“I have been doing everything I can do to get my new baby on a set daytime schedule. It’s just not working. I feel like a failure.” ~so many new moms who contact us
Mama- Please let me tell you this: you are not a failure, and you are not alone. Your sweet little one is a baby NOT a clock. Very few people experience a “perfect newborn daytime schedule.”
Occasionally, I’ll meet a family who has a newborn taking four beautiful two-hour naps each and every day.
Did you notice that each and every nap in the above schedule was exactly two hours long? This is unrealistic for most newborns; developmentally, babies typically BEGIN to have more consistent and consolidated naps at about 5 months of age.
Did you know that 20-120 minute naps are NORMAL and DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE for newborns? Yes, this is absolutely normal! Those short naps (that you despise) are incredibly common in the first few months of your baby’s life. I know, I know…it really wreaks havoc on that perfect eat/play/sleep routine that all the books seem to be bragging about.
