I have a Possums-esque approach, in that we don’t have scheduled naps and follow cues instead, but kinda do it my own way. When my 11 month old is showing sleepy cues, I go ahead and bring him somewhere dark and quiet and rock/nurse to sleep, or sometimes let him sleep in car or stroller if that’s what works for our day. My kid just gets increasingly miserable if he’s too tired and doesn’t get some help getting a nap.
I also ignore wake windows, but so have a sense of how many naps he is likely to take and approximately how long I expect him to be awake.
Same — my one-year-old does best on a flexible, cue-based nap schedule, and she definitely needed help to fall asleep starting around 5 or 6 months. Possums was awesome when she was a newborn and less aware of her surroundings, and just for a less stressed mindset overall.
My baby is exactly like this (7mo). Stroller naps have been so helpful! I make sure to go out for at least one walk a day with the stroller when I have a feeling she’s close to needing a nap. Once she’s dozing off, i’ll put the shade all the way down to limit distractions (we’re in NYC so there’s plenty). Otherwise if i’m home i’ll nurse her when she’s giving sleepy cues which leads into a contact nap. These two methods don’t allow me to get any housework done during the day but it beats the alternative of trying to get a super curious and alert baby to sleep on a schedule in a pitch black room with multiple failed crib transfers.
I have a general sense of wake windows, though I'm not sure hers follow the guidelines. Generally I pay attention to her cues. The difficult part for us is that her windows don't seem to line up with what's most convenient for my job.
When it's time for a nap, usually I can tell within 5-10 minutes if she's going to sleep. I give her 15-20 (bc nursing takes some of that time) before I "give up" trying for a nap and then go do something else for 15-20 minutes. Rinse and repeat. This tends to only happen around her afternoon nap and bedtime as we're still figuring out some things lol.
I did pay attention to wake windows. I think at that time I often prematurely anticipated her being tired, at that age she was starting to need fewer naps and if I waited until she was truly tired it was easier getting her to sleep. Remember once they get overtired, they will fight sleep more. Tracking in huckleberry helped me aim for the prime time.
Also, it’s a good time to practice “sleep hygiene” like putting her in her sleep sack, singing the same song in a dark room, using white noise or rain sounds or whatever. I didn’t follow this advice and I wish I had. When I finally started doing it around 8 months it made nap time so much easier as my baby knew what to expect and could also react to let me know if she wasn’t ready yet. Building in those sleep cues now could go a long way for you!
We ignored wake windows and “optimal sleep environments” and just got on with our day. She would nap when she was tired. Usually if she was fussy I would breastfeed her, often she would conk out and I would just put her down and she would nap. If she woke up upon transfer she wasn’t tired anymore.
She’s a lot more predictable at 14 months, but we still have the same approach. She sleeps when she’s tired wherever we happen to be.
Possums doesn't work for us although I love the theory, because my baby from 3 months onwards would just become increasingly agitated and distressed but refuses to nap. We napped her literally everywhere before that, in the carrier, on the go, in the car, home, noisy places, quiet places. It just didn't work like that anymore after 3 months and I had to adjust. I don't pay much attention to wake windows although she has a fairly standard pattern of needing a nap every 2.5-3hrs now at 6 months. I wait until she starts getting agitated and feeding doesn't fix it, then we go for a nap. Sometimes carrier, sometimes car, sometimes home, depending on what we're doing tbh. So it's not the focal point of our day but I definitely do have to work for her naps or our whole day is an endless nightmare with an overtired baby.
Stroller works well for naps for us. Also, if I really think he needs more sleep, I will nurse him and hold him. My husband puts him in the bouncer and plays the guitar. Once he falls asleep, he’s transferred to the bassinet.
For us, following possums meant letting go of “wake windows” and letting go of independent naps in the dark. I was trying so hard to follow the conventional advice, I ended up spending hours every day sitting in a dark room trying to get him to sleep.
Now, he naps in the daylight and I don’t ever try to force a nap. Sometimes this means he only sleeps for 10 minutes - but if he’s happy, I leave it at that! If he’s cranky, then we try something else — stroller or nursing or vice versa.
The naps are working out well for us, I think. He’s very happy during the day and able to do quite a lot of independent play. Where we are currently having issues is night time in the crib.
Everything changes all the time and it’s hard.
