How to Make Sleep Exceptions & ENJOY the Holidays

Sleep training is the most wonderful thing ever, EXCEPT when your friends or family start asking you to go out during your baby’s nap time. No way sista, we aren’t botching nap time over here. Skip the mom and tot classes, skip the play dates, but when it comes to Holidays, I’d hate for you to feel like you HAVE to leave the party early just because you have a baby who’s on a strict schedule.

On my social media accounts, I talk a lot about consistency. It is the number 1 MOST IMPORTANT thing when it comes to sleep training, or really any sort of training. Think of when your dog was a puppy and they would pee inside. You wouldn’t just let them pee, clean it up, and do nothing to prevent it. Instead, if you saw them peeing, you’d scoop them right up, bring them to the backyard where peeing is allowed, and then praise them for peeing in the right spot. The progress you make with your new puppy is also purely based on consistency.

SO - I’m going to break this down into age groups for you so that you can have some exact ideas of what to do to enjoy the holidays with your sweet sleep trained child. I also want you to note that - we are always aiming to have at least 80% consistency. 20% can be on-the-go naps, later bedtime, maybe a missed nap, etc.

NEWBORNS

You are in the beautiful age range where sleep is happening a LOT. Your baby is probably sleeping anywhere from 16-20 hours in a 24 hour period. If your baby loves to sleep on someone, great. Pass them around Christmas dinner to give yourself a break, and to give someone else some sweet cuddles. Newborns need around 45-60 minutes of awake time before they are sleepy again, so ensure they have this amount of awake time before putting them to bed once you get back home for the evening.

3 - 5 Months Old

Your baby is becoming much more alert, and a little less sleepy now. You are probably getting on a more consistent schedule with them, and maybe you even get a good, long stretch of sleep at the beginning of the night. Most likely, you are on a 3-4 nap schedule. If you know you’ll be out later into the evening, plan 1 more nap than usual. Around the 6:00pm mark. I would also pack your playpen, your Slumberpod (discount code: midnightmama$20), your noise machine, and sleep sack to help your baby nap while you’re at your Christmas Dinner! This will bide you some time to make sure that bedtime can be later.
One thing to watch for is to not let your baby fall asleep on the drive home. Try to keep them awake(ish) and then do you full routine once you get home and put them to bed.

6-12 Months Old

Your baby is growing up! Likely in the 6-12 month age range, your baby is sleeping through the night and they’re on a 2-nap schedule. In order to make bedtime a little later than usual, let their naps go a bit longer than normal. If your baby sleeps 1 hour in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon, see if they’ll go 2 hours in the morning, and still take their 2 hour nap (which maybe turns into 2.5-3 hours) in the afternoon. If needed, a third “cat nap” can totally happen to prolong bedtime. If you’re eating Christmas Dinner at a family member’s house, ask them if you might be able to stay the night in their spare room. Bring your playpen, Slumberpod (discount code: midnightmama$20), your sound machine, and sleep sack, and sneak away to do your baby’s bedtime routine and put them to bed at your relatives house so you can continue to enjoy dinner with your family. If this is NOT possible, then do your baby’s bedtime routine as soon as you get back to your house. Try to not let your baby fall asleep in their carseat on the drive home.

12-18 Months Old

Your baby is turning into a toddler and they are highly aware of their surroundings and generally, they are loving all of the attention. A mid-day nap is common at this age, and if you know you will be out later that evening, try to let your baby nap 3-3.5 hours in the middle of the day. Usually 12-3ish. If your child won’t nap that long, then offer a cat-nap in the carseat around 5pm to help hold them over for later bedtime. If your baby won’t nap for a long time, and won’t take a cat nap, then you can still keep them up a bit later, but honour their tired cues if they’re getting really irritable and cranky. If you have to stay later, offer natural sugars as a means to keep them alert, and interacting and playing games with your child helps keep them occupied. Remember, later bedtime is okay once in a while!

18 Months - 2.5 Years

Your child still naps in the middle of the day, but you probably have to wake them up from this nap to make sure bedtime doesn’t get messy. If you know you’ll be out later for Christmas Dinner (or even staying up later at home), let them nap for as long as 3 hours in the middle of the day. This will give you some serious bedtime leverage and your child will be able to stay awake and happy until your desired bedtime for them. If you’re doing bedtime at a relative’s home, be sure to bring your child’s favourite bedtime items, a playpen, Slumberpod, & Noise Machine. Also - always honour their bedtime routine and make sure to take 20-30 minutes to do their routine, especially if you’re in a new place.
If a long nap isn’t possible for your toddler, then I’d recommend giving them some natural fruit sugars in the evening to help keep them alert.

3-5 years

Your child is likely not napping anymore, but they still have a structured bedtime around 7pm every night. I’m going to fill you in on a secret. KIDS LOVE LATER BEDTIME. If you know Christmas Dinner is going to be later than their usual bedtime, use that as leverage and have them help you “earn” later bedtime by doing xyz. They will be ecstatic over the flexibility in their bedtime and you can get back on track the next day.

I am a huge lover of FUN. Before my husband and I had Drake, we promised each other than we would stay “fun.” I think that bedtime structure makes me a better mom, but that there is always room for a missed nap, crazy routine, or later bedtime - as long as REGULAR bedtime is the norm.

I hope you are looking forward to this Christmas Weekend with your loved ones, and that you’re able to skimp out on your child’s routines a bit to feel like you have a little more flexibility!!

Enjoy!