9 Naptime Problems and Solutions

You never have a clue about when your baby's going to nap each day, so you're not sure when, or if, you'll get a shower or be able to make a phone call.

Set a schedule. It's normal for your newborn to snooze on and off all day, but between 3 and 4 months, his sleep should consolidate into two or three longer naps. That's the perfect opportunity to institute a regular sleep schedule, which not only makes your day more predictable (so you can actually get a break yourself) but also makes napping easier for your baby, since he'll quickly learn what to expect from his routine. Try this schedule from Suzy Giordano, author of Twelve Hours' Sleep by Twelve Weeks Old (Dutton): a morning nap about two hours after waking, and an afternoon nap about two or three hours after the morning nap ends. (Until around 9 months, most babies will also take a 30-minute catnap late in the day.)

Once you have the general routine in place, make your schedule as firm or as flexible as you and your baby prefer. Patty Smith, of Alexandria, Virginia, needs to keep her twins on the same schedule, so she wakes them each morning at 7 a.m., lets them nap from 9 to 10 a.m., then puts them down for an afternoon snooze from 1 to 3 p.m., when Smith's older daughter naps as well. Though things don't always run like clockwork -- sometimes the babies wake early or won't fall asleep -- for the most part the schedule is a lifesaver. "The twins are really taxing, so the fact that all three girls sleep in the afternoon is what's getting me through," Smith says.