How many naps does a 12 week old need in the day?

[Thankyouandgoodnight]

Mine seems to have short ones and I'm wondering if that's ok / normal or if I need to be doing something to help him sleep for longer and if so, how!

1st nap is about 8:30am (on way to taking DD to nursery) for about half an hour (wakes naturally about 10 mins after we get home again))

2nd nap about 10:45am for about 45 mins (usually in his cot and again wakes naturally)

3rd nap about mid afternoon for an hour and a hlf if we're out and about and moving but maybe only 45 mins if in his cot at home.

He starts getting grizzly for bed about 6 ish but finally goes to sleep about 7 at the earliest, usually 7:30pm

[ohdearwhatamess]

At that age mine had 3. Roughly:

8.30-9
12-2
4-4.45

With the bigger lunchtime one he'd stir after about 30 mins, but with a bit of shushing and patting would go back to sleep for longer (usually).

Still has pretty much the same napping pattern at 8 months (shorter afternoon one though).

[ches]

Total sleep in 24 hours is more important than how long the naps are. I think it's around 15 hours for 12 weeks.

[SamJohnsMum]

I'm also struggling with getting my DS (4 months) to sleep for longer than 45 minutes at a nap time. If I cuddle him, he can sleep for up to 2 hours and while that can be really lovely (just reading and cuddling him for 2 hours is certainly a nice way to pass an afternoon) clearly, I can't continue to do that for long and I don't want to get him into the habit of expecting that!!

[flourybaps]

Hiya im also struggling with naps for my 4 month old dd I read in the baby whisperer that at this age 45 min naps usually mean they are overtired and have woke after the first sleep cycle. That is where we seem to be stuck, cant get past the 45 min nap monster! Have tried putting her down earlier but dosent seem to make any difference.........

[SamJohnsMum]

I'm also reading baby whisperer at the moment. I've read Gina Ford and William Sears, and hopefully BW sits somewhere in the middle. I'm not sure about PU/PD though - anyone have any experiences on this?

[ohdearwhatamess]

What is PU/PD?

[SamJohnsMum]

PU/PD is pick up/ put down - it's a method for getting babies to sleep without controlled crying. It's championed by the baby whisperer - I'd suggest looking at her website, but it's not running at the moment. I haven't tried this yet, so I can't offer advice but there is another thread on MN, devoted to the baby whisperer, so that's worth a look if you're interested.

[alittlebitshy]

My ds is having 2 naps a day atm - ideally both are 2 hours ish but the first may be longer and the second short. I put him down 2 hours after waking each time ( i read it somewhere but that time frame really is when he is ready to zonk). If he's got up earlier than normal in the morning he will probably have 3 naps - the middle one being about an hour...