Daytime naps - 3 month old

[Hoppyhops]

Hi, I’m wondering if anyone has any tips with how to cope with daytime naps at this age. My DS generally sleeps well at night- goes down drowsy at 7, settles himself, I wake him to get a feed in at 10, he wakes once for a night feed and then is up between 6-7. I’m not to concerned about the night it’s just daytime naps that are erratic.

He will have about 4-5 naps a day and ALWAYS wakes bang on 30 minutes without fail. I’ve set up my living room to be dark with white noise, he’s swaddled, goes in his Moses basket awake but drowsy but I usually have to rock him in the day to get him to settle. However, during his lunchtime nap, if I pick him up when he wakes after 30 mins, he will continue to nap for an hour and a half on me. He absolutely will not do this in the Moses basket/cot and will not be settled back down to go any longer, so he ends up on me otherwise he is miserable because he’s still tired.

Is this just a phase? I love the cuddles but I’m worried I’m creating bad habits and it will have a knock on effect to his good night routine/sleep.

Does anyone have any advice or do I just go with it? I feel like I’ve tried everything that’s recommended but he still can’t sustain his nap without me giving in and picking him up.

Just give it some time. None of mine napped great or routinely until at least 6 months. Try not to stress about it, have a drink nearby and enjoy the cuddles and some TV!

my little boy is 4.5 months old and has a similar issue! it was exactly like this until a few weeks ago now his first nap of the day is beginning to extend and he will do up to an hour but the rest will usually be 30/40 mins which a lot of the time he is fine with but if he seems grumpy or upset when he wakes i’ll settle him and he will sleep a bit longer on me if he needs it! i think naps lengthen with age so i wouldn’t worry! up until very very recently (few weeks really) i pretty much exclusively contact napped with my little boy because he slept better like that and i love it but he started to be really wriggly on me and unsettled and would settle instantly when placed into his crib so i knew that was his way of telling me that actually the contact naps aren’t working so well for him anymore (which i’m gutted about hahah) but despite pretty much exclusively contact napping, he’s always been a good nighttime sleeper apart from a 3 week phase around 3 months which i think was the 4 month regression! so i guess my point is he exclusively contact napped but still has pretty much always slept great in his crib at night time so i don’t think it affects it i think anyway they’re getting good sleep during the day tends to help with better sleep during the night so whichever way helps them to sleep best is fine and they do grow out of the contact naps as i’m learning and i’m gutted so just enjoy it for now and naps will lengthen with age x

Thanks so much, both. It’s nice to hear I’m not alone as the mothers in the groups I go to seem to have babies that sleep amazingly, all the time. I wouldn’t be so fixated on his naps if he didn’t get so very angry and upset when he’s overtired so I do my very best to make sure he’s getting his sleep. Good to know that the day naps haven’t affected your son’s night sleeps @chloejoy - that makes me feel much more at ease too!

I’ll just enjoy the contact naps for longer and keep binging The Morning Show, haha !

@Hoppyhops intrigued as to how you are getting on? Any success with day time naps? Currently in similar position with 13 week old DS. Absolute dream at night time but will refuse to sleep independently in the day!

@Truthtime2023 Still exactly the same and he’s approaching 4 months now. He’s doing slightly longer for his first nap but still 30-40 minute naps. I usually pick him up for one and get him to go a bit longer but he’s in a little routine now and knowing his little pattern makes things less stressful.

However, he’s had two bouts of illness recently so our nights have been rough over the past few weeks! Last night was worse than the newborn stage so who knows what tonight will bring ! 😅

How are things for you now? In a very similar situation!

@newmummypm
Things have settled and he has a pretty predictable daytime schedule now. He’s 6.5 months and has one short 30-40 minutes in the morning, about an hour - hour and a half in the afternoon and 30 minutes in the late afternoon- all in his cot. I still have to resettle him after about 30 minutes during his longer nap, but usually just replacing his dummy and shushing- I rarely have to pick him
up any more and he’s only needed to be held when he’s been ill. If we’re out and about though, he only goes for about 40 minutes in the pram or car seat, so I try to make sure we’re home in the afternoon, but luckily he’s not as grumpy when he’s overtired anymore!

His nights are super variable - he’s never slept through and is always affected by teething, illness, etc. but I’ve just come to accept that these babies like to keep us on our toes and none of these phases (good and bad) ever last long!