Naps for 13 week old

[TheAccidentalParent]

As a guide, how many naps and for how long should a 13 week old baby have during the day? Or to think of it another way, how long can she be awake for before needing a nap?

My DD1 sleeps from 9pm to 8am (waking twice for half-asleep feeds) at night.

Sometimes during the day she seems overtired and gets cranky and cries. I want to make sure she gets enough sleep.

[katelyle]

I think at this age, they just sleep when they need to. If she's cranky, have you tried taking her out for a walk in the pushchair and see if she falls asleep? Make sure you walk towards a coffee shop so that you can have a peaceful half hour with a book and a cappuchino if she does fall asleep!

[Seona1973]

at that age it is normally around 2 hours that a baby can stay awake for before needing a nap (maybe a little less/more depending on the baby). Naptimes can vary from 20 mins to a couple of hours so the number of naps will vary too. I always looked for tired signals - fussiness, moaning, etc from 1 1/2 hours and then started getting lo ready for a nap (in his carrycot at that age but now he has them in his cot or buggy)

[alexw]

My dd could only manage an hour at that age.

[TheAccidentalParent]

Alex, do you mean your baby could only manage an hour awake??

[morocco]

awake between an hour and 2 usually with no especially noticeable routine. i cover the usual bases feed, nappy, bored, sleep nd 1 usually works

[TheAccidentalParent]

thats what I usually do too morocco. When will i know from her cries what she wants?

[bagsundereyes]

my LO is 15 weeks, and stays up 1.5-2 hours after waking. To be honest, I can't always tell the tired cries, so an element of her nap times is guided by the clock - ie if she's been fed, winded, nappy, and doesn't want to play, and it's at least 1.5 hours from her last nap, I start to wind her down for a kip.

One thing that has helped me is to make sure we're doing quiet stuff (being carried round in the sling, reading, cuddling with a teddy) about 1.5 hours after she's awake, so she can start to nod if she needs to.

[coco82]

my little one hardly sleeps in the day, he might have an hour at the most im sure he thinks he will miss something!!
but he is sleeping through the night from 11pm till 8am most days...i had to wake him up this morning at 9.45am!!! (that makes a change)
all babies are so different but all little miracles in their own way xx

[Liska]

coco that makes me feel better! My dd really fights sleep - I can normally get her down for one long nap a day, but she still gets up twice a night most nights (she's 11 weeks).

My problem is that I can tell when she is tired and wants a nap, but have a nightmare getting her to sleep. All the things that used to work - rocking, singing - just don't anymore. She is still feeding frequently (every 2 hours or so) and so she usually ends up dropping off nursing. Its a habit I want to break. Any tips on getting baby off to sleep?

[tassis]

generally my dd would only sleep for 45 mins at this stage 9though she'd trhough in the odd 2-3 hour sleep (generally when I planned to be somewhere and so wanted to wake her!)

she'd usually have 3 sleeps at this stage - but could have 2 or 4 depending on how long they'd been

ds was doing GF by this stage and so was generally having 45 mins in the morning, 2 hours over lunch and a wee (girny) catnap (sometimes in the sling) between 4pm and 5pm.

[MegBusset]

TAP, my DS is 17 weeks and since about 6-8 weeks has napped on a two-hour cycle - 30 mins nap then 90 mins asleep. It took a bit of trial and error for me to work out exactly how long he could stay awake, but now after 90 mins I either take him for a walk in pram or put him in cot with dummy and he soon dozes off.

I dream one day of him napping for longer, though...

[Chocolatepenny]

TheAccidentalParent I disagree with some of this advice my DS1 is 13 weeks and I have found he needed routine naps (roughly same time every day) since 2 months. ATM he has one at 9am for 40 mins and one at 12ish for about the same they used to be longer but he refuses to sleep in any longer even though he is tired. Yes he does need more in the afternoon too but I have to take him out for a walk for himm to drop off. Otherwise they like a bit of routine, but get ready for lots of protest at first.

[Piffle]

my ds is 13 wk, breastfed and sleeps from 8-8 with 3 feeds one at 11pm, 4am and on waking.

He can stay awake for 1.5 hrs ish in the daytime. He has two two hr naps one one hr nap and one catnap (20 mins) in the sling about 6pm

[Chocolatepenny]

Liska I'm afraid I found only cold turkey worked and I put my babs down for a nap when he was tired (without) BF. He cried and I just kept reassuring him until he dropped off, Its hard at first but you will reap the rewards soon!.

[Piffle]

my ds2 sels settles he tummy sleeps though he loves to sleep it seems, I did put him down from birth for sleeps though

[alexw]

Yes, I do mean only an hour aake - she kept dropping off!! Mind you, she was a very sleepy baby (7pm - 3am from day 1!!, then feed and down again til 7am) Once this had been established for about 3 weeks I started picking her up and dream feeding before I went to bed at 10ish. From firat night went 7-10, feed (asleep) then straight though til 7ish. I always worked on anyhting before 7 not being day time!

[alexw]

I did find the EASY plan (Baby whisperer) was great for establishing good sleep associations and also for helping tired out new mum understand sleep cues.