How to get baby to sleep long nap?

[Mamabear12]

How do you get your baby to regularly sleep a long nap in afternoon? My son is 3 months and is not the best sleeper during day. Usually it's short naps and I would like at least one 2 hour one. He does once in a while, but I would like more consistently!

Tips please? How do you get your baby to sleep.

A baby has a sleep cycle of around 45 minutes. If a baby can self settle when he wakes from a sleep cycle, he will go back to sleep for another cycle or two. I hear my twins stir after about 45 minutes but they go back to sleep. Try a comforter that you use only at nap and bed time, like a soft toy, muslin etc. I personally think a baby should be asleep in a dark quiet place so they go into a deep sleep rather than cat napping which makes them grumpy and over tired. The early you start helping them self settle the better.

What is your advice about early self settle? Give them they muslin cloth or comforter at all naps/bed time. What do you do when they wake? Let them cry or go and help them bck to sleep (which is not really self settle). I forget how my older daughter started napping better.mi think once she was older she just became better at sleeping. It sure how exactly! She now takes 3 hour naps :) but my 3 month son doesn't always. He is now sleeping a good nap after I kept helpi g him back to sleep.

My DS is 7m and I've noticed in last couple of weeks he naps for much longer. Wasn't sure if it was related to weaning? Sorry that doesn't really help you, but I completely understand where you are coming from

Sweatpeapods i experienced similar with my DD. I think around 6 months they are fuller from being weaned and also much more mobile. I am sorry OP, but my DD never really napped more than 25 mins any younger. Even as a newborn she would fight her sleep and not nap for long. It was hard and i tried everything, but I do think age helps.

Just keep trying! In the early days, I would be up and down the stairs all afternoon trying to get DD to sleep more than 45 mins at lunchtime, rocking her back to sleep over and over again, before finally giving up around 3pm. It's so stressful, and I felt like such a wimp for finding it stressful because she slept relatively well at night. But now, at 11 months, she's just gone back to sleep after 1hr 30 despite incredibly loud drilling next door. It improved massively once she started having lunch, I think because it's a very clear signal- lunch, very short story, then up to bed for 2 hours. Good luck!

I wouldn't leave them to cry but didn't pick them up if they were just fussing. Like shatter said, many trips up and down the stairs may be required! I would pat shush while offering the comforter. It took a while but did work eventually. Mine had a dummy from birth but we managed to get rid of them by the time they were 20 weeks.

Mine will sleep for 3 hours or even longer if I lie with her, very cuddly and warm. She's a toddler now but was the same at 3 months. I would bfeed her bk to sleep if I needed a bit more time to myself

Mummy lace, wish I could breastfeed back to sleep when he wakes! But he gets mad at my fast let down :( only thing that helps is if I pump a couple ounces out first...but if he wakes from a nap I don't want to go pump first before I go to him or he will be crying very loudly and upset by the time I am able to breastfeed back to sleep. I guess the pacifier trik will have to do! He seems to be getting better. After I started this thread he slept for 2.5 hours! A little later then I planned, but at least he did! From what I read babies should have long nap around 12 and mine seems to around 1:30/2.

My son never napped for longer than 45 mins during the day until he was about 7mo.

Now he is 13mo he just has one 1-hour nap per day free lunch. Not all babies have read the routine books which say they should have a 2 hour nap in the afternoon! Some just don't need it (although I would bloody love a 2 hour rest - no chance with my DS!)

The long nap thing was the one part of babydom I was completely thrown by.
My DS never napped longer than 45 minutes until he turned 1!
That was despite all the cuddling, rocking, singing, stroking, rubbing, comforters, feeding and self-settling attempts in the world.

Some babies just don't do long naps (f*ck you Gina Ford) and if I'd known that I'd not have got into such a tizzy about it.