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Parenting

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Original poster

Sleep Help Needed!

17 replies

user1475740656 · 12/09/2017 09:40

Hi All,
Apologies for the long message in advance..
I have a 5 month old little girl who isn't the best sleeper.. Since birth she has only ever taken 30 minute naps but thankfully settled quickly after a feed in the middle of night. Since 3 months we have put her to bed drowsy but still takes between 1 -20+ minutes to settle (with us there/ coming back for reassurance) We do not pick her back up but it doesn't seem to be improving..
I'm now wondering two things:
What can I do to extend her naps? I've tried various things but doesn't seem to work
She seems to wake at exactly the same times - 9pm, 1am & 4am. We gave her a 4 oz bottle of breastmilk Sun night and 6 oz last night, both times she woke between 9-9.30 so I'm not sure she is truly hungry? I don't mind the 1am & 4am feeds but 9pm seems so early when she goes to bed half 6ish
Thanks x

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Changerofname987654321 · 12/09/2017 09:46

To be honest that sounds like great sleep for a 5 month old baby.

Original poster

user1475740656 · 12/09/2017 11:54

Really? Everyone always tells me she should be sleeping 1hr + for morning and lunch naps? Maybe I'm expecting too much from this age?
Also, is 6 oz too much to be feeding in one sitting? I'm paranoid about overfeeding!! x

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WhiteCat1704 · 14/09/2017 11:07

My DS only took 20 minute naps till he was about 6 months old. He woke up every 1.5/2hrs every night too. People were telling me "sleep when he sleeps" and I just wanted to cry. He was breast fed so don't know how much he took.

He started sleeping a bit better when he went to his room at 6 months- woke up every 3hrs or and his naps also very gradually extended.

I think it was around 8/9 months he had a routine of 2x2hrs naps.
He is almost 2 now and has one 2/3hr nap during the day. He still doesn't regularly sleep through..wakes 2wice per night (between 6pm-6am) for a bottle..sometimes it will be only once..

It's all a process...it gets better..all babies are different and your has short naps at the moment. It will change. Don't listen to ppl saying what DD "should" be doing..Hang in there!

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Original poster

user1475740656 · 14/09/2017 19:29

Thank you, That gives me some hope!
It was only a couple of weeks ago she was waking 4/5 times a night so I'm happy to be down to 2 wakes but think I'm still recovering. And yes it frustrates me that people say sleep when they do when it's only 30 mins if you can even get them to nap!
I will try not to stress about it as much and go with the flow, hopefully she will extend naturally as your DS did.. thanks again X

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seven201 · 14/09/2017 22:11

My daughter is 15 months now and has always been shit at naps. Until she was about 8 months it was only ever 5-20 minute ones. She now has one 40minute one generally, but is woken up by the slightest noise and then will not settle again. She mostly sleeps through now though. I was always looking forward to the long nap phase but it never arrived. I used to hate it when my friends would tell me about how their dc had just woken up after a 2 1/2hr nap. Imagine what you could do in 2 1/2 hours!!! I am bitter and jealous. All children are different. I read in a book about how you should try and be present at the end of a sleep cycle so the baby could sleepy wake up, see you're there and feel reassured enough to drop back off to sleep. Didn't work for me but it might for you. I wish I'd been a bit less wound up about it and just accepted it more. Good luck.

ODog · 15/09/2017 21:43

Sounds on the good end of normal to me. Pretty sure mine still had 3/4 naps a day at that age. Maybe try more frequent naps rather than longer ones. They seemed to extend naps once they naturally dropped to 2 which from memory was around 9mo. Also remember that all babies are different and many do not follow the text book napping/sleeping guidelines and that is just fine if it works for them.

ODog · 15/09/2017 21:47

Will she sleep longer if she is on your chest. Mine generally did at that age as I could jiggle them a bit if they stirred. Didn't get anything done but I did get a rest and lovely cuddles. Less so wth DD as toddler DS was awake but I could usually co-ordinate a simultaneous nap at some point. The other times she would sleep in a sling. Same concept and it means you can get shit done.

chloechloe · 16/09/2017 14:10

Hi there! I would say the night wakings are pretty good at that age.

Re the cat naps, both of my children would only ever nap for 30 min. With my first I drove myself insane as every book said she should be having two long naps and a short 3rd cat nap at that age! But some babies simply can't link their sleep cycles until after 6 months. I became much happier when I just accepted it and made an effort to put her down regularly, so she was having 5-6 x 30 min naps a day.

