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Behaviour/development

14wo DS - 5 naps per day?!

12 replies

DangerMousey · 19/03/2013 17:14

DS is 3 and a half months old, and whilst he is sleeping reasonably well at night his daytime sleeping seems to be getting more and more erratic.

He seems unable to sleep for more than 45 mins tops during the day (whether in his cot, in his buggy or in my arms....although we normally put him in the cot if we're at home), and then gets tired after being awake for 90 mins. I seem to spend my whole day putting him down for naps and getting him up!

Is this normal?? He has had 5 naps today - all 35-45 mins in length. He goes to sleep v well, usually dozes off within 5-10 mins of fussing if he has his dummy.

I have tried soothing him back to sleep when he wakes, putting his dummy back in - all to no avail. he is just awake after 45 mins and that's that. He doesn't often wake up and cry, and his waking rarely coincides with being hungry: he's just AWAKE and cooing/smiling!

Do I just have to accept the fact that he is not going to have a lovely long 2 hour nap in the middle of the day and that i am never going to get any housework done?? Are some babies just catnappers??

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ZuleikaD · 19/03/2013 17:21

Sounds about right. My two were both 90 minutes awake and 45 minutes asleep during the day by about 13-14 weeks. His naps will get longer as his ability to stay awake gets longer. You'll probably be on three naps by 5m, down to 2 by about 9m and down to 1 after about 18m. It's usually the lunchtime one that's the main one.

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Margie32 · 19/03/2013 18:50

Hi Danger, my DS2 is 13 weeks and doing exactly the same thing. There is no way to get him past the 45 minute mark at the moment, and 45 minutes goes really quickly doesn't it Wink? You are lucky that your DS goes down easily as I am having a struggle this week with mine. I do seem to remember that once DS1 could roll over then his naps became longer as he much preferred sleeping on his front. So don't despair...DS1 is now 2 and naps for at least 2 hours every lunchtime...our little DSs will get there too!

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minipie · 19/03/2013 20:40

hi, my DD is a similar age and also won't nap for more than 45 minutes... UNLESS she is in her pram. so for a longer nap at lunchtime, I wheel her round the block a couple of times, then bring her home and she generally sleeps for 2+ hours in her pram in our hallway. worth a try??

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blushingmare · 19/03/2013 21:53

Sounds very normal, in fact quite good for that age. He will start to length his naps as he gets older. My dd didn't sleep for longer than 20 mins at that age, but now at 9mo has an hour in the morning and 2 hours after lunch quite reliably and I haven't done anything to make her do that.

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DangerMousey · 20/03/2013 20:28

Ah thanks guys that's really reassuring to hear.

Had a helluva day with him today though: normally he is happy and smile despite his short naps, but today something bwent very wrong. I ended up beig out of the house with him from 9am till 3.30pm at baby group and then at a lunch with my NCT group. I tried to give him time to nap in his pram on the way out in the morning (which worked) and on the way home in the afternoon (which didn't) plus he had a little nap in my arms in the lunch place. But all in all he was down on his sleep today, he only had:

40 mins at 9am
30 mins at 1130
20 mins at 1300
30 mins at 1500

So when I got home I tried to put him down to nap at 4.30pm after his 4.30 bottle he was a screaming overtired mess :-( he literally wailed for 35 mins when I tried to put him in his cot - none of the normal tricks worked (dummy, tummy rubbing, cuddles etc). Ended up taking him out in an ill-fated car journey to try and get him to sleep in the car - total failure. He just screamed in the car for 30 mins before finally falling asleep in an exhausted mess as I drove around crying my eyes out :-( :-(

This has been a really horrid day as I am now really scared to take him out the house tomorrow in case the same thing happens again.

Pleae someone reassure me that this was a one off fluke cos we were out for the whole day?? (We normally go out in the morning or the afternoon but rarely both - so this is the longest day out the house we have had so far really)...

