Daytime naps

[friedrice]

My little girl is 10 weeks old. She sleeps beautifully at night, but daytime naps are an issue. I've recently succeeeded in getting her to sleep for an hour and half or so, but only on me and then (if I transfer her carefully enough) in her car seat. Otherwise, she takes short (15-25 minute) naos on me, after a feed, or in her sling when we go out. How does this sound to you? I only know older babies who have set nap times and they sleep in their cot. The moment I pop mine into her basket she wakes up! Is it ok for her to sleep in her carseat? Thanks.

Sounds totally normal - pram (flat) or sling is probably better than the carseat though I reckon. My ds didn't start sleeping regularly and in a cot til nearer 6 months.

You might be able to get her to nap longer by going to bed with her, or feeding her back to sleep whenever she stirs. I always aimed for 1 good, long nap (over an hour) a day by whatever means necessary, then let ds cat nap other times.

Sounds fine. An hour and a half is OK. 10 weeks is pretty small and nap times can be a bit up and down. If she sleeps well all night I suppose she won't be asleep all day as well. Try to provide quiet times morning and afternoon even if she doesn't go to sleep. If she likes motion to get to sleep, provide motion. If she likes the sling, use the sling. If she likes the car seat, use that. (I remember driving DS round the block once just to get him to go to sleep!!) Eventually she'll probably settle into two or three longer naps, find her own rhythm.

It is very normal for young babies to wake at the 30 min mark, the trick is to get them over that hump. I used to pre-empt it, rush up and rub their backs until they got into the habit of getting through that bit. Then 30mins can magically turn into 2-3hrs...

my DD is 18 weeks and still only naps for 30-45mins at a time but she sleeps all night so I'm not too bothered. From what I've read, it's the length of their sleep cycle and when they get to 6 months or so they'll naturally go longer. I'm trying to continue enjoying my baby and resist the urge to make her sleep longer/at set times etc. I occasionally take her upstairs and put her down for the nap in her crib but most times I just let her sleep on me. It's only half an hour and she won't be this tiny forever. I might not get to have another baby and even if I do, I won't be able to indulge like this with an older one to look after as well so I'm just enjoying. I love my DD so much, almost makes me want to wake her up for a cuddle - but not quite

My DD is 14w and we're having this problem, both the short naps and the 'sleep on someone' part. I didn't really mind before but this past week its started to become obvious that she really needs a long, deep sleep during the day. I'm going to start doing what treads says and try and get her through that 30 min light-to-deep sleep transition. I've tried once or twice when she is sleeping on me (basically clamping her quite tight when she starts to stir) and it looks as though it will work. However at 10w is it definitely still a good excuse to either have a nap, watch a film or curl up in bed with a good book, all while your dd sleeps on you. Honestly, because of that I have read more in the past 14w than I did my entire pregnancy!

So all normal

Re sleeping in the cot, have you tried putting her down about 15 mins or so before she would normally go to sleep, so before she is actually tired? I didn't think DD would sleep in her cot, even though she self-settles at night, but discovered that if she is calming down (so with 5 mins or so quiet time before) and then put in her cot awake and swaddled, she goes off to sleep after a while and with little crying. However the 30 min problem is a big issue when she's in her cot so I don't do it much - I'll attack the two problems together! - but I am starting to do it so she gets used to napping in her cot in the daytime as well as on me or in her pushchair.

Good luck!

Dd1 only had 45 min naps til she was nearly one. Then, as if by magic they became 2-3hour jobs.

Agree with other posters that babies often do this - and if she's sleeping well at night, you may just have a child who doesn't need a huge amount of sleep overall and is getting the balance right between day and night. Remember that they are all different (you'll hear this a lot over the next year!) so if your child doesn't nap as much or as often as your friend's, it doesn't mean there is anything wrong. Good nightime sleep is a good indicator of things in the day being good as well.