6mo DD does not sleep during the day...

[tethersend]

She is sleeping through most nights from 8-7, but rarely naps during the day. She is clearly overtired, and is screechy- but has a maximum of 4 15 minute naps all day long.

Anything I can do? Should I do anything? It's annoying as I can't get anything done during the day, but I can manage... I just worry that she's not getting enough sleep.

Any ideas gratefully received

[amazingmumof6]

I seem to remember they need about 12-14 hours sleep/day that age, so she seems to be getting near enough.

you could try and start her on some first foods at lunch time (if not done already) plus a bit of milk (breast or bottle) and see if she dozes off for a bit longer.

and thank yuor lucky stars she has an 11 hour sleep marathon at night!

[amazingmumof6]

my oldest used to sleep from midnight till 8am, then 2x 1-1.5 naps till he was 13 months, then one day to another he dropped the morning nap, had a 3-hour sleep after lunch (1pm-4pm) then would typically sleep about 9-10 hours/night

he's 11, still can't sleep till 10 pm!

[madwomanintheattic]

Dd1 didn't sleep in the day until she over a year old, and then started going down for a nap in the afternoon.

I was completely bonkers for the first year. She might not have needed a damned nap, but I did.

They are all different. I just used to get out and try and keep busy, rather than staying in with gritted teeth. She was more likely to drop off for ten minutes or so if we were moving anyway.

I was sooooooooooo pleased when she started having a proper sleep in the day. I mean, I loved the nights, but...

[DeWe]

Dd1 was just like that. I always felt I'd have traded one wake during the night for a decent nap during the day.

However when she hit 9 months, she dropped any attempt of a morning nap and went down for 2-3 hours in the afternoon-and still slept 12 hours at night. I just kept putting her down when she was tired, at 8 months that had evolved to 15-20 minute nap about 10am, 2pm, 5pm. Then she stopped needing the 10am one, and then slept much better at 2pm.
Hopefully your dd will do the same.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Personally, I don't think that getting her to nap more in the day means less sleep at night until they are much older. Mine have always slept better at night if they napped more during the day.

There are some things you can do though, have a look here and here.

Could she be ready to go to 3 naps a day instead of 4? Do you think she would sleep better if you tried that?

[tethersend]

Thanks all.

I should say that 4 15 minute naps are her absolute maximum- she will more often have 1-2 and sometimes none at all.

DD1 was a great napper and was napping for 3-4 hours at a time at this age. I suppose that's just the way DD2 is- we're out and about most days, but even then I could do with an hour or two of not making faces or singing nursery rhymes.

Anyway, I mustn't post any more about her sleeping through, as she woke twice last night just to teach me a lesson

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Isn't that always the way .

[amazingmumof6]

waking twice - if she's not ill/teething that could really be sign that she needs more food, due to growth spurt or just being more alert/active during the day

good luck

[tethersend]

She does, amazingmumof6. She's starving all the bloody time- have started many threads about it.

We are weaning her- she's on 3 meals a day, just fruit, veg and porridge at the moment. She's had another day of no sleep at all, so let's see what tonight brings .

[amazingmumof6]

the book I found so useful is called "what should I feed my baby?" by Suzannah Olivier.
she suggests the following foods for 6-9 months olds:

• texture of foods : mashed, pureed or finely minced
  

meat (protein!): oily fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel, sardines), poultry, game and other red meats in

fats: egg yolks, 2 teaspoonful of oil/day - such as flax, sunflower or safflower mixed with solids

pulses: red lentils, peas, haricot beans, brown lentils, broad beans, cannellini beans black-eyed peas

grains: brown rice, millet, quinoa, buckwheat

fruit and veg - sorry lists are too long to copy...


see if adding protein will fill her up longer..

[amazingmumof6]

"red meats in" - I missed a bit, it says : in small quantities. sorry!

and if BLW ignore advice about texture

[tethersend]

Thanks amazingmumof6- that's very interesting, particularly about protein.

The doctor has advised us to start to wean her with fruit and veg due to wind and constipation- however, the same doctor advised us to use carrot, which I think actually causes constipation, so I'm a bit about the rest of her advice, TBH.

I think I'll have a look through the cupboards and introduce some more foods one at a time...

[amazingmumof6]

yes, starting with fruit and veg is good.
carrots, apples and bananas can cause either constipation or diahorrea (or neither actually,

things like butternut squash (yum yum!), pear, peach, melon less likely to give any problems

I'm not sure about oats if she's constipated the very high fibre content could be the culprit- I know, it's good for adults, but baby tums are so delicate and immature, it might be better to give her pureed cooked brown rice.

do try to read the book I suggested, I used it with all our boys and now with baby girl

do you want me to copy all the fruit and veg advised in it for your daughter's age? I don't mind, if you want me to

[MoelFammau]

DD was like that, maybe worse as she never slept for more than 2 hours at a stretch at night. Her naps were literally 5 muns, 2 or 3 times a day. The in-laws couldn't how she could be so happy and sociable on so little sleep.

That was from birth til... I think a year. Then she suddenly started having naps for an hour, once a day. She sorted it herself. Nights were still awful but she's recently been diagnosed lactose intolerant and now it's a lot better.

Think she's a high speed kid. She never BF more than 5mins but never dropped any weight and thrived. Some kids are odd.