Do you sometimes think that all this routine/schedule/lovey/white noise stuff hinders instead of helps?

I've always been a bit of a stickler about routines and sleep.

When DD naps at home, she is in a black-out shade darkened room, white noise machine on, mobile going, one paci in mouth, another in her hand, cuddling her lovey.

Any deviation from the above and she cannot sleep.

She rarely falls asleep in the stroller or the car for more the 15-20 minutes.

She cannot nap when we are out.

My SIL, on the other hand, has always been out and about with her 3 kids. They go whereever she needs to run errands. All 3 can sleep anywhere, anytime.

Do you sometimes think that all these things we do to encourage good sleeping habits end up creating a dependancy, rather than teaching independant self-soothing?

Re: Do you sometimes think that all this routine/schedule/lovey/white noise stuff hinders instead of helps?

for us, not so much the white noise but her crib....

DD looooooves her crib and is so conditioned to sleeping there with her sleep sack on that it makes it a little difficult when sleeping somewhere else...we obviously can't bring her crib but on vaca or at my mom's, we'll bring her sleep sack and her CD

but yeah forget about while on errands in the stroller...I have to work around that

She also is a kid though that needs and likes her sleep....she slept in/also read books in her crib this morning till 10am!

Re: Do you sometimes think that all this routine/schedule/lovey/white noise stuff hinders instead of helps?

Yes, I do. I did it to my ds b/c I always thought that he wouldn't have quality sleep unless he was in his comfortable, quiet room. He is very particular & can only sleep in his crib, never in the stroller, never in the car, never at someone else's house.

Re: Do you sometimes think that all this routine/schedule/lovey/white noise stuff hinders instead of helps?

I probably shouldn't weigh in considering DD is only 2 weeks old....
I try to have her nap wherever we are in a variety of places (i.e. swing, bouncer, blanket on the floor) With lights on or sunlight in the room etc.
At night I make sure it's really dark and put the white noise machine on. I don't know if it will ultimately make a difference, but this is what some of my friends did and their kids can nap anywhere and sleep like champs at night.

Re: Do you sometimes think that all this routine/schedule/lovey/white noise stuff hinders instead of helps?

100% YES!! JMO, but from my experiences, my friends that are more laid back with food/sleeping/etc tend to have more easy going kids. The friends that are more crazed over these things tend to have bigger issues. Like child like parent.

Re: Do you sometimes think that all this routine/schedule/lovey/white noise stuff hinders instead of helps?

Not really. I think if you are aware of the baby's schedule and plan your day around naps, your child will be a better sleeper overall. The kids who don't have schedules and routines can fall asleep easily because they are generally overtired. So it's annoying for those of us who have routines that our kids won't sleep in strollers or out and about, but I love that he is well rested 99% of the time.

Re: Do you sometimes think that all this routine/schedule/lovey/white noise stuff hinders instead of helps?

I think a routine is very helpful for a child, especially when they're an infant. Once we started our nightly routine with DS, he finally started getting into a routine of his own, sleeping at the same time, knowing that bath was followed by PJs, boob/bottle, then bed.

But I really wanted and needed DS to be flexible because our lives are not so routine (DH works on my days off and vice versa, plus DS is with me two days, with DH 2 days, and with MIL 3 days each week). So DS would nap in the car if we were out, in his carseat, in the stroller, at home in the bouncer, crib, rocker, etc. We do have a sound machine and use that, but we also have neighbors upstairs that have no regard for us so without that, he wouldn't be able to nap since they make so much noise and bang things etc.

So now DS can nap if we're out and I don't feel like a slave to his schedule. I do take into account when he naps etc., but if we have to be out, then we go.

Re: Do you sometimes think that all this routine/schedule/lovey/white noise stuff hinders instead of helps?

Re: Do you sometimes think that all this routine/schedule/lovey/white noise stuff hinders instead of helps?

I always THINK it will be like that but she is pretty flexible. I think what she NEEDS from her routine is just me, DH or my mom.

Her routine is pajamas, bottle, bed - she falls asleep on her bottle so I can put her anywhere after that. I don't turn on the white noise machine until AFTER she falls asleep so we don't wake her up.

Re: Do you sometimes think that all this routine/schedule/lovey/white noise stuff hinders instead of helps?

Routine is one thing but all the 'extras' are another.

Routine helps, no question about it.

Pacis, white noise machines, lovies - crutches that make everything more difficult.

With both my kids I couldn't stop swaddling them fast enough. I tried to break them of that habit almost as soon as it started. DS never even really got a lot of swaddle time because he was born in the heat of summer and I was afraid of suffocating him.

With DS we did things very different from DD. DD had her paci addiction, her lovies, white noise machine - I have eliminated most of it but it took a lot of work.

DS doesn't depend on a paci so we almost never give them to him.
DD couldn't leave the house with out one.

DS doesn't have a lovey - he's got a boat load of things that would qualify as a lovey, but he doesn't 'need' any of them to sleep and I'm not going to push it.
DD will STILL wake up in the middle of the night and call me to come find her lovey if it fell out of the bed or something.

MUCH better without all the "extras".

Re: Do you sometimes think that all this routine/schedule/lovey/white noise stuff hinders instead of helps?

Yep.
The only way to get my DD to sleep is black out shades, noise machine, sleep sack etc.
So this means that at daycare she naps for like 15 min tops.
(At home her naps are 2 hours in the AM and 1.5 hours or so in the pm)

She also won't nap in the car, at other's houses, in her stroller etc.

It does hinder us doing things- I feel trapped by her nap schedule and that we have to be home or she won't sleep right and she is a HORROR if she doesn't sleep.

But on the flip side, those naps are super important to me when I am home with her- my ONLY time to get stuff done.
So I did what I had to to get her to nap well and sleep well at night.
I know I created a monster, but I really had no choice.
She NEVER EVER slept or napped as a newborn- so I did what I had to do to survive.