Lunchtime nap and naps in general

[DeeBeee]

DS is 16wo. He never ever naps for longer than 40 mins, usually between 30 and 40 mins. It looks to me like this is the length of his sleep cycle and he only ever naps for one.

I keep reading that babies usually nap for a couple of hours at lunchtime, and should be encouraged to do that. I can't get him to do it, even when he is clearly tired upon waking, he still does not go back to sleep.

Have any of you experienced this with your babies, and does it get better? I don't know if I should be doing something to teach him to nap longer (what??) or just waiting for him to get older and start sleeping longer?

The only thing that worked with DS was waiting until he got a bit older (sorry).

He is 21 months now, but from memory he had 3 x 30-40 min naps until about 6 months, then 2 x 40 minute naps until he was about 12 months, and then dropped to one long lunchtime nap, and he now sleeps for between 1.5 and 2 hours at lunchtime. I never thought it would happen though.

Your DS will get there when he is ready, but it is frustrating. The only way I used to get DS to take a longer nap (e.g. if he seemed really really in need of one) was to walk... and walk.... and walk.

DeeBeee - Short naps are very common at that age. Its a developmental thing - babies first of all learn to differentiate night from day, then start to sleep for one longer stretch at night & then they start to structure some regular naps, typically a regular morning nap develops first. While this happens naps are typically short & because they come into a light sleep at 40-45mins and may still have a strong moro reflex, they can startle/rouse very easily. By around age 6 months most babies will start to take longer naps & you may find that this is when he starts to take 2 naps per day.

In the mean time, you can just get on with your day as best you can, or if you feel he is still tired when he wakes you could try to resettle him, or perhaps you could try to stop him waking at the end of the sleep cycle by using techniques such as holding through the jolts (basically you apply pressure to stop his reflex from startling him awake) or you can use wake to sleep, to gently rouse (but not fully wake) him before the end of the sleep cycle, and he should pass into another sleep cycle without waking up.

One other thing to add though, is that short naps can also occur as a result of overtiredness, so if your baby stays awake for more than 2hrs between naps at this age, I would suggest trying to get him down a little sooner & see if that helps.

HTH.x

Just to add my sympathies here - both my two did this until at least 6 months. The best advice I was given was to put them down for a sleep every 90 mins from when they wake up (up until about 5-6 months) to stop them getting overtired.

They will start napping longer eventually honestly.....!

LO is 15 weeks old. I'll give you a quick run-down of his naps.

Wakes between 6am and 7am.
9am - down for nap
9.30 am - awake (I don't let him sleep past 9.30am or for longer than 30 minutes)
11:30am (or two hours since he woke up) down for next nap. He'll normally wake after 30 minutes, but I'm at ready with dummy\lullaby machine and go straight in at the first noise. Settled within 2 minutes.
2pm - wake up. I don't let him sleep past 2pm, or longer than 2.5 hours.
4pm - normally out in buggy for a walk or lying on sofa! He'll usually have two 'cat-naps' between 4pm and 5pm. Don't let him sleep past 5pm.
5pm-7pm - bedtime routine.
7pm - into bed, normally asleep by 7.30pm.

His lunchtime nap is VERY important - I end up with a very grouchy baby if he doesn't get at least two hours in the middle of the day. If he wakes after 30 minutes at lunchtime and won't go back to sleep, I'll go to bed with him. Sometimes I sleep, sometimes I just lie awake!
To begin with, I used to get annoyed if I had to go to bed with him (because I wanted time to myself/had things to do), but I've now realised that if he sleeps well for those two hours, then he's normally happy to entertain himself during the afternoon and I actually get more stuff done!

Yep common. DD only napped longer once I started putting her on her tummy (5 months and she could roll both ways). DS took a bit longer.

Just one of those things! Easy babies nap for hours and sleep through the night. Most babies don't

DS is 16 weeks with the same issue. 40-45 mins tops. I spent last week making more of an effort with the lunchtime nap to see if I could extend it. Managed up get him to sleep for 1.5-2 hrs this week with a variety of methods.

Currently upstairs in bed with him as he woke after 40mins in his cot but will drop back off if I'm with him. Not practical long term but hoping if he gets into the habit it will just happen.

Also tried putting him down in the buggy & pushing him just before the usual wake up time, also worked. Did sshh patting which was hit & miss.

Have realised I probably go in to quick when he wakes. He just seems so wide awake but I can get him back off with a bit of effort. Going to persist for another week or two. I do suspect he will just start doing it though...

If you keep making sure that baby is asleep for 2 hours at the same time for about 10-14 days, it should become a habit for his internal clock. So just keep persisting!

My advIce would be just work with the 30 minute naps until he naturally outgrows this phase. It will drive you mad trying to find ways to get them to sleep longer, or 'fix' the problem. I've been there done it and spent far too much time stressing about it, when in retrospect I realise it's just a phase you can do little about.

I'm in the same boat, I'm afraid. It's exhausting, isn't it? You are constantly watching them and/or the clock in a vain attempt to time naps so you don't end up with a bawling overtired baby. And somehow you always do and it makes you feel like such a failure.

And meanwhile, your friends all have perfect Gina Ford babies who have to be woken from naps and never cry. Bah!

I realise this isn't helpful, but at least you know you're not alone!

Hi- DS slept a max30 min nap until he was about 9mo. I've spent a lot of time trying different things to get him to settle again past his first sleep cycle but nothing worked. I cousin watch the clock and his eyes would spring open right on 30min. He's 11 mo now and did start to sleep longer in the mornings when he was about 9.5 months old. I just had to make sure he got enough naps in each day when he was younger to try and prevent too much over tiredness. He used to need a nap every two hours when younger and that changed to three naps then two naps as he got older.

I kept hearing and reading about these kids who sleep 2 plus hours per nap and used to wonder what was going on....

Don't try to do too much either... I just tried to get one thing done per nap unless we were out and about... So shower in the morning... Or hang washing .... Or quickly cook something. There was no time for mummy to nap as well..... Even though I felt like I needed to.

Hang in there. It's hard work but I think they do get there...

SarryB_that's what I'm hoping for...no idea if it will happen though! He did snooze for 2.5 hrs today so I guess it's going in the right direction

That sounds good - I don't care where he sleeps during those 2 hours, in his buggy, on the bed, in the bed with me, in his sling while I lay on couch watching daytime tv, in his own cot...as long as he sleeps!

Today for example, we went to bed together. After an hour he woke (I think he was too hot), I tried for 15 minutes to get him to sleep, didn't work! So I popped him in the buggy and did a 15 minute power walk. He was asleep within about 3 minutes and continued to sleep when we got home for another hour.

I've certainly noticed that when he sleeps well at lunchtime, he sleeps well that night.

I noticed the same thing too re: sleeping better at night. It was one of my reasons for trying it as I know he's not getting enough sleep with these crap naps & he's then waking more often at night. He was only up once last night which is a vast improvement.

I don't mind where he sleeps either. Might get a cover for the buggy as he struggled when we were out today & was cranky all afternoon