Anyone else have none napping babies?

[Lipsticktraces]

Just curious if anybody else has a baby that does not nap during the day?

I have 19 week old twins (14 weeks corrected) and they haven’t napped during the day since they were about 9 weeks old. Putting them down to nap is pointless as they just won’t do it. They might occasionally fall asleep in their bouncers etc for a maximum of 15 minutes during the day but that’s it. The rest of the time they are wide awake!

They both go to sleep about 9pm. DD usually sleeps through until about 7am and DS usually wakes a few times for a quick BF. I’m happy with their sleep, so not really looking for advice. Just wondering if anybody else has amazing none napping babies because people I speak too seem to think it’s quite unusual.

My eldest was exactly like this but she would get grumpy and irritable as the day went on and she got more and more overtired. She was a generally happy baby so I didn't do anything about it at first... then the 4 month sleep regression hit and it all became a nightmare.

She started waking every 45 minutes at night and still did not nap all day, she was so overtired by the afternoon that she was almost inconsolable. We continued like this for about 5-6 weeks and then I used a sleep consultant as I was really struggling with her being so overtired and upset all day.

What did the sleep consultant do?

What did the Sleep consultant do?

Mine have colds today and they’ve still only had one twenty minute nap all day. They are perfectly happy just watching TV with me on couch.

I’m just scared that at some point it will all catch up with them and they’ll become overtired nightmare babies!

Sleep consultant helped get us into a routine and we gently sleep trained. I say gentle because I never had to leave the room with her crying. Sleeping through the night or self settling never was my aim (and so she didn't end up sleeping through until she was over 1yr old) but I absolutely had to get her out of the overtired cycle. Once she was napping and sleeping regularly, she became a happy baby who was a delight to be around.

All babies are different - hopefully the regression won't hit yours the same way as it did mine but I wouldn't worry until things become a problem. I very much believe that you read your baby rather than worrying about bad habits as you don't know what will change as they grow

@riddles could you elaborate a bit more please? I have a little boy who sounds like the twins. He's 11 weeks old and didn't nap since he was a week old. I have to FORCE him go nap with every trick under the sun :( trying a nap schedule but still struggling!! Still, at least he's napping a bit now!

So babies have times in the day where their cortisol naturally falls and melatonin rises and these are the windows in which we want to put baby to sleep. In addition to this, baby should be tired but not overtired so they are able to fall asleep with minimal resistance.

The routine used was the typical 7am-7pm routine which is in the majority of baby books and websites. I started by waking her at 7am on the first morning of training and then getting her to nap in the pushchair at 9am for 1hr followed by 12.30pm for 2 hours and then 4pm for 20 minutes. To my shock, my non-napping baby took 2 of those naps in the pushchair with minimal resistance. The sleep training then began that evening where she was put in the cot to fall asleep after her usual bedtime routine. We decided on settling technique together and I chose one where I stayed in room and patted but did not pick her up unless she cried. If and when she cried, I cuddled her until she stopped, then put her back down and patted again - this was continued until she fell asleep and then again at every wake up. From that point forward, this was how I put her to sleep for all nights, morning and lunchtime naps unless I was out and about. She needed to be patted in the night until around 14 months but this wasn't an issue as she was getting the sleep she needed. The 4pm nap was always done on me/pram. There were other decisions we made together about night feeds and frequency too (I continued night feeds as my aim wasn't to have her sleeping all the way through)

She took to the training really well and started napping and sleeping at night like a dream from day 1 - we did have the resistance after 3ish days where she realised this change was a long term thing but once we overcame that, life got so much better. She gained weight much quicker (skipped 2 centile lines)and she was such a happy baby when awake

That's awesome! Well done on breaking the cycle! Did you ever use a dummy? How old was your baby when you started this? And how long did she tend to take of the parting before she fell asleep? Was there a reason you did the naps in a pram first rather than straightaway in the cot, and how long before you tried in the cot? Did you have to stay in for all naps for a week to get her used to taking them in the cot? And, did she sleep.for the 2 hours for the lunchtime nap without waking midway?? That's probably our biggest difficulty. We can now get him to sleep in his crib 8 times out of 10 with a HUGE amount of effort and a LOT of shushing with hand on chest and dummy (which we then remove) (our chosen technique)... but he does seem to fight it and he wakes up at 45 mine like clockwork every time! He's a much happier baby now but I really don't want to have the naptime battle three times a day for the next year if I can help it...!
Sorry for all the questions... it's just that you're one of the few people I've come across with the same issue who's come out the other side with success!!

