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Sleep

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Original poster

14 week old serial cat napper?!?

26 replies

Thelandmum8a · 01/03/2021 08:34

Hi all, wondering if anyone can offer some advice for my 14 week old dd.

When I put her down for naps she fusses for a couple of minutes but goes down relatively easy. The only problem is she wakes up after 35 minutes WITHOUT FAIL. She sleeps through the night from 7pm-6:30am, so I know she knows how to self settle! Her wake times seem to be around an hour 15, much longer than that she seems to get fussy, so I always aim to put her down around then. Any later and it’s much harder to get her to sleep!

Is this just age appropriate? When she wakes up from a nap she is relatively chilled, so I leave her in her cot to see if she fancies going back to sleep. Chilled usually turns to fussing, fussing turns to crying and eventually after 15-20 minutes she goes back down... but it’s usually a fidgety sleep where she wakes up and has a little cry then sleeps again on and off like this for another 35 or so minutes. Half the time I’m left wondering whether the only reason she goes back down is because I’ve left her fussing for so long, but saying that she does still seem tired when she wakes up.

I guess I’m wondering if I should just be getting her up after 35 minutes and trying for another nap an hour or so later? Or should I be leaving her in her cot (crib60?) to hopefully go down again?!

Any help or experiences would be so greatly appreciated!

OP posts:

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Lauren5976 · 01/03/2021 09:42

I had the exact same problem... I increased my little girls awake window by 15/20 mins and now shes stopped, I tend to keep her downstairs for daytime naps as they range from 30mins-2hours at 10 weeks she managed to be happily awake for 1.5/2 hours look out for the yawns 🥱 I only ever try and settle for a nap when shes looking tired before that I was clockwatching and trying to get her to nap solely on awake windows but depending on the time of day she'll stay awake longer, the shortest awake window is usually after getting up in the morning.

Original poster

Thelandmum8a · 01/03/2021 10:48

@Lauren5976 thank you! I have (accidentally really) put her down 15/20 minutes later but she takes so much longer to settle as she’s all fussy by that point and doesn’t seem to nap any longer. She starts yawning an hour or so after she wakes up... probably because of the short naps to start with 😂 I agree that clockwatching isn’t the answer so will definitely focus more on her tired signs, but even when I do it seems she still only naps for the 35 mins 😩

OP posts:

notetaker · 01/03/2021 20:13

OP I could have written this! DS is 14 weeks and it’s like he’s on a timer - half an hour into his nap his eyes ping open and we start again. I wonder if it’s something to do with their sleep cycles?

Original poster

Thelandmum8a · 02/03/2021 08:10

@notetaker I feel your pain! Hoping someone might have a miracle cure but seems unlikely 😂

OP posts:

notetaker · 02/03/2021 17:11

@Thelandmum8a I’ve got a feeling that time will be the cure for this one. Hope you’re having a decent day!

3WildOnes · 02/03/2021 22:59

Short naps are completely developmentally appropriate at this age. Her naps will lengthen in time.
I think 14 weeks is far too young to be leaving to cry. Crib 60 is an American sleep training method but not something that is advised in England at all.

Keha · 02/03/2021 23:01

Mine was like this at that age, unless she was being held. Naps just gradually got longer, I think she was 6-7 months though before we were getting more like an hour.

Dillybear · 04/03/2021 07:39

This is completely normal, she is waking after one sleep cycle. To be honest, if she’s sleeping through the night I wouldn’t change anything and just be thankful!!

JenWilson19 · 04/03/2021 14:12

Mine used to do this and I couldn’t wait for it to change it. Now at 7.5 months he takes two long, decent naps and wakes approximately 26746 overnight. Enjoy the night sleep while it lasts is my recommendation! Catnapping is completely biologically appropriate x

Original poster

Thelandmum8a · 05/03/2021 10:19

Thank you everyone for your help! For those of you in a similar position... do you find that baby is hungry and tired at the same time?! Because her naps are only 35 minutes... she’s ready for her next nap usually when she’s ready for her next feed, meaning she’s either too sleepy to feed properly, or too hungry to go down for a nap 😭 ie feed at 7, down at 8:30, awake at 9, hungry/sleepy at 10/10:30!

If I feed then put her down I’ve missed the window and she seems too awake to nap, if I don’t feed but try and get her to nap it’s so hit and miss, usually ends in screaming. Would love to know what you all do!

