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2,3,4 naps

4 replies

Suchanamateur · 05/10/2012 09:20

Is anyone/ has anyone been on this schedule? If so, what kind of age??

DD is 7.5 mo and I've been struggling with naps and bedtime for a while. She's a very even tempered baby which is great (especially with a manic older brother) but has next to no sleepy signs.

We're currently on 3 naps - two lots of around an hour and then a short catnap, aiming for about 2.5 hrs before bedtime. But DD takes ages to then get to sleep - anything up to 1.5hrs. She does so pretty happily- rolling around or just lying with her thumb in her mouth until she eventually sleeps. But it drives me nuts and makes for rather a short night for her.

She can't handle too long awake before her first 2 naps so I'm wondering if she should be aiming for 2-3-4 and dropping the catnap? Or is she too young? She'll end up with 2 hrs or so only of day sleep if i do that and I'm worried about making her nights worse...

Where is the damn baby manual?

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scampidoodle · 05/10/2012 13:57

Hi, do you mean 2, 3 then 4 hours awake between sleeps? If so, that's exactly what my DS did from 8.5 - 18 months. He would have 1 hour after breakfast then 2-3 after lunch and be in bed at 7pm (sometimes after only 2.5 - 3 hours awake). He definitely seemed to be one of those babies who slept better the more sleep he got, so I think we were lucky! Good luck - hope you can sort it out.

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Suchanamateur · 05/10/2012 14:13

Exactly what I mean. at your 2-3 hour naps, especially after our recent 30 minute job which took me 30 minutes to get!

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omama · 05/10/2012 21:14

sounds like she needs to drop her catnap. It typically happens anywhere between 6-9 months, so she is bang on the right sort of age to manage without it. You might find she needs a slightly earlier bedtime when you first drop that catnap, its big jump from 2.5 hrs before bed to 4hrs. Once she gets used to having just 2 naps you should be able to gradually push bedtime back out again.

HTH.x

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Suchanamateur · 07/10/2012 17:56

Thanks! When she doesn't do a crazy early wake up, we're going to shoot for 2 naps and see how it goes. The 2.5-4 hr leap might not actually be that big, given she's usually awake for at least an hour after bedtime (albeit in a dark and silent room..)!