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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Daytime nap success, but should I wake him?

7 replies

gretagrape · 09/09/2013 16:30

Hi all. Well, finally at the age of 5.5mo I'm starting to have success with daytime naps - today is the second day running that he has slept for 1.5hrs in the afternoon (usually 45mins if I'm lucky) and today he even went back to sleep by himself after being woken by the phone.

I am elated that this has happened and feel really stupid for asking this, but should I wake him after a certain time? I'm worried now that this might confuse him and affect his night sleep which has already been a bit crap for the last couple of weeks due to him rolling onto his tummy constantly but not being able to get back again (loads of floor time in the day hasn't helped - he can roll like bloody Beth Tweddle in the lounge, but in the cot he gets stuck because of the lack of room I think!).

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nextphase · 09/09/2013 19:43

I'd always leave mine if they slept for more than the standard 45 mins!

Apparently day time sleep leads to night time sleep. Mine never stuck at it for long enough for me to notice a difference!

What did you do?

WillSingForCake · 09/09/2013 19:59

I wouldn't wake him. Give it a few weeks and see if it affects his nighttime sleep. My DD used to sleep better at nights if she'd napped well in the day, so long nap doesn't necessarily mean less sleep at night.

Original poster

gretagrape · 10/09/2013 07:44

He woke up at 4.45pm so I guess hunger won't make him sleep much past his normal feed time anyway. So it just meant there was less of a gap between that feed and his 7pm one than normal.
Thanks. I shall leave him be and enjoy the prospect of being able to actually finish a task that I start!

OP posts:

u32ng · 15/09/2013 20:50

DS is now 7m and I used to agonise over waking him from naps as well.

In the end I learned to trust him to sleep & wake when he was done, and only woke him in exceptional circumstances. I learned the hard way that if I woke him up before he woke himself he was often a total grump & then did a lot of gurning after that because he was still tired.

I would let your LO sleep & if his sleep started to cause major problems then you might want to reconsider the not waking.

brightonbythesea · 15/09/2013 21:32

let him sleep if he is going for longer. unless you start getting early waking or prolonged night wakings then a little baby like him should sleep a good few hours in the day. sleep begets sleep. enjoy!

Jinty64 · 15/09/2013 21:44

I never woke mine and ds1 could nap for 3.5 hours in the afternoon. Bliss!

stowsettler · 16/09/2013 09:50

DD, 6.5 months, can recharge after a 10min catnap and go another 2 hours before finally giving in to sleep again. Also sleeping after 4pm definitely affects her night time sleep. I uesd to be of the view that 'sleep begets sleep' but have learned that this isn't really the case with her.
Different strokes for different folks. I really wish she'd sleep more in the day

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