Is it normal for a 6mo to sleep so much?

[Heloise1982]

My 6mo (5mo adjusted) twins sleep about 7pm-6am (usually with a lot least one feed and a couple of dummy runs, but that is another story.) They then seem to want to nap ALL DAY. Wake time in the morning is never more than an hour max; sometimes they can manage an hour and a half later in the day, if they've had a long nap. If they've had a short (less than an hour) nap it can be as little as 20 mins. They generally have at least four naps a day, and at least one of those is usually at least 3 hours long.

I realise there's nothing I can do about it, just wondering whether this can be normal?? How can they only manage five or six hours awake in a 24 hour period? I realise it sounds great but it's actually quite trying that they over tire so quickly - trying to go out and do anything is a nightmare cos they always end up having an overtired meltdown, any sort of baby class is pretty much not an option, and I feel like I'm constantly up and down the stairs getting one or another of them in or out of bed - not ideal when I have a just turned two year old to look after as well! I can't help looking forward to babies who are content for more than 45 minutes at a time! Plus if they nap badly for any reason (and they're babies - who needs a reason?) they are absolute bears.

Anyone got any experience of this?? When did your babies start being able to be awake for longer stretches?

[Heloise1982]

Oh and should have added - regardless of how much they have slept, they are always overtired grabby nightmares by bath time. Which is at 6.30 pm, so hardly late

[Tiredandtorn]

My dc1 was like this, but he'd happily nap on the go in the buggy, would they do that too?

[Heloise1982]

They will sleep in the buggy / car seat, but only so long as we're moving. As soon as we stop, they wake up, and are cross that they've been woken up! When did your lo start being able to stay awake for longer stretches?

[waitingforsomething]

DD1 was like this, she needed a phenomenal amount of sleep and was still on 3 long naps at 8 months. She didn't wake up properly until around 8/9 months then she dropped naps at a normal rate, and in fact when she was 2 and a bit she stopped napping completely when all her little friends who were less sleepy as babies would still be napping!

DS is very different, he hardly needs to sleep at all it seems! I wouldn't be worried, although I agree it's actually quite tiresome having an always tired child. My DD would just cry if she was tired which was 90% of the day!

[Tiredandtorn]

About 7/8 months I think. But he still loved a nap for a long while after that too. But even at nearly 4 he is still a phenomenal sleeper and sleeps 13/14 hours a night and only dropped naps at just turned 3! He's really for bed at 5 (he plays hard though) but bedtime is 6:30. But I think all the sleep does him so much good. His memory is incredible and his vocabulary & knowledge are impressive for his age. I often think it must be partly due to all the rest he gets and all that mental processing that happens during sleep!

[user1471421772]

Wow, that's a lot of sleep! My 4 month old has 3x30/45 min naps a day but does sleep through the night 7:30-5:30. Amazing how they're all different. As long as they are alert at points and meeting milestones, eg rolling over I would just enjoy the long naps while they last.