A few of us were talking about this in the randoms thread so I thought I'd start a separate thread where we can focus on it more.
How much should babies be napping at this age? (Mine are currently 16 weeks.) I feel like my babies don't nap enough. Most of their naps are short (30 min or less) and they often go hours without napping. On the flip side sometimes they will be awake for less than an hour before they need to nap again. I've been tracking their nap schedules and it varies a lot day to day.
They are pretty decent nighttime sleepers and not super fussy, so I don't think they are totally exhausted all the time... but I'm worried that maybe I've done something wrong that's preventing them from getting into a schedule.
My LO is similar. Some days he only naps 20min total and other days he takes 3 2hr naps. Fortunately, he doesn't turn into a hellbeast when he doesn't nap so I've been really breezy about it for the moment--which feels wrong.
His daytime sleep doesn't appear to affect his nighttime sleep yet. No matter what his day sleep looked like, he's down by 730p at the latest and sleeps til at least 6a. I have noticed that he goes to bed a little earlier on his catnap days, but still sttn.
I actually got into an argument with my aunt because she tried to "put him to sleep" because she felt he was up too long. Idk why it bugged me so much but it did. He wasn't fussy or cranky, just contently playing with his bell ball thing. He naps when he's tired, not when you're tired of looking at him.
I'm conflicted as to what I should do about his naps (don't fix what isn't broken?) and when I should do it (just because the non-napping doesn't affect him now doesn't mean it won't when he's a little older..I'm positive it will, actually).
bocaburger, my guys are the same!! Exactly the same. Some days I may get a long nap because we were in the car or out for a walk. Maybe once a week. But that's it. I have no suggestions. Sorry!
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Post by gratefulgirl on Dec 2, 2016 8:40:13 GMT -5
I had 2 short nappers. They just both did not have naps click until after 6 months when I put them on wake times of 3/3.25/3.5 and then I got 1.25 hour plus naps. DD1 was happy as a clam that way. DD2 was still a grouch, but that was the story of her infancy for a whole bunch of reasons.
At ~4 months total sleep is around 15 hours in average; watch your LO's behavior to see if he or she needs more or less.
With DD3 I am having a different problem. She is having a hard time adjusting to age appropriate wake times (around 2 hours for my older 2 at this age), but if she doesn't get them then she is awake and upset at 4 a.m. I'd honestly prefer to be in the land of 3 45 minute naps than bouncing screaming baby forever in the wee hours.
Overtiredness drastically affects night sleep here. It has for all 3 of mine.
DD is being especially terrible at napping lately. It's frustrating, I spent a lot of time with her working on falling asleep on her own, napping in her crib, getting into a routine, and I thought we were making progress, and now it's all gone. What's the point in working hard to establish good sleep habits if it doen't work?
Lately I get a couple 20-30 min naps but it takes at least an hour of convincing for her to fall asleep. Awake interval, tiredneas cues, etc. don't seem to make a difference.
Like at bedtime we always put her down to fall asleep in her crib and she was doing good at that until now when she's decided she can't sleep in her crib. Can they get separation anxiety at this age?
bocaburger my DD used to take 2-3 20 minutes naps everyday. But slept from 6:30-6:30. She slept the recommended 13 hours but mostly at night. Only time she slept longer than 20 minutes was in the car. It was only when she went to one nap a day did it become longer. She never seemed overly tired. So I stopped trying to force it. DS naps better and seems to need longer nap periods. Yesterday he took 30 minute naps and was very fussy last night, but STTN so who knows.
bocaburger my DD used to take 2-3 20 minutes naps everyday. But slept from 6:30-6:30. She slept the recommended 13 hours but mostly at night. Only time she slept longer than 20 minutes was in the car. It was only when she went to one nap a day did it become longer. She never seemed overly tired. So I stopped trying to force it. DS naps better and seems to need longer nap periods. Yesterday he took 30 minute naps and was very fussy last night, but STTN so who knows.
Thanks, it helps to know your DD was similar but did ok. I can accept it if I know it's not going to adversely affect them.
