Am I bound to the routine now??

[littleflump]

Hi all

After months of trying to get my baby girl to sleep independently and after a few set back, we seem to be back on track. My only worry is that I feel I can't go anywhere for the fear of disrupting her routine and having to spend weeks fixing it.

My little girl is spirited/touchy baby, so has taken us a while to establish daytime naps. If I was to spend a couple of days out and about and allowing her to nap in the pram and car seat will this undo all the work I have put in to establish daytime naps???

Also, sometimes if I get back home a little late from my parents and go past her bedtime (even though she has napped in the car) she seems to get up earlier.....5am recently!

I feel sometimes that I have become obsessed with teaching her to fall asleep independently......has anyone else felt like this?


N&N
x

[HudsonsMama]

My son is 5mo and I have been dealing with this same problem myself since he was about 2mo.  Even when he naps in his crib I still find myself tensely waiting the whole time to see if he will wake early or have a good nap and I am so afraid of messing up all the hard work we have done that I overthink every daytime decision...what if he falls asleep in the carseat?  Oh no! 
Recently, through a lot of help from other moms I have realized that the routine is no good if mommy is crazy because of it!  For us, the goal is to have naps in the crib on a regular basis but life has to happen and mommy needs out of the house sometimes and bad naps will happen no matter how vigilant we are so if you have somewhere you would like to or need to go, then go.  It may throw her off for a day and it may not but a happy mom who feels like she has a life is more able to deal with a bad nap than one who obsesses over the routine (like I did for 3.5 mos).
In fact, what I have found is that little deviations from the routine are much more traumatic for me than for my son (the worrying about what will happen versus being a little bit cranky for him).  If fact, the more I am flexible and allow life to happen the more I relax and I think my lo responds to my more relaxed state and rolls with it himself.
Your concern shows that you are a great mom doing a great job. 

[branran]

I too have a spirited lo.  She is 7months old and we have had many problems/set backs, with sleep, along the way.  We had a difficult time settling in to a nap schedule and a difficult time extending naps.  We are still having a few glitches in our night time.  That said.  We still go out and run errands, visit with family, etc. -  do things out of our "normal"  daily routine.  I try to limited our days out to 1 or 2 days per week and then maybe just the morning or the afternoon.  Usually we don't have too many problems settling back in.  If it has been a busy week, we do have to put a little more effort in to getting back on track.  But so far it has never been as hard as the initial teaching.  Just some thoughts.  I sure can relate to what you are feeling.  I'm guessing you will have to do some trial and error to see what works best for you.  Just remember this time doesn't last forever, it will get better. It would take a lot to completely undo all of the work!!  Good for you for being concerned.    Good luck.  

[littleflump]

Thank you so much HudsonsMama. I know you're right and I do feel that my baby does pick up on my tension so I need to relax. She has done me very proud by falling asleep on her own, but I do still tensely wait on the rocking chair (out of her sight) to make sure she does fall asleep. There's so much I want to do but I fear that if I'm out and about during her nap time that she will get really cranky and be hard to console, she's 6.5 months old now.....I need to have more confidence in her as my dh keeps saying.

All the mum's on this site are very helpful and it's been very refreshing to read all the response's to other problems.

Sleep has been a very huge issue for my girl, especially as she is a touchy/spirited baby

Thanks again for the advice

N&N

[littleflump]

Thanks branran!!

I think persistence is the key! I definitely need to relax as well.

Also, this may sound silly but could someone explain all the abreviation to me?!? i.e LO, DD, DH...I've guessed some of them, but I don't want to just assume.

Thanks
N&N
xx

[branran]

I could use the explanation as well.  I figured out that lo is little one (I think)  and dh is something to do with husband, but I am not sure of the rest!!  So I should get myself informed too.  Thanks for asking maybe someone will help us out. 

[Jaime]

here's what the acronyms mean:

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=51772.0

 

[littleflump]

Thank you!

[branran]

Thanks - wow I hadn't seen a lot of those.