How often/long does your baby nap?

[Len27]

My 8 mos old is just now starting to get into something that looks like a routine. Up around 7am, down for a nap between 9-9.30am. Might be a 20 minute nap, might be an hour and a half. Up for a few hours and we get out and do something, down again around 1.30ish give or take- might be a 20 minute nap, might be 3 hours. Really predictable (insert much eye rolling). He might steal a bit of a cat nap somewhere in there as well if he's being worn/in the stroller. He's usually down for the night by 8pm-ish.

My DD didn't settle into a nap routine til she was over a year old, I was nearly completely insane by that point. Non-sleeping babies are FREAKING HARD.

[Len27]

Can you hip scoot her around onto your back? I practice over the couch or over the bed- I think you'll be able to get it if you're confident that she's not going to hit the ground. You can also get her in and on your back while you're sitting down and then just stand up to do the little tweaks and adjustments.

[hjk]

I, too, survived DD1 because of the Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child book! Wish we would have gotten it in the beginning, instead of once she turned 2! But seriously, the whole "sleep begets sleep" thing was (and is, at 33 months) so true for her--once we moved her bedtime UP she learned to sleep through the night. The later we put her down, the worse she sleeps, and the less likely she is to nap the next day. I realize all that doesn't necessarily apply to you and your situation--just wanted to say it's an awesome book for helping you to UNDERSTAND sleep, at different stages/ages. Good luck!

[keysersoze]

Originally Posted by Darth Hooka I baby wear her in an ergo. Sometimes it gives me some peace. Other times shes fussing to get out, pulling my hair etc. She does really well in the back carry but i cant finagle her onto my back by myself. If I could, I'd be a happy camper!

Have you tried a Beco? They're ridiculously easy to do a back carry with, even with smallish infants.

DS1 was a fantastic sleeper, and still is, but DD was (and remains) a light sleeper who needs me to help her resettle (even now at 2.5). For me, the only way i got her to nap during the day was being worn, usually on my back.

DS2 (3 months) is awake for 1.5-3 hours before taking a nap that ranges from 45 min to 3 hours, then he eats and plays. rinse, repeat, 2-3 times a day, and then he goes to sleep for the night sometime between 6-8 pm. He gets up between 10 and 12 and again at about 3-4 am.

We don't do a schedule, but we definitely have a routine, in that he does things in the same order every time he wakes up during the day: diaper change, bottle/nurse, playtime, diaper change, story, turn off the lights, swaddle arms, pacifier/nurse to sleep (i generally put him down drowsy, or he's worn during naps). he's thriving on this routine, right now (though that may change).

Have you tried instituting a bedtime/naptime routine? one thing we did early on with DS1 was to institute the same pre-sleep routine for both naps and bedtime (diaper/potty, stories, darkness, white noise, nap). the routine (which takes about 15-30 minutes from start to lying down, helps them settle into a drowsier state.

she's a great nighttime sleeper. how does she go to sleep at night? nurse to sleep? darkness? white noise? stories? bath? you might try replicating whatever your bedtime routine is at night twice during the day (most 5 month olds are going to still be taking 2 solid naps a day).

good luck. i know that it's REALLY hard when you have no down time and a fussy baby all day.

[me_just_me]

Originally Posted by Layney82 I found Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child had a very good section on age appropriate sleep schedules and how to help your baby nap/sleep.

Yes! I got this book when my DD was around 6 months old. I couldn't get her to nap at all during the day and night sleep was getting worse and worse. I felt like I had no clue what I was doing, and shouldn't she just go to sleep when tired? But no, she would get so worked up and then couldn't fall asleep no mater what I did. It was awful. She was so sleep deprived, she was miserable all the time. I was getting to the point of wanting to just stop being a mom since I felt so helpless and was getting so sleep deprivbed myslef. It was not a happy time for either of us. I never knew how many naps a baby was supposed to take, what time was the best time for them to nap, or how long they should be sleeping. This book really helped me out so much!

