can someone restore some order to a chaotic nap schedule...PLEASE!

[cruisemum1]

ds 7.5 mths old. recently started sleeping through night but i have no idea where we arew nap wise. there's not really a 'typical' day. how are your naps spaced?

I used to read SIFTW avidly when my dd had us up multiple times every night so I recognise your name.

She is just over 7mo and was having really good regular naps, sleeping roughly 9.15-10am, 12.15-2.15pm then 4.15-5pm. I had lots of time to do stuff around the house but I couldn't go out anywhere until after her long lunchtime nap. And if she didn't have it, she didn't sleep well at night.

Howver, in the last few weeks, she's seemed much more awake and doesn't nap for as long - maybe 30 mins tops at some point in the morning, 60-90 mins sometimes at lunch then whatever in the afternoon. Anything from 5-45 mins. So there isn't a typical day as such any more. I don't get as much cleaning done but we get out a lot more - and I can live with that!

Somedays she might have as much as 3 hours sleep, other times 90 mins all day - it really varies but she seems happy and that's the main thing.

Forgot to say congratulations on the sleep - you certainly deserve it!

thx fleecy! . so confusing all this napping lark. my dd was a textbook sleeper/napper so ds is a mystery to me! love him to bits tho...

As a ftm I naively expected dd to sleep from 11-7 from about 6 weeks and to nap happily in her cot whenever we smilingly put her down. I was not prepared for the reality! But like you say, even when she would only go to sleep on me and woke up many times a night I still thought she was fab!

stalking cruise
cruise as long as your nights are good maybe now he won't take many long naps i have a friend who's ds is 8m and he has slept through the night (with no tricks/tactics/encouragement) from 3 months but he has never had a daytime nap in his so far little life not even in the buggy or car. she swears she's telling the truth

hi tam . that poor woman! . hoping ds still needs to nap long into his teens!!

It'll not be long before you're trying to drag him out of bed ...oh no let's not think about that. we'll all still be on here looking for advice on lazy teens

woohoo, through the night!

I'd say an early sleep about 2hours after ds wakes up and a second one 2 hours after he wakes up from that and only if neither of these naps has been especially long, go for a third one.

So today dd woke about 7am and was back in bed before 9am. I woke her about 10am to go out, she went back to bed just after noon. If she sleeps until after 2pm she may not need another sleep, if she wakes before 2 i'll probably put her back to bed for a wee nap at 4ish.

HTH!

tassis - hi! is your lo a sept 06 baby? seem to recall you from that thread but my memory seems to ahve gone . so can your lo go from 2ish to 7ish without a nap? is the middle nap 2 hrs long? ?
how much total sleep does lo get per day in naps?
my prob is there is no consistency. we have school run so he cannot nap, say 1 - 3 (he never does 2 hours anyway) 2pm as there is not enough time. After school run it is mayhem. today he did 45 mins 8:15am - 9am, 11:30am for 30 mins and now i dunnow what to do cos he could nap now but if it is a short nap (as he ususally does) then he will be awake too early to last till bedtime. getting miffed and confused.

Well whaddya know. Having said DD was generally very good with naps, she's been awake since 1.45 - that's nearly 5 hours which is a good two hours more than she's been awake for before! And she's not a happy bunny! Oh dear. Guess I shouldn't have posted...

fleecy . hope it#s better tomorrow!

Hi cruisemum
Naps here are erratic too. I've only just started to get dd to nap in the cot
She often still has one when we're out and about. Today she had an hour btw 10am - 11am and another one from 1pm-2pm. We seem to down to just 2 naps a day although btw 5-6 is her cranky time and she foes to bed at 6pm. hth

Gor blimey, is there no pleasing you woman?

Just goes to show that the sleep = sleep thing is a loada nonsense doesn't it? My LO has napped fantastically the last week but nights are friggin' awful.

hello compo! fancy seeing you here . hope your lo is doing well. Don't be about napping in the cot, ds still only naps in his buggy! just haven't had the guts to change over yet I always find a reason/excuse to maintain the status quo.
ginger - you are right about the sleep begets sleep thing... Not in this house! . not complaining but just wanting input.
sending sleepy vibes and wishes your way ginger, Cruise x

A word of warning - I worked so hard to get DD being happy to sleep in her cot that now it's hard to get her to sleep anywhere else!

You're working to get your lo into the cot, I'm trying to get mine to nap in her buggy in the afternoons! Looking back, I wish I'd put her down for one or two naps a day in the cot and had always done her afternoon nap in the buggy/bouncy chair/travel cot so she'd be happy to sleep in other places!

PS She had an afternoon nap again today - phew. It took 45 mins of rocking her in the buggy even though she was virtually asleep when i started but we got there in the end.

Would expect am and pm naps at that age. The usual is a short nap in the morning and a longer one in the afternoon. But both mine tended to have a long one in the morning and a shorter one in the afternoon. But depends what you mean by "sleeping through" [wink.

Have only read OP btw.

What time are your school runs?

hi bozza - 8:15am and 3:15pm
naps seem to be settling at:
8:15 for 30/45mins
11am for 40-60mins
3:00pm for 30mins
not enough and no time to do stuff!

bozza - by sleeping through i mean 7pm - 6am (mostly). feel blessed and lucky as ihave had a rocky road sleepwise these past 7 months!

7-6 is great at that age. My theory is that he is really ready to drop down to two naps. So if you could maybe push the morning one to about 9 ish and then another after lunch you might get better results. Good luck.

Ah just figured the morning one is actually on the school run so might be difficult to keep him awake. Could still try and push the second one back to 12.30 ish and see if it is a bit longer.

thanks bozza - trouble is he often only naps for 30 - 40 mins so that doesnot sustain him until after lunch iyswim... if he wakes at 9 from his nap he is shattered by 11 having only had 30 mins sleep since 6am (or before).

Cruisemum, hi again. DD, was an awful napper until yesterday 3pm, only napping for 30 mins at a time 4/5 times a day and permanently grouchy. She has now had two TWO HOUR naps which is unheard of. All I have done is space her feeds out a bit but I think that has nothing to do with it. Perhaps at some point they are just ready to nap longer?? Like yours now sleeping through night. I keep wondering whether there's any point speculating about any of it as perhaps at end of day they just do things when they're ready. Not very helpful to you right now I know!

sydney - hi . funny you should say that, ds has just napped for 90 mins! mind you he did wake up at 5:20am . i napped too and feel vaguely human but hoping this is not a trend

I think the problem is that he is having his first nap quite early which is pushing him into a 3 nap pattern. So you could either work on that of leave him to grow out of it naturally.