Flexibility

Babies thrive on routine.  Predictible times for naps and meals and play give a safe framework for learning and growing.  Yet, the schedule cannot rule the day.  It is there to serve the family.  Sometimes the family is better served by bendng the schedule a little.

Young babies (up until 3 or 4 months) are pretty well able to sleep while Mom is out running errands or Aunt Sue doing some holding.  The older they get, however, the less likely babies are to sleep in the middle of activity.  Thankfully older babies tend to be awake longer and better able to handle a late nap.  Flexing Baby's schedule looks different at 2 months than it does at 8 months.

At two months, my son was still very sleepy most of the time.  When I took him to the grocery store, he often fell asleep in his car seat.  Then when we got home, I would bring his seat in the house and let him finish his nap in it.  If he woke, I'd move him to the crib and he was able to get back to sleep and finish his nap.  That didn't even throw off the schedule. 

Visits from family or friends who didn't understand why he was ready for another nap so soon did cause a problem, though.  Sometimes it was worth it to keep him up a little longer to let Aunt Sue get in her holding time, but sometimes it wasn't.  Now (at 8 months), he is much more able to handle a late nap.

It's wise to know your own child's "point of no return."  A baby can be stretched a certain amount before breaking down.  For our son, that breakdown often came after we got home from a too stimulating or too long outing.  He would be an angel even as he was growing over-tired and over-stimulated.  When we got home however, he would scream and cry and have a terrible time falling asleep.  Other babies will have a meltdown in the midst of the outing.

One of the things I love about being Mommy is that I have learned to "read" my son.  He sends out little warning wimpers or turns his head away before beginning to really cry.  If I heed those warnings I can get him down for his nap in time... but I don't have to jump at the first hint of sleepiness either.

Another kind of flexibility comes in teaching Baby to sleep in places besides his crib.  I love that my son can sleep at his aunt or grandma's house just as well as at home.  We have always taken him to Grandma's house after church on Sunday and he naps in her crib there.  Since that's a regular, weekly event, he's also done well on periodic trips when he sleeps in his portable crib.

While flexibility is a noble goal, it's also wise to keep to the routine enough that it's "normal" and those times when you deviate from it are relatively rare.  It is important not to let life revolve around the baby's napping schedule, but it's also good to give him consistency.  As with so many things, balance is the key.

RESOURCES
On the Go with Baby
Babywise