Should I be stressing about catnapping DD?

[RedRose27]

My DD is 17 weeks old. Her daytime sleep has been terrible since she was about 9 weeks old and discovered how interesting the world is.

Up until last week I could get her to nap about 4 times a day, and she would sleep for 40 minutes at a time. You could set your clock by her.

Since last Wednesday, for some reason her sleep time has reduced from 40 mins to 30 mins! I have no idea why! I thought it was supposed to get longer! So even if I can get her to nap 4 times a day, and sometimes it's only 3 naps a day, she's only getting 90 mins to 2 hours of daytime sleep.

I've read so much, some books saying she's not tired enough, others saying she's overtired, others about an undertired/overtired loop... I don't know where to go from here.

BUT I have such a happy little girl, who is thriving, putting on weight on the perfect curve for her centile, is in to everything, loves company, is an absolute joy, and wakes from her naps with a smiling face... So should I even be stressing about it?!

If it's not upsetting you or her, don't stress about it! I have limited experience (1 child) but everything - especially sleep related - is just a phase, she won't settle down into a more normal routine for months yet. Go with the flow, it's so much less stressful at this age than trying to force it.

No you shouldn't be stressing.

I sent myself mad worrying about my dd, she would only ever nap for 45 mins at a time. Se was also thriving and very happy. Then out of the blue when she was 1, she started sleeping for an hour and a half. This was when she started having a nap around 11am and a second shorter nap of around 45 mins at about 3pm. It was so sudden. She's now 2.5 and sleeps great at night and also naps still for around an hour to hour and half around 1.45. She's happy, very bright and great fun. Don't stress ??

I sent myself mad worrying about my dd, she would only ever nap for 45 mins at a time. Se was also thriving and very happy. Then out of the blue when she was 1, she started sleeping for an hour and a half. This was when she started having a nap around 11am and a second shorter nap of around 45 mins at about 3pm. It was so sudden. She's now 2.5 and sleeps great at night and also naps still for around an hour to hour and half around 1.45. She's happy, very bright and great fun. Don't stress

I stressed and overanalysed my DSs incessant 30-40 minute naps for 6 months continually and then one day out of the blue he just started sleeping for an hour and a quarter.

I did nothing different. He got there in his own sweet time.

Next time round I will not stress about naps - you can't control them and if you have a catnapper it's not your fault.

It is bloody hard work though!

I have the same !! 17 weeks and suddenly has switched to 30 min naps... Then she is smily and happy for a whole but quickly turns to grumpy and yawning about 30-45 mins after waking up. I know she is tired and needs to sleep longer but I guess there's a reason... The 4 month sleep regression thing ? She's also started waking at 5am and 6am since the clocks went back arrrrg. It such a long and tiring day when she only has lots of short naps... Today I put her down every hour for a 30min nap which seemed like a ridiculous amount of naps. But on Sunday she randomly did 2 naps of 1.5 hours each!?! I didn't do anything differently I don't think... Temp was the same in her room etc. so I know she can sleep longer but why is she not doing it when she's so tired she can hardly make it through 1 hour of wake time without getting ratty...???

eepieits so hard isn't it!
I decided on Monday to do anything to maximise her sleep time, so I walked and walked both days so far and she's had an hour sleep each time in the pram. She also slept for an hour with me holding her.
So she can do it too! But I suspect our issue comes from me rocking her to sleep, so when she comes in to light sleep and she's not in my arms she jolts awake. Though not sure how to combat that without creating an overtired baby...

Yesterday she had nearly 3 hours of daytime sleep, but we just had a terrible night, with 5 wakings, the night before was only 1.
sigh

Another recovering catnapper here- first sleep was almost always 45 mins, all subsequent naps 30 mins. Very lively, happy baby throughout.

At 6 months she's just starting to occasionally go for 1-1.5 hours at a time. It is heavenly.

There is hope!

Just another one to say don't worry. Dc is still very young and they usually sort themselves out. My ds is 10.5 mo and is only now starting to nap for longer than 40 mins! Think a lot of babies tend to go longer before then though. I found things improved once we were down to 2 naps a day x

My 16 week old has suddenly started to refuse naps altogether, his eyes just don't close anymore! If they do it's for a very short time and I have to be holding him or he's being pushed in the buggy! I'm at a loss about what to do, I'm spending the best part of every day trying to get him to nap with no real success! Hoping this is just a phase as I have a very over-tired little boy although (touch wood) his night sleep is pretty good.

babybaby my ds napped on me for first 9 months, only way to get him to relax and flipping sleep! He now naps in his pram (even in the house) as I can rock him to sleep and after about a month of this he seems to have got a taste for it and now naturally is sleeping longer. I'd love it if he would nap in cot but he's way too active to put up with being put in there during the day, he'd never settle. I reckon just get the naps done however you can - I spent more energy sorting the night sleep and ds has always been pretty good on that. Naps only last for a few years tops so I'm just muddling through however I can - especially as they seem to change habit and routines every few months anyway!

Thanks hoggle and it's great to hear how little ones change as they get older. I need to keep reminding myself nothing is forever and like you say they only need naps for a few years anyway. If I think back to 6-8 weeks ago, my LO would only nap in a sling, that has since stopped working....at the time I had visions of carrying a 2 year old in a sling for naps haha!

At 17 weeks you can try and space the feeds to four hourly with a nap every two hours or so, ideally.

Look at shush pat to stop the rocking to sleep.