How much sleep should a 3mo get during the day...?

[chocciechip]

Typing with one hand while holding dd - awake and kicking - on my lap. Title asks the question. She barely slept yesterday...was happy all day - awake - then cried and grizzled from 4.30pm through to midnight. Slept ok during the night but woke for one feed. Was not crying colic style - just overtired grizzliness.

I have rocked her to sleep 3 times this am - my back is killing me and i am shattered. but she wakes and cries as soon as i put her down. I know tonight is going to be a repeat again of last night.

Shouldn't she be geting a certain amount of sleep during the day...? any ideas what i can do to induce sleep?

... actually, she's 9 weeks ... not sure why i keep thinking 3 mths

She obviously likes the motion and being close to you - have you tried a sling? Does she sleep if you take her out for a walk in the pram? Has she ever slept well during the day? If this is unusual behaviour for her then maybe it's teeth moving about (they bother them sporadically for ages before actually appearing) or developmental or she's doing a big 'grow'.

I'm a maternity nurse and by three month the babies I'm with are having the minimum of three hours sleep and the maximum five hours sleep in the 12 hour day time bracket. They will possibly be having one, two or no wakings in the night.

When I've had babies resistant to daytime sleep I set there sleep by spending a few days just holding them while they sleep (I watch TV, or computer or read), then I trial putting them down sometimes I use bouncy chair or pram for my most resistant sleepers. Then once they are predictably napping I will use the cot.

Baby I'm with at the moment is a resistant sleeper and I try and get her to have a sleep 1.5-2 hours after she's awake in the morning. She is sleeping for 45 minutes at which point I give her dummy and she'll sleep for up to an hour. And that is her routine for the rest of the day. Two hours awake, at least 1.5 hours sleep (broken) and then bottle.

My dd was a dreadful sleeper at that age. I got her into a decent pattern by either using sling or lying with her on bed at same times each day. Then gradually transitioned to leaving room, then into cot. Took a couple of months but she has been a great sleeper since. Is nearly 2 now and sleeps a solid two hours every day. Bliss.

what happens if you hold her but do not rock her, or move about? Reason I ask is I've just been reading a book that explains that babies need to cry in the arms of a parent to let out their tensions and frustrations. This helps them to be more relaxed and sleep better. The book says that things such as rocking, singing, to a baby etc etc, only procrastinate the crying and ultimately lead to a frustrated baby. I can explain more if you're interesteted, but have just been trying it with DD today. Rather than pace about for half hour or so, trying to get her to sleep, I simply let her lie in my arms when she was tired, she cried for a bit, then fell asleep in my arms something she rarely does, so I think it's true what the book says!

Well, my DD never slept much at that age. About 4 months she seemed to develop her own pattern of having 2 half hour and 1 hour nap a day. She's 6 months now and is happy enough and doesn't seem to need any more sleep. I think some babies just sleep more than others, don't worry about it.

What I did find worked if DD was tired but wouldn't sleep was taking her into our bedroom with the lights dim and lying on the bed with her.

I also found this book helpful.

Paranoidandroid - what book is that? All the research I've read says that rocking babies is an evolutionary development that ensures more rapid comforting and enables better emotional regulation - it's why we're hardwired to automatically start rocking a crying baby, even if we've never held a newborn before. Rocking them is supposed to be good for them - crying is supposed to be bad for them.