Should I limit my 14 week old babies naps?

[Puddingsmummy]

I'm knackered!
He tends to alternate his patterns during the day, one day he won't nap at all then the next day he will nap most of the day and so on. Should I try I try limit his daytime naps so I can get a better night sleep or is it still wrong to wake a sleeping baby?

No. Baby too young. More likely to make it worse not better. Rest whenever he sleeps. Close the curtains, lie down, turn off everything and rest. It’s aweful but gets better

Babies that age should only be up for a few hours at a time. On the 'non-nap' days therefore I would start trying to get them to nap however you can e.g. sling/walk with buggy/drive/anything that works. So that you get them used to napping regularly.

Hopefully then they will start napping a but more consistently. At some point you will likely start to see set time when they nap and can fall into a rough routine e.g. morning nap, longer lunchtime nap, short late afternoon catnap.

It’s never too early to start building some consistency and routine.
At 14 weeks I would do 3 to 4 naps a day with the last one ending no later than 5pm and a 7pm bedtime.
Eg
Wake 7am
Nap 9-10.30
Nap 12.30-2
Nap 4.30-5

That would be a completely pointless exercise.

I laughed out loud at Geneva's suggestion sorry. It would have been impossible and counterproductive with mine to try and impose a routine like that at such a young age. As hard as it is you really do need to try and go with the flow and follow your baby's lead.

Yeah, I know someone who managed to get their first baby into a lovely routine really quickly. They thought it was them being brilliant at mothering, then they had another baby and realised it was just luck!

My baby still won’t nap regularly, we’re lucky if i get 40 minutes combined throughout the day. But after 20 week, the routine changed slightly and baby sleeps well at night (mostly) with only 2 very short naps. I didn’t impose any routine and trying to force extra naps was horrible.

How on earth do you force a baby not to nap? They just fall asleep anywhere at that age.

OP, this stage is really hard but it will pass. Why not give the routine a go as you never know how he will react. Bit I'd just do it for a few days and see. To be honest. I don't think many babies of this age would comply.

No don't try to limit naps at such a young age. With both of mine I found, paradoxically, that the better they napped during the day, the better they slept at night.

I wouldn't limit naps but I would implement a gentle routine.

I found this website a good source of information.

www.preciouslittlesleep.com/are-you-keeping-baby-awake-too-long/

I had a sort of routine at that point, in that I put the baby down for a nap after he has been awake for 1.5 hours. Didn't matter what time they had woken up. I did get it out of a book (90 minute sleep solution) but it made sense and worked for my two. They were both the 'put down for a nap' type though, rather than the 'nod off anywhere' type and neither would really sleep in the car or pram which has its disadvantages.

I had one terrible nighttime sleeper and one brilliant one, but both were excellent nappers and I think it was because I didn't let them get overtired during the day.

Trouble is my baby will only sleep on me and only occasionally will carry on napping if I put him down, most oft the time he wakes up as soon as I put him down.
I'm relieved to hear most of your replies as in 'just go with the flow' as I was starting to think I was doing something wrong.

Sounds really normal at that age and far too young to purposely keep them awake. You’ll just have an over tired baby on your hands which helps no one.

Oh gosh, it is rubbish. I used to use a hot water bottle to warm the cot before putting mine down and I would put an old (dirty) t-shirt of mine over the sheet. You could buy one especially in a size large enough to put the mattress through it.

Anyway, the mix of my smell, warm sheet and letting them go to sleep in my arms but horizontal, meant I could start to slip them into the cot. We also used a grobag as soon as they were big enough to also keep them warm when transitioning to the cot. It took a while, but they got there in the end.

The other alternative is to get them to sleep in a buggy, then you can usually park them up. Just remember to unwrap them when you get in so they don't overheat, or park them in the garden. Mine again, got better at this.

I feel for you! Dc1 rarely slept I thought I would have a break down (I didn't) and that I would never recover (I did). I lived and she is now with every sleepless night. Dc2 did routine easily (same parenting strategie, different child) and it was easy be comparison. Take it easy on yourself or you can- it will get better

No, pointless at such a young age. The point of a routine is to make your life easier - if it's a struggle, don't do it, just go with the flow. We just let DD nap when she needed to - she completely dropped daytime naps by about 12/13 months, unless she was ill. On the plus side, she slept through really well, once we managed to get her to sleep at night (complete velcro baby).

Mine is not such a laughable suggestion. It’s a completely standard routine for an 3.5 month old baby. She is not a newborn any more.

It might well work for you and your baby, but some babies won’t fall neatly into a routine like that. Different personalities even from a young age is my personal view of it all. Doesn’t mean that what you are doing is any better or worse than a less strict routine.