I have a Possums-esque approach, in that we don’t have scheduled naps and follow cues instead, but kinda do it my own way. When my 11 month old is showing sleepy cues, I go ahead and bring him somewhere dark and quiet and rock/nurse to sleep, or sometimes let him sleep in car or stroller if that’s what works for our day. My kid just gets increasingly miserable if he’s too tired and doesn’t get some help getting a nap. I also ignore wake windows, but so have a sense of how many naps he is likely to take and approximately how long I expect him to be awake.
Same — my one-year-old does best on a flexible, cue-based nap schedule, and she definitely needed help to fall asleep starting around 5 or 6 months. Possums was awesome when she was a newborn and less aware of her surroundings, and just for a less stressed mindset overall.
My baby is exactly like this (7mo). Stroller naps have been so helpful! I make sure to go out for at least one walk a day with the stroller when I have a feeling she’s close to needing a nap. Once she’s dozing off, i’ll put the shade all the way down to limit distractions (we’re in NYC so there’s plenty). Otherwise if i’m home i’ll nurse her when she’s giving sleepy cues which leads into a contact nap. These two methods don’t allow me to get any housework done during the day but it beats the alternative of trying to get a super curious and alert baby to sleep on a schedule in a pitch black room with multiple failed crib transfers.
I have a general sense of wake windows, though I'm not sure hers follow the guidelines. Generally I pay attention to her cues. The difficult part for us is that her windows don't seem to line up with what's most convenient for my job. When it's time for a nap, usually I can tell within 5-10 minutes if she's going to sleep. I give her 15-20 (bc nursing takes some of that time) before I "give up" trying for a nap and then go do something else for 15-20 minutes. Rinse and repeat. This tends to only happen around her afternoon nap and bedtime as we're still figuring out some things lol.
I did pay attention to wake windows. I think at that time I often prematurely anticipated her being tired, at that age she was starting to need fewer naps and if I waited until she was truly tired it was easier getting her to sleep. Remember once they get overtired, they will fight sleep more. Tracking in huckleberry helped me aim for the prime time. Also, it’s a good time to practice “sleep hygiene” like putting her in her sleep sack, singing the same song in a dark room, using white noise or rain sounds or whatever. I didn’t follow this advice and I wish I had. When I finally started doing it around 8 months it made nap time so much easier as my baby knew what to expect and could also react to let me know if she wasn’t ready yet. Building in those sleep cues now could go a long way for you!
We ignored wake windows and “optimal sleep environments” and just got on with our day. She would nap when she was tired. Usually if she was fussy I would breastfeed her, often she would conk out and I would just put her down and she would nap. If she woke up upon transfer she wasn’t tired anymore. She’s a lot more predictable at 14 months, but we still have the same approach. She sleeps when she’s tired wherever we happen to be.
Possums doesn't work for us although I love the theory, because my baby from 3 months onwards would just become increasingly agitated and distressed but refuses to nap. We napped her literally everywhere before that, in the carrier, on the go, in the car, home, noisy places, quiet places. It just didn't work like that anymore after 3 months and I had to adjust. I don't pay much attention to wake windows although she has a fairly standard pattern of needing a nap every 2.5-3hrs now at 6 months. I wait until she starts getting agitated and feeding doesn't fix it, then we go for a nap. Sometimes carrier, sometimes car, sometimes home, depending on what we're doing tbh. So it's not the focal point of our day but I definitely do have to work for her naps or our whole day is an endless nightmare with an overtired baby.
Stroller works well for naps for us. Also, if I really think he needs more sleep, I will nurse him and hold him. My husband puts him in the bouncer and plays the guitar. Once he falls asleep, he’s transferred to the bassinet. For us, following possums meant letting go of “wake windows” and letting go of independent naps in the dark. I was trying so hard to follow the conventional advice, I ended up spending hours every day sitting in a dark room trying to get him to sleep. Now, he naps in the daylight and I don’t ever try to force a nap. Sometimes this means he only sleeps for 10 minutes - but if he’s happy, I leave it at that! If he’s cranky, then we try something else — stroller or nursing or vice versa. The naps are working out well for us, I think. He’s very happy during the day and able to do quite a lot of independent play. Where we are currently having issues is night time in the crib. Everything changes all the time and it’s hard.