too! I haven't had a baby under a year in awhile and had my own at the same time 2 mos older.
If I could have my choice I would do 3 infants and 3 older. Infants are just easier to me.
But to answer your question, yes I would start getting on a routine. Maybe waking baby after 90 mins to ensure an afternoon nap.Comment
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I vote for a schedule/routine too. I know some are against it for infants, but the sooner I can get them on a regular schedule, the better - in my opinion.Comment
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I have two DC babies at the moment - 7 mos and 8.5 mos. Two of my existing families happened to get pregnant at the same time and I didn't want to lose their kiddos (such sweet kids!), not because I'm a glutton for punishment!
I've had these two little ones on a consistent nap schedule since they were 3 and 4 mos. old. They get here at 7:30am and nap from 8:30am-10:00am (I usually have to wake both of them at 10am, but if they nap any longer they will not nap in the afternoon) and then again at 12:00pm - 2/2:30pm and then they are ready to nap again when they are heading home, which is around 4:30/5pm. They are both so much happier when we stick to their nap schedules. If we stray from it even in the slightest I have some grumpy babies on my hands.
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ABSOLUTELY!
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