6 month old sleeping too much

[Midwinter89]

A friend and I both have 6 months old and were ntalking about their development, routines etc. Apparently her baby sleeps for 21 hours out of 24 (3x 3hr naps and then a long stretch overnight).

I know it varies, but compared to mine and other babies I know this seemed like a massive amount of time asleep. I didn’t say anything to her (just joked that it’s lovely to get a nights sleep) but I have been worrying about it a bit. Did anyone else have a baby that slept so much and was everything alright?

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Seems a bit odd to me

My son has always loved his sleep. But he never slept that much at 6 months. That's more than most newborns sleep! Definitely weird and I'd be worried there was some underlying cause.

I don’t know if I should bring up my concern with her it if it would seem critical. We are both FTM so learning as we go, she definitely seems to think it’s normal (and that my baby is awake too much)

Really difficult but I think I would say something, I know normal can vary but that does seem a lot.
I thought my 7 month old slept well at around 14 hours a day

A friend of mine had a baby that slept loads. She used to say she barely saw him
as he was always in his cot flat out. He’s 18 now and seems perfectly fine although very laid back. She had a second one a year later who hardly slept so that was a bit of a shock.

That said, if your friend’s baby really is sleeping that much then it probably is worth a mention although surely even she can see it’s usual?

That’s way too much sleep, really weird. Is she perhaps exaggerating? Became if he wakes at 6, he’d sleep 7-10am, then be awake until 11, then sleep 11-2pm, awake until 3, then sleep 4-7pm, then back down for the night at 8pm…

Only 3 hours to fit in play, activities, first bits of weaning, walks in the pram, bath, bedtime routine…

I’d definitely say something or encourage her to speak to a health visitor; they would definitely be taken aback hearing that, surely?!

I don’t know if she could have unknowingly exaggerated when she listed the times or made an error, it was only later that I did the maths and worked out the baby would only be awake 3 hrs.

She says she hasn’t been to any baby groups or classes because her baby would just sleep through. I’ve seen lots of pictures of her playing and laughing and it doesn’t look like there’s a development problem.

I wondered if it was a food coma as baby is formula fed 4 times in 24 hrs and has allot of formula in one go, lots to digest?

I think it just differs. My first slept 12 hours and had 2x 3 hour naps plus one other nap that could vary in time. This lasted until she was about 18 months. Life was good lol

4 feeds in 24 hours sounds fine for a 6 month old (maybe even too few? Idk, I breastfed, maybe a formula mum can correct me there!) but how much is she fed each time?

My instinct says that babies start becoming more distracted and alert at about 4 months, wanting to explore and play - for her baby to keep sleeping so much sounds at odds with expected development.

What did she specifically say about the sleep? That she sleeps 21 out of 24 hours? How does baby sleep - pram, arms, cot, sling? What does the mother do all day? I’m finding this really curious!

DS2 needed a lot of sleep. In fact, at 12m was still struggling to be awake longer than 1.5 hours. It was hard work.

Now, at 22m he's dropped his sleep massively. Still sleeps well overnight and has a nap in the afternoon but nowhere near the sleep he did need. He's not a million miles away from giving up his nap whereas some children will still nap through to preschool - and it's not unheard of for the odd reception child to have a nap either.

Honestly, you do your child, let her do hers and don't waste your energy "worrying" about it.

At the end of the day, if that's what baby needs, it's what they need - it's not like she can just cut it down because it's "not normal".

Stay awake longer than 1.5 hours at a time that should read, not 1.5 hours in a day 😂