how many naps for a 2 month old?

[GirlWithTheMouseyHair]

I'm trying to work out how many naps my DS (2 months old) needs and wants in order to make his evenings and nights regular and consistent and have been totally confused by all the various routine books saying he ought to have so many naps a day of so long and between every feed or whatever

What do your babies generally need and do? Do they nap between feeds? Do you notice a trend between daytime naps and sleeping at night?

I do know that if DS doesn't sleep enough in the day it's tough trying to get him to bed in the evening. He used to go down ok after bath and last feed around 7:30, but excitement of Christmas has thrown it all out...but at least he still generally goes down after late night feed around 11 then tends to only wake once in the night before 7 or 8 am...I want to get our evenings back if I can though!

[Hopefully]

The rule of thumb that works quite well is that babies of that age are ready for bed a maximum of 2 hours after they last wake.

Baby led people might then encourage you to leave your baby until he wakes and demands a feed.

I'm a bit more of a routine queen, and roughly follow GF with no problems - she suggests a morning nap of around 45 mins-1 hr, a lunch time nap of 2-2.5 hours and an afternoon nap of something like 45 mins for young babies. I've always found that my DS needed more than she said (he was still sleeping 4.5 hours in the day when she thought he should manage on 3.5), but I found her routines a useful rule of thumb. Many many people loathe and despise them with a passion though.

Saying that, I still give DS too much sleep in the day (easier on me while I'm alone with him!) so he tends to be up until about 8:30 in the evening...

[HolidaysQueen]

The 2 hour thing really worked for us - being quite strict about getting him down no more than 2 hours after he woke really revolutionised his sleep for us, and made us feel much more like we knew what was going on. At 2-3 months, DS would have 3 naps per day - 1 hour in morning, 1.5-2 hours after lunch, then 30 mins in early evening. Bed at 7.30pm then up for the day around 7am.

He gradually dropped the early evening nap although even now (9mo) occasionally has it if he's tired. It is only in the last few weeks that he has been able to go longer than 2 hours awake in the early part of the day.

[GirlWithTheMouseyHair]

i've heard that rule and find he's tired normally roughly 1.5 hours after waking...I'm just wondering about waking him. Am currently waking him after 2 hours but in the late afternoon/evening making it more like 45 mins. Think it' all trial and error while working out how to get him to go down for the night after bath and last feed at 7:30...which sometimes he does but I don't currently see a pattern to it

[mower]

Am going through the same with my dd who is 6.5 weeks old at mo. Trying to sort of work out what she needs by reading her signs. But agree that not enough naps during the day means not settling till later night time. Christmas day night was a total nightmare, probably worst night I have had with her as she was being held by everyone all day and getting her to smile ect. Totally over stimulated and had to drive to get her to calm down at 1am.

Anyway to answer your question, she tends to have one long sleep in the morning after less than an hour of "daytime" which I wake her from after two hours. Then she will nap while we are out, but no long sleeps. Then I try to get her to have a long sleep again in the afternoon around 3ish is not as succesfull as her long morning one normally as she has half hour wakes, put dummy back in, another half hour. Then bath at 6 and in her room trying to settle her after that, tonight so far so good, she went straight to sleep, but then woke about 10 mins ago, put dummy back in and gone back to sleep.

Sorry for long post but feel this is SO important at the mo as dh goes back to working away next week and am on my own with two toddlers too, so my evenings are so important to me!

How is your night going so far?

[GirlWithTheMouseyHair]

Hi Mower

we've been luckier over Christmas because my mum realises I need to work out DS's naps and feeds in order to stay sane!! He had two long naps of 2 hours yesterday, cat nap in the afternoon - I woke him after 45mins because I'm tsting out if he has a shorter catnap in the late afternoon will this mean he goes down better in the evening. He went down about 9:30pm, slept through a dream feed at midnight and woke at 6am for a feed - then again at 9am so pretty good.

He's slept all morning so far though. I always wake him after 2 hours (baby whisperer in my head saying otherwise it eats into night time sleep) but he's just napped on and off and is a terrible mood otherwise so I figure he clearly needs it today - also we fly home this evening so that will unsettle him anyway.

So hard trying to work it all out isn't it? Just thankful that it looks like DS has grown out fo his colic phase of screaming all evening til 1 or 2am!

[alittleteapot]

I agree with the 2 hour thing too, but my dd was 3 months before she had a regular pattern. before then she would sleep all day some days and hardly at all on others.