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MrsP23 · 20/03/2013 20:43

Big hugs dangermousey. I always found that at that age that if I was out all day the routine ( if you could call it that) totally went out the window and I too would have an overtired crying baby. You might find that he will be out of sorts tomorrow as well until he recovers and gets back to normal. But then again as I have found out children never do what you think they will and he may be totally fine and even sleep better x x

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CoffeeChocolateWine · 20/03/2013 23:43

My DD (now 8 months) was a terrible terrible terrible napper in the really early months...for her first four months her naps she couldn't get past 15mins, no matter what I tried, and I tried EVERYTHING! She had 3 or 4 15min naps a day and cried for most of her awake time. I was tearing my hair out and posted threads on here every other week saying "What have I got to do to get my baby to nap?!" Then I was given a little respite when she started napping properly in the sling but soon became too heavy (I don't have a good back!) and took a step backwards.

Anyway, at around 6 months she just "got it". It coincided with me giving up breastfeeding (not sure if that was the underlying reason for her poor naps) and also with her becoming a lot more active. Now she has two naps a day - one of about 1.5-2 hours and one of around 45mins.

I think some babies can get by on just catnaps, but I'm firmly of the opinion that if my DD can go from her bloody awful 15min naps to what she's doing now, then your baby will get there eventually too. It just takes longer with some. Most useful bit of advice I was given was that if he's not getting "naptime" yet, bear with it and concentrate your efforts on encouraging good night time habits (ie. self-settling). Eventually this will transfer to naptime and if he wakes up after 45mins he'll learn to resettle himself.

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CoffeeChocolateWine · 20/03/2013 23:48

Sorry to hear you've had a terrible day. It's rotten :-( But yes at that age "routine" can very easily go pear-shaped. It does become more reliable as they get older...definitely the case with both my 2.

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DangerMousey · 21/03/2013 12:18

So far today he seems unaffected by yesterday's screamfest. I have definitely learned an important lesson there: at the moment he cannot deal with being out in stimulating places in the morning and the afternoon. Think it has to be one or the other. And we have to have some decent time at home every day for him to feel settled and comfortable and able to sleep i seem to have ended up with the only baby on earth who really fights sleep in his buggy

Quick question for those of you above (minipie and margie*)who helpfully say their DCs are only have 45 minute naps at 3-4 months old: do you put them in their cots for their naps? The cot seems to be the only place DS will sleep well in the house (I know, I know, this is a good thing!) but it just seems a bit daft to be putting him down in his cot every 90 mins throughout the day!

ps - minipie, my DS annoyingly seems to fight sleep in his pram (think he is too interested in looking at the world!), and we live in a 2nd floor flat with no lift so I can't wheel the pram into the house :-( It lives downstairs in the car so whenever DS falls asleep in the pram he gets woken up when we get home cos I have to carry him upstairs which is why i have been known to go on pointless 45 minute walks in the driving rain if he's fallen asleep on the way back from somewhere, just to keep him asleep :-/

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Margie32 · 21/03/2013 19:21

Hi Danger, glad you've had a better day today, our DSs seem to have very similar habits, my DS also gets very overstimulated and grumpy if we're out of the house all day.

In answer to your question, yes, I always put my DS down for a nap in his crib when we're at home. It's definitely the place he naps best and like your DS he's not keen on the pram, so I'm not really sure where else I'd put him! Today I got him to do an hour and a half at lunchtime - major breakthrough! I went in when he woke up after 45 minutes and gently stroked the bridge of his nose and he went back to sleep! It probably won't work again tomorrow but you could try it if you want to encourage longer naps. Does your DS nap in a dark room? Have you tried putting some white noise on in the background?

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DangerMousey · 21/03/2013 20:15

hey margie thanks for replying - that's really good for you DS on the log nap front!!

I will deffo give the nose stroking a try...normally when he wakes up after 45 mins when I go in he gives me a massive smile, blows spot bubbles at me and starts cooing...! And then there is no way of getting him back to sleep.

He had 4x 40 min naps today and went to bed without much trouble at 1845...it's a bloody long day when he has been up since 0620 though! I am currently having a large Wine!!

Thanks for answering my question - I think I will carry on putting him down in his cot every 90 bloody mins cos I don't want him to start thinking that napping in my arms is a good idea! He weighs over 16lb already an my back cannot take it!!

X

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tigersmummy · 21/03/2013 22:07

My DD is 23 weeks and has 5 naps a day, in between her feeds, and are between 20-40 mins max. Her routine needs to work around the school run so after her lunchtime bottle she will probably have a nap, then wake, snooze in the car to school, wake briefly while we get DS, then snooze again on way home. She has always slept well, going through the night since 6 weeks, so I'm not going to knock her short naps!

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