Ooh yes and what did you do if she woke up before 7 and wouldn't go back to sleep? Had a 5:40 wake up this morning from my son which puts the napping schedule out the window as we had to give him an extra nap at a weird time which puts all our timings out :(

Did you ever use a dummy?
No, she was a total dummy refuser, tried multiple times but she spat it out the second she realised there was no milk coming out.

How old was your baby when you started this? And how long did she tend to take of the parting before she fell asleep?
We started at 5.5 months. First couple of days, we had hardly any resistance. Day 3/4, we were with her 45mins or so settling her but she never got really worked up fortunately for us

Was there a reason you did the naps in a pram first rather than straightaway in the cot, and how long before you tried in the cot?
We were advised to do this initially to break the overtired cycle as she was chronically overtired. An overtired baby will always respond worse to sleep training and protest more so by napping in the pram during the day, we had maximum chance of success putting her down in the evening when she was just the right amount of tired and had highest sleep pressure.

Did you have to stay in for all naps for a week to get her used to taking them in the cot?
If I remember right, we had the morning nap on the move twice and lunchtime once in the first 10 days. Long term, I was advised to aim for her to have her lunchtime nap in cot and go sleep on time in her cot 5 days out of 7 each week. Other 2 naps on the move were fine

And, did she sleep.for the 2 hours for the lunchtime nap without waking midway?
No not always, we would go in to resettle her. She would wake after 45 mins then once resettled at that point, she would sleep for the rest of the nap. As her 45 min wake was so predictable, we would go in just before that and pat her before she stirred until back in deep sleep.

what did you do if she woke up before 7 and wouldn't go back to sleep?
I was advised to put to sleep early for the morning nap and allow her to catch up then but not to make a habit of this as it would encourage regular early waking. If she was constantly waking early, I was told to give her a bridging nap of just 15 mins to get her through to her normal morning nap time. Tbh neither of these worked for me when we started to get early waking after the clocks moved in the summer - I eventually moved her routine to 8am-8pm when she was around 8 months old which helped a lot but by then we were out of the overtired non-napping cycle.

Overall I would say the training was successful in that we managed to teach her that sleep was non-negotiable and she had to nap - but we certainly weren't immune to developmental leaps and regressions like I've heard other describe. We had lots of times when we would be up regularly and patting her in the night in the first year but this didn't bother me if she was happy and not overtired. She's slept through consistently from 14 months and not needed resettling at all unless unwell from then

Amazing. Thank you so so much for all this information. It must have taken you a while to type out and I want you to know I really appreciate it. My husband has another week off work this week so I think we're going to try to get him off the dummy for daytime naps. I've been warned that his beautiful nightime sleep will regress soon if we don't sort out his daytime napping so I'm desperate to tackle it asap! Thanks again!!!

No problems :) If it means someone else doesn't have to go through the sleep hell I did, I'm happy to help.

I did find it quite rigid initially, but once we were in a good place with naps and she was content, I did my best to ensure the lunchtime nap and night sleep were as consistent at possible and allowed flexibility with the others.

My biggest bit of advice would be to stay consistent and it will pay off. They do go backwards a bit before going forward but just keep going. You're settling technique involves you being there so you will know if something is wrong and he's not well. If you've got him falling asleep in his crib more than 80% of the time, you're doing brilliantly :)

DS2 never napped unless I got really lucky and he fell asleep in the pram/car. It was a big shock after) DS1, who would have a morning nap then snooze for 2-3 hours each afternoon! He still loves his sleep.

I remember my midwife friend marvelling at DS2 when he was still awake at 8pm after waking around 7.30 that morning. She said she'd never seen anything like it and how did he keep his eyes open! I got used to spotting the ideal split second to take him out in the pram or go for a drive (he'd wake the second the car stopped though. I've never once in 6.5 years carried DS2 in asleep from the car!). And reigned in my plans for how to fill in time on Mat leave with DIY and reading... It's just personality I think.

Should have said, DS was a week okd when midwife friend visited and was amazed he'd been up for 13 hours. That's a fairly relevant hit

Haha @Roomba you win! My son sounds similar but defo Italy not that extreme! At least your first child was an easy napper... I I usually thought I'd broken my son somehow as he's the only one in my NCT group not happily snoozing his days away from birth!

Ditto, lots of resemblances and mine managed similar awake times @Roomba but would be extremely irritable and grumpy due to over tiredness. I also have not been able to carry either of my 2 in asleep from the car. So much for having the travel system where I could bring baby in without disturbing them and gently put them in the cot - it was all a dream!

Saying that, if your son could manage those awake times without being increasingly upset then there isn't much point in changing things. I know i certainly wouldn't have sleep trained if mine was coping