My kids also still eat around every 2 hours during the day. I feel like most babies this age go longer. They can go as much as 3:30 if they're asleep especially in a cat seat or carrier but if they're awake at the 2 hour mark (or sometimes earlier) they scream for food. I wonder if stretching out feedings would help with naps bit so far I haven't been successful with that.
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Both my girls were cat nappers. 30-45 min naps. I was always so jealous of people who's babies took 2-3 hour naps.
They were 12 hour nighttime sleepers though - DD2 with the occasional wake-up. I think as long as they aren't showing signs of overtiredness during the day, they are doing just fine. It's just the way they're programmed. Kind of a bummer in terms of mom getting a break during the day though!
None of my kids really get on a schedule until they are down to 2 naps/day. And the schedule gets even more consistent when they only nap once/day.
Ds2 generally cat naps in the morning, because we are often out and about with preschool or errands. He then takes a long nap in the afternoon (like 1:30-4). And then a short nap (maybe 30min) around 5:30.
Ds1 always always woke at the 45 min mark - daytime and night. This got better after sleep training. Ds2 often wakes during the long nap, but will go back to sleep with a little rocking (ds1 never did).
elebishi I was always so jealous of babies who napped for hours. DD only started the 2 hour naps at home when she was 18 months. However since she STTN and was in bed by 7, I accepted I was lucky that I had my evenings.
DD has definitely comsolidated her naps. She typically has 2 short naps (45ish minutes) and one long nap (2.5 hours) each day. The long nap tends to be in the afternoon from about 12:30 until we leave to collect DS1 around 3:30. She will also doze in the car, stroller or Boba sometimes while we are out and about. All 3 of mine have settled around this age into a rough "1 hr morning nap, 2 hour afternoon nap, 45 minute pre-dinner cat nap" routine on their own
We're all over the place. It's normally 3-4 naps a day, but the lengths vary. I assume part of that is because she's at daycare and it could be that the older kids in the room (up to 1 year olds) are loud since she sleeps more than them.
My daughter seems to sleep a lot, actually. I feel like she is still keeping newborn hours lol. But sleep truly begets sleep for her--the days when she marathon naps are usually her best nights of sleep. But she also gets woken up a lot because brothers.
Ugh, I'm kind of laughing at the idea that a 45 min nap is short. DS usually wakes up after 20-23 min. Sometimes I get 45-50 min and then I consider that a long nap! Only if out and about in the stroller can I occasionally get an hour plus naps. Lately I've noticed he gets tired and goes down for a nap at the two hour mark so we are settling in to a pattern, not a schedule or a routine but atleast I can finally see a pattern.
Luckily he's fairly easy to get to sleep and can usually fall asleep by himself if I put him down drowsy.
DD sleeps much better and longer on her stomach. I have stopped fighting it at nap times and just check on her frequently. I still can't let her belly sleep at night though, too paranoid.
Ugh, I'm kind of laughing at the idea that a 45 min nap is short. DS usually wakes up after 20-23 min. Sometimes I get 45-50 min and then I consider that a long nap! Only if out and about in the stroller can I occasionally get an hour plus naps. Lately I've noticed he gets tired and goes down for a nap at the two hour mark so we are settling in to a pattern, not a schedule or a routine but atleast I can finally see a pattern.
Luckily he's fairly easy to get to sleep and can usually fall asleep by himself if I put him down drowsy.
I have a friend whose second son was a 27 minute napper. Eventually he will consolidate his naps, at the 2 nap or 1 nap mark by the latest. Patterns are a start!
Post by hannahbear on Dec 21, 2016 19:07:15 GMT -5
Is it somehow possible that E would be trying to transition to 2 naps already?? He's 4.5 months. Daycare this week has a weird schedule. The past two days he's had two really good naps there, and then I try to fit in a third nap when we get home. He wakes up from the last nap at 2:30, we get home by 3, and then he won't nap again. I've been making his bedtime earlier, because I've seen that 2.5 hours wake time is the max recommendation. But then he ends up going to bed at like 5:30 (which is actually 3 hours of wake time).
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