Calling all those with bad nappers - does improving the naps really help with the night sleep?

[gummymum]

I'm not so sure now dd (15 weeks) is much better at napping but nights worse and worse.

I can only tell you that my dd's naps and nights went all over the place at about 14 wks. Now she's napping better nights seem changeable still but I'm hopeful they will improve although I will be interested to see other replies to your post.

I am absolutely certain that poor daytime sleep contributes to poor night time sleep. We have a huge problem every weekend when my stepdaughters are here. They are 11 and 13 years older than my DS, who is 14 weeks. He doesn't sleep properly because there's too much going on for him and we end up being out of the house more so he catnaps. Without fail, i pay for it at night. He's usually a great night sleeper and settles well for naps. I've recently had to start putting a bit more effort into re-settling him for longer daytime naps because he's become a lot more alert and frightened of missing something! We had a torrid time last night when our usually calm, happy, smiling DS was turned into a raving little monster at bathtime simply because he had only slept for 1 and a half hours. I am shattered today from having a very unsettled last half of the night with him.

I agree with Matana. There's no doubt that DS sleeps better at night when he's had 3 hours of naps during the day, with 2 hour gaps inbetween each one. He's currently 15 weeks and - if nap times go well (which they don't always!!) - he is almost sleeping through the night.