6mo naps?!

[ToonLass]

Hi, my DD will be 6 months in a couple weeks, and for the last couple months I can't get her to nap more than 30 minutes at a time.

She currently has 4 x 30min naps during the day. She is usually asleep by 7pm, sometimes earlier. And gets up 2-3 times during the night for a feed, and up for the day between 5.30 - 7am.

I put her in her cot for a nap, two hours after she has woken from her previous one. She sucks my pinky to go to sleep and although protests slightly, is usually asleep within 5 mins. However, almost to the very minute, she'll be awake after 30 mins and is often grumpy as still tired!

I try and get her back to sleep but she ends up getting upset. If we are in the pram/car she will occasionally sleep longer..but these occurrences are getting fewer and fewer.

How can I encourage her to take longer naps - or is it something that will just 'happen'?.

Oh, she's ebf and hasn't started solids yet.

Thanks, any advice welcome :)

Mine was also a catnapper exactly like that.

At 6 months he was wanting to go longer between naps (happy awake for 3 hours) so we dropped to two naps and they started lasting about an hour and a quarter each. I didn't do anything other than increase his awake time and drop a nap.

DS was like this at 6 months. He's just naturally fallen into a pattern over the last few months where he sleeps longer.

Now at 9 months he has a 2 hour nap in the morning and an hour or so in the afternoon.

I didn't do anything really he just stated doing it.

Thanks, that's reassuring

It's just difficult not having much time to do things in the day - long gone are they days she would sleep for 3 hours at a time during the day and my house was immaculate and washing up to date!

We do 2 hours awake time just now but tbh that's pushing it a bit even now sometimes. I'll just follow her lead.

DD was exactly the same and she just changed to having 2 longer naps when she was about 9 months. I sympathise though, I never got anything done!

I know what you mean about not having time to do anything. Up til 6 months all DS's naps were on me as well so I literally did nothing ever! Well I got through a fair few box sets! Getting him to nap in his cot, and then the naps getting longer have changed my life

When she occasionally has a longer nap she is SO happy when she wakes up. She obviously needs the sleep, but just seems unable to do more than the 30 mins

Mu DD just changed from short frequent naps, just like that. She just one day slept for double the time she normally did in the morning and so was awake longer between naps and slept longer again at the next nap. She did it herself at 5 months.

You talk of getting nothing done. My problem now is not being able to leave the house! Aside from school runs at 9am and 3pm, my only window of opportunity to leave the house with DD is at about 11.30 to 12.45pm, after morning nap but back for afternoon nap. She doesn't sleep as well in the caresat or pram. I await her dropping the morning nap so we can start going out in the mornings.

Toon lass, I could have written your original post! We are in the same position. I tried resettling her for her midday nap for 4 days in a row, she got upset every time but relented after about 20mins. I gave up after those 4 days as I didn't have the time whilst being out and about with the pram. It didn't make any difference and she still does the same 30 mins and ping!

Hoping she will get there herself... Sooner rather than later. Stretching the time doesn't help either. It just makes her even more grumpy when she wakes up. Babies eh?

My baby too! He's also 6 mo. 3/4 short naps a day. He goes down for these no problem which is nice. He wakes up after 25/35 mins and is wide awake, happy and chatty.

I worked really hard a few weeks ago to get him to do one longer nap at lunch, by persisting with settling back to sleep after he initially woke up. It's generally now quite easy to do, a few mins of cuddling and his dummy in a dark quiet room and he'd go back off sleep for up to 2.5 hrs. We'd have to wake him!!

It wasn't worth the hassle. He began waking at night and being wide awake! Normally he wakes and a quick cuddle or feed sends him back off. I assume he didn't need the sleep.

I have just sort of accepted it now. I think he'll eventually adjust. Might try again in a few weeks/months.

They need about 3 hrs daytime sleep when they are this age. He gets about 2.5 I guess. My son generally gets 12hrs at night as he rarely wakes before 6. So added up he does get a fair bit.

It's so hard though, and I feel your pain! I never got anything done either! Even when he was asleep I was terrified of doing anything in case I woke him!

Reading your post, I can see the pros and cons Fate... Hmmm. What's best eh?

It's difficult indeed.

I naively assumed I would have a baby who loved to sleep, as both me and OH do.

That'll teach me!

Euch, it's taken an hour (and counting) to try get my lo to sleep. She's now an hour over due her nap and hysterical if I take my pinky out her mouth (which she is also biting with razor sharp teeth!)

And I bet she STILL only sleeps for 30 mins! ??

She slept for 20 mins. Didn't even have time to wSh the conditioner out of my hair!