20 week old baby and napping

[jazzer2012]

Hi all, am new to this site, so please correct me if I am doing anything wrong!
My question is about napping. My little girl is 20 weeks. I put her down to sleep between 7 - 7:30 p.m. She normally has no problem in going off to sleep, no protests etc. Between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. she normally wakes up for a couple of feeds although it does vary, sometimes 11 pm 4 am and then around 6 am but seems to be waking less now, i.e. the other day she slept from 7 p.m. till 4 a.m. She has no problem in going back to sleep after feeds (am breastfeeding) However I can't get her to nap during the day. Should I be worried? The most she naps during the day are 1 or 2 small ten minute naps, normally after feeds and she has to be on me to nap. If I try to put her down in her cot she protests. I have tried leaving her there for a while and will let her cry a little bit but, obviously, if she is really not happy I pick her up. She will sleep in car if we go out and sometimes in pram if we go out for a walk. However, sometimes on a walk it can take around 35 minutes for her to go to sleep. Does any other mums have similar problems? Any solutions would be appreciated! Some of my mums friends babies have like a couple of two hour naps during day! Worried she will become overtired although she does appear quite happy most of the time.

Unfortunately some babies are just not much into napping. (how rude!) If she's happy and she sleeps well at night I wouldn't worry at all. It's just a pain for you but she'll be absolutely fine.

I found that at that age, I needed to put DS down for his nap before he was tired, rather than wait until he was tired, because sometimes he'd get overtired and this really seemed to mean he struggeld going to sleep. It may sound counter-intuitive and certainly doesn't work now that he is older but definitely did pre-12 months! I found this article which you may find helpful.

So basically I'd recommend routinely keeping an eye on how long baby has been awake for and putting them down, say, after they have been awake 1.5 - 2 hours depending on age, even if not showing signs of tiredness. After a feed if you'd like is fine - can help with your routine - and dark, warm room with blankets and teddies also adds to routine sleep environment. DS even likes soft music. If out on a walk, found that covering up the pushchair to close out light and distractions worked wonders - DS wouldn't sleep in pushchair otherwise!

I have problems with naps and my baby (10 weeks old). Like you she'll only sleep on me for naps. I get her to sleep by using a technique by Anna Wahlgren called buffning (is swedish). Basically you rub/pat the bottom to give a gentle swinging-like motion to a steady 1,2,3,4 beat. Then you pat the back on the fourth beat. Also having a dummy in the mouth helps. It bloody kills my arms and three hands are needed - but it works in minutes! Then we transfer to her cot or pram for the nap. We swear by it now.

www.annawahlgren.com/index.php/view/svenska/shn-filmklipp-pa-buffning
Click on 'Länk till filmklippet'

But unlike your baby, ours gets VERY grumpy without a nap. So if your little one is okay without longer naps then count yourself lucky.

My friend's baby was v. like yours at that age - beginning to reduce the night waking, but not sleeping much during the day. By seven months she was sleeping 7.30/8.00pm to 7.00, so you could be lucky.

If she's not cranky with only a couple of short naps, then I'd say she's fine as she is.

Congratulations by the way!

Thanks for all your replies. The wierd thing is she has actually started to nap even though I haven't really changed any thing I do! Capecath, I read the article, thank you for that, and I know what you mean about trying to put them down before they get overtired, overtiredness = very cranky! Am happy she is now sleeping through the night also! I am just praying it will last. Teething next I suppose!