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Join our Sleep forum for tips on creating a sleep routine for your baby or toddler.

Join our Sleep forum for tips on creating a sleep routine for your baby or toddler.

Sleep

Do all babies actually need to nap??

17 replies

PopcornAndWine · 10/10/2019 09:10

Genuine question - my 10 week old DD is a terrible napper, no schedule, rarely goes for longer than 30 mins. Her nighttime sleep is generally pretty good. She takes a while to settle in the evenings but that is because she is feeding loads not because she is restless or upset. According to everything I have read she should be a horrendous overtired crying mess in the evenings. Do some babies do ok with little daytime sleep? I am just going with it at the moment as she is so little but worried I am in for the land of my life if/when 4 month sleep regression hits

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Chance51 · 10/10/2019 10:18

I don't know but I'm wondering the same. I seem to spend most of the day battling to get my 6 week old to nap when actually he seems quite content to be left awake. Does your DD show tiredness queues during the day?

PopcornAndWine · 10/10/2019 10:38

Not really - does yours? she'll yawn sometimes but if I try and put her down then, no joy. Have tried all the usual - white noise, swaddle etc. Nothing. I've spent 30 mins trying to get her to nap while I get increasingly frustrated and she just lies there grinning at me. As her night sleeps seems ok at the moment it doesn't matter too much but worried that once sleep cycles start changing around 4 month mark she'll be a horror as she will need to nap but won't as we haven't got in the habit. Maybe I just need to stop googling stuff and hope for the best!

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Kimberleigh · 10/10/2019 11:33

Google is the devil.

Let her lead for now. Enjoy the night time sleep

However if you want her to nap - Our baby naps in a sling - perhaps invest in one?

Teddybear45 · 10/10/2019 11:42

Breastfed babies don’t tend to sleep for as often or as long as formula fed babies, so it’s normal. Especially if she’s feeding in the day and producing lots of wet nappies.

trevthecat · 10/10/2019 11:46

My eldest only ever cat napped in the day. Went to bed early and although didn't sleep all night till nearly 3yrs he slept well and in his own bed. His naps were short from day 1. Then there is my youngest who didn't open his eyes for the first 6 weeks! Even now at nearly 2 he sleeps 13 hours over night and 2 in the day!

DontBuyANewMumCashmere · 10/10/2019 11:47

I had a non napper with my 1st. She slept in very short bursts (19 mins at one depressing point) unless heat-koshed - if she was cosy, warm and tucked into something like her car seat. Then she'd sleep for about 3 hrs but wake up sweating...

I downloaded a baby tracking app, bought several sleep books, lost my mind. I genuinely developed anxiety over her sleep, and felt like a failure for not being able to get her to sleep as long as the books told me she needed.
When I spoke to my excellent HV, she told me to delete the app, throw the books, and just look at DD. She was happy and bright and interested when awake. She fell asleep quickly and woke happy.

Tldr - don't worry, your baby will tell you what they need. Some babies just don't need as much sleep!

horse4course · 10/10/2019 11:53

I'd let your baby lead, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

If she's happy and alert then she's fine, if she gets upset and exhausted then it's time to step in and try to help.

Ultimately if a baby is sleepy then they'll sleep!

PopcornAndWine · 10/10/2019 12:11

Thanks all - that's generally what I figure, she's usually happy & content & smiley (has her moments of course!) so I need to step away from google & stop worrying about it. If things change I can work on it then!

We do have a sling and she will sometimes sleep in that when out and about.

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burritofan · 10/10/2019 12:12

As far as I know from reading the entire internet in a similar panic about sleep, at this age: 30-minute naps are standard and normal, they'll grow into longer naps when they get older. Feeding loads in the evening is also normal. So is not having a schedule – she's only been on this planet 10 weeks, she doesn't know what she's supposed to be doing or what a clock is or what day/night are, though it sounds like she's doing well at figuring it out.

I firmly believe you can't prevent the 4-month sleep regression. Your baby either succumbs or it doesn't; gets through it quickly or sleeps like a dickhead til it turns 5, regardless of what you do.

When you say put her down for a nap, are you putting her in a cot and expecting her to sleep? Because I would imagine most 10-week-olds would need feeding/rocking/bouncing/swaying/slinging/pramming/car seating/full Mr Motivator routining to sleep. They don't know what you're expecting them to do!

coffeeagogo · 10/10/2019 12:29

I think some babies are more sleepy than others - my first napped in quite long spells but was awake quite a lot too but my second slept a lot, like the first 6 weeks was asleep 20 hours a day - was ridiculous! Both breastfed if that makes any difference and both girls. Even now they both love their sleep...

Buyitinbamboo · 10/10/2019 12:36

Don't sweat it. If she does hit 4 months and needs to nap she will soon pick it up!

TheVanguardSix · 10/10/2019 12:39

Enjoy the present and long may her happiness continue!

SoyDora · 10/10/2019 12:41

At that age none of my three napped for longer than 30 mins at a time, I thought that was normal? Naps didn’t really start to consolidate until around 6 months. By about 8-9 months mine all settled into a pattern of 2 naps a day, a shorter one in the morning and a longer one after lunch.

PopcornAndWine · 10/10/2019 13:03

@burritofan I do try swaddling, rocking, white noise etc but it doesn't work - she just grins at me like 'who are you kidding?'

Hoping I get lucky and don't get a dickhead

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thunderthighsohwoe · 13/10/2019 20:05

Some babies do need less sleep; my 10.5 month old has been on two half hour cat naps since 6 months, and now can even survive without the first one if needed. She sleeps about 11 hours straight at night, then sometimes will go back down for half an hour after an early morning bottle.

Most of her peers have 12-13 hours overnight plus 2-3 hours in the day. She’s the smiliest and most alert of the lot of them, and even though she refuses to crawl she isn’t still for even a minute straight in the day. She should be exhausted.

Babies baffle me.

PopcornAndWine · 14/10/2019 20:17

@thunderthighsohwoe that's interesting! Hope mine is like yours at 10.5 months! She has her moments but is generally very happy at the min. Honestly wonder what some of these sleep gurus (Lucy Wolfe, Little Ones etc) who say babies MUST nap a set amount or they will be overtired/restless/won't sleep at night are basing it on?

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MeadowHay · 17/10/2019 08:43

My DD was like this but not smiley and happy, screamed all the time unfortunately, nobody figured out why. But nothing we did worked very well. She is/has been generally a good sleeper overnight though, I think partly due to her lack of daytime sleep. She's very light sensitive I think too and quite noise sensitive as well so they are both partly why I think she has always slept better at night. Her napping got better as she got older (although still mostly unpredictable, she's never been on a nap schedule). She's 16m now and she's had more decent naps since she was about 8/9 months. Since she was 12m she usually goes down in her cotbed for a nap without a fight either once I notice tired cues.

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