OP posts:

3WildOnes · 05/03/2021 11:09

I fed on every wake up at that age. Roughly a two hour cycle of wake, eat, play & sleep.

notetaker · 05/03/2021 14:56

Good to hear it’s not just my DS, wish someone would tell him it’s perfectly normally though because he always wakes up raging 😂 @Thelandmum8a we’ve been finding feeding awkward too. If we’re not careful we end up feeding to sleep, but it’s not something we want to get in the habit of. I guess we’ll just offer milk a bit more often!

DressingGown87 · 05/03/2021 23:10

My DD (20weeks) was cat napping too, and I found it was an endless cycle of feed, sleep, awake, repeat. Her awake windows are generally 1.45-2hr. I read that when they wake from that day time sleep cycle (which is 30 minutes approx) it can take them up to 20 minutes to settle again. So If DD woke I started leaving her 20minutes, (unless she was upset) and she would most times self settle back again. This is now around 5-10minutes, so getting shorter. But then now she will nap better / longer, so we are back at 3/4 naps per day. I also found that when she woke at 30minute she was still tired, so if I leave her be, she will go back to sleep, the times she doesn’t she generally doesn’t need it.

Original poster

Thelandmum8a · 06/03/2021 07:00

@DressingGown87 this is so helpful to hear! I often found that if I was to leave her she’d self settle again around 15/20 minutes later, but it always felt such a long time that I was worried I was doing the wrong thing! So happy to hear someone else has done the same.

@notetaker we’ve had exactly the same problem! Think I’m just going to try my best not to feed right before nap time but accept that sometimes it’s the only option, the joys of a cat napper I suppose 😂

OP posts:

Nemostripes · 06/03/2021 07:18

They grow out of it. Mine catnapped from about 10 weeks old until 5/6 months where the middle nap of the day lengthened, but the other two were 35 minutes on the nose. When we took the plunge and dropped to two naps at 7 months, both naps became between 1-2 hours.

Give it time and don't stress about it. I tried the whole giving them time and seeing if they go back to sleep thing, but invariably it didn't work. The short naps drove me insane trying to figure out if I was doing something wrong, but I wasn't, nor are you - they just can't necessarily connect those day sleep cycles as it's a developmental process that takes time. Usually between 5-7 months naps should lengthen.

I also used to extend one nap a day when my LO was going through this by going in after the 35 minutes and taking him into my bed and cuddling. I miss that now!!

notetaker · 06/03/2021 07:36

So yesterday DS decided to wake up 10 minutes into his naps and then spend the next hour screaming until we put him in the car. Cannot wait for this to end

Original poster

Thelandmum8a · 07/03/2021 07:43

@notetaker I feel your pain! This past week has been all over the place, I wonder if the 4 month growth spurt/sleep regression is upon us?! Sending you strength!

OP posts:

notetaker · 07/03/2021 17:22

@Thelandmum8a I hope it’s that! We can do this (I think 😂)

PainterInPeril · 07/03/2021 17:31

I clicked on this thread thinking that a 14 week old was stealing cats! I was prepared to be very impressed that someone that young had started their career already!

Original poster

Thelandmum8a · 09/03/2021 13:14

@PainterInPeril that would be rather impressive! 🤣

OP posts:

PainterInPeril · 09/03/2021 13:27

@Thelandmum8a Maybe that's why she keeps waking.... she's plotting!

Oly4 · 09/03/2021 13:28

Three kids here, this all sounds completely normal. In my experience they don’t nap well until 12 months old.
Mine also only really napped at night too so count yourself lucky!

notetaker · 10/03/2021 15:04

Those who’ve been through it, was there anything that you did that made it a bit easier? I feel like I spend my entire day trying to soothe an overtired baby to sleep at the moment, and even if it is completely normal it’s ruining my life quite wearing.

Original poster

Thelandmum8a · 10/03/2021 18:55

@notetaker also all ears 😭 not even the car worked today... I think dd is broken 😂

OP posts:

Oly4 · 10/03/2021 20:44

Up to the age of 7 months I just let them nap on me while I put my feet up with a cup of tea and the telly! They like to be close to you when so small.. I just gave in to it.
After seven months I tried transitioning them to the cot with me putting them down asleep. Many people will tell you this so wrong but it removed the stress I felt.
I’ve always found it easier just to accept young babies/children don’t sleep very well but they do get better with age

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