My first suddenly started extending her naps by herself at 8 months. My second is now 9 months and for the past two months has been sleeping longer but with a lot of help. As soon as I hear her stirring I race in, pick her up, pop the dummy back in and hold her for 10-15 min (when she goes through another light sleep phase). I then put her down and she'll sleep for 75min in total. I also found she will sleep for over an hour in the sling but only for the first nap of the day.

You could try resettling after 30 min but if it doesn't work, just don't stress about it and try again in another month or so.

If you need a rest yourself, try lying down with her. I know it seems pointless when she only sleeps for 30min but I've found there is some benefit in just lying down in a dark room with your eyes closed for half an hour!

Original poster

user1475740656 · 16/09/2017 17:59

Thanks all. I will def try letting her sleep on me and see if she has longer, I don't worry so much about getting things done anymore as long as she's getting a good rest! It gets exhausting entertaining her as she's quite clingy at the moment and only doing 3x30mins so it's a long day..
She's pretty heavy so will keep the sling as a back-up if sleeping on me doesn't work!
I know I need to stop stressing and accept that she must be getting enough as she's generally a very happy baby, and to try enjoy her more as she is Def growing up very quickly! X

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Original poster

user1475740656 · 16/09/2017 18:01

I'll also try resettling but maybe limit 5-10m and if she hasn't gone back to sleep get her up.. the pram is my best friend as she is currently fighting every nap!!

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Landy10 · 16/09/2017 18:08

Do you have her nap in the cot? Mine would only sleep 30 mins in cot but if I put them in the pram they would sleep longer. Sometimes I went out walking with them and other times I just pushed the pram round the kitchen. I would time when they went to sleep and then push again after about 32 mins as they always woke at 35 mins unless being moved. Sometimes I'd get close to 2 hours with 2 of them in the same pram.
At 6 months it was like a switch flicked and they would only nap in Cot. No more pram naps which is good and bad.

Original poster

user1475740656 · 16/09/2017 19:20

She sleeps the same in her cot as she does in the buggy, might get the odd 45 minutes out of her but otherwise you could time the 30 minutes! I have occasionally managed to get her to nap longer but seems to be timing with light and deep sleep that I haven't mastered. Getting her to sleep in the pram is definitely easier though.. I am worried about sleep props though, is she still to young to worry about this? X

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Landy10 · 16/09/2017 19:55

Personally I started my routine with them in the pram as I went for the easier option. My daughter stopped sleeping well in the pram at 6 months and she was fine then going in the cot. My son (they are twins) stopped being a good pram sleeper at 7 months and I moved him to cot. He was a bit more problematic to start and I used to have to time going into his room and hold his back after x mins otherwise he would wake. They are 10 months and naps are so easy now.

I did worry about them sleeping in the pram forever but it didn't happen. Sometimes I now wish they would sleep in the pram so I could go out more. I feel like I spend an awful lot of time in my house! But I'd rather that than have tired, whinging babies.

INeedNewShoes · 16/09/2017 20:00

My baby is 19 weeks and I recently clocked that I was disrupting her daytime naps as she seems to need a quieter environment for sleep now.

I always make sure DD is well fed before a nap and then try to put her somewhere quiet downstairs in a room that I don't need to do any jobs that might disturb her.

Prior to this all her daytime naps were having been shuggied to sleep in the pram but this doesn't lead to long naps now for some reason.

chloechloe · 16/09/2017 21:47

I wouldn't worry about sleep props at this stage - it's better to just make sure she's having regular naps and getting her to sleep as easily as possible. With DD1 she pretty much had all naps in the pram - I got used to timing it so well that i would just need to push her round the block once so she fell asleep and then leave her outside on the terrace (our garden is enclosed so no risk of her being taken!). When she started to lengthen her naps I started putting her in the cot for some of her naps. She's now 2.5 and sleeps like the dead for 1.5 to 3 hours in her cot after lunch!

Original poster

user1475740656 · 17/09/2017 07:11

Thank you! I will try to go with the flow for now and hope she grows out of it like the majority seem to have, and just get her to sleep however I can.. and the upside the dog will end up with lots of walks lol x

OP posts:

ODog · 17/09/2017 08:06

Please don't worry about sleep props. I used all the props in the world. It's not forever. They won't need it forever. Give yourself a break and do what works.

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