The biggest thing I got from that book was how much sleep a child should get at what age, and how many naps your child should be taking. With my DD I started putting her down for a nap at the first sign of sleepiness (they have a whole list in the book) it took a bit to get her to sleep, but it was much easier when you know the signs to look for and the expected times for naps. I think she started taking 4 naps a day at first. Then as she got caught up on her sleep deprivation we settled into the morning, mid-day, and afternoon naps. She was so much happier after that! Granted, it was hard to go anywhere as I needed to make sure that she slept in her crib, but life was so much easier when there is an expected plan to the day. You know when you can plan on running errands, go to play dates etc.

I followed this books recommended sleep times from birth with my DS and he fell right into the 3 naps a day and a 7pm bed time. It was great! He then moved to two naps a day, and now still takes one long nap around 1pm (he's 21 months old)

Since your DD is 4 months old, I would try the "up for two hours, down for a nap" plan. So once your DD gets up for the day, the next two hours try to feed, dress, and play and then soothe to sleep. I always nursed before naps, so you could do a feeding before nap if that calms her. Although many people don't like to do this. I found my kids slept better on a full tummy. When she wakes up (if she sleeps) try this again two hours later. Continue this until bedtime, aiming for about a 7pm bed time. When we did this we got used to a nap schedule that went like this: Up at 7am, nap at 9am, nap at 1pm, nap around 4 (this was always a short nap) bed at 7pm.

Of course, this isn't all just going to magically work the first time you try it, but if you try to stick to it, there is a good chance it will work.

I highly recommend the book, but I warn you it is not the most well written book.

Also, on the idea of whether to schedule or not, kids really do well with regularity. I'm not talking about super strict feeding schedules (we did on demand nursing), but just knowing that you nap in the morning and after lunch etc. It helps keep them well rested and they know what to expect during the day.

Also, as a last thought, YOU will feel so much better if you can get a routine down. Your baby will be happier if she is well rested, and you will feel like you have some sanity in your life! I was such a huge relief when my first baby actually started napping regularly, it was like I had control back in my life. She was happy and so was I!

[jveprek]

My son was like that but would sleep as long as he was in a wrap. It worked great because when he needed to nap when DH was home, I'd just wrap him to him, then run around dancing for my moments of freedom . What helped a lot too was nursing him back to sleep as soon as he started to stir until he had slept at least an hour. Soon he was napping 2-3 hours straight. I also loved the tips in The No Cry Sleep SOlution. Oh, and could it be teething pain? If so, maybe some Humphrys?

[hokoonchi]

I'll echo a couple of the other moms on here. I have a similar thread I posted about three months ago, right when DS was 5.5 months or so. I was going INSANE. DS did NOT nap pretty much EVER, starting from about 3.5 months on. He was terribly fussy and I knew he needed to nap, but he wouldn't do it. He would wail if I put him down, and he wouldn't nap more than 20-30 minutes at a time, no matter what I did. When I posted on here, people were like, oh try this, oh try that. And I'd done ALL of it!!!!!!!!!!!

Right when he hit about 7.5 months, he started napping, 1-3 hours at a time (just like the other mom said!). I was totally freaked out too. Insane! And last week, he started sleeping all the way through the night without a waking.

Life is a LOT better now. I know you think it can never happen, and it seems so distant in the future to think ahead 8 or 10 weeks. But I'm telling you ... it can happen. And it can happen, RANDOMLY, no matter what you do.

And you're not doing anything wrong.

At all.

Just wanted to say that.

[cupnkey]

My 5.5 mo old recently changed up her nap routine and won't sleep longer than an hour each time. So she has 3-4 one-hour naps during the day. Usually at least 2 of those are in a carrier front or back. You should keep trying to scooch your baby around your hip to your back. It took us a few tries but we have it figured out now. Just practice while sitting on the edge of a bed so that if it's not quite right you can lower your babe onto the bed.