Nap duration: shall I just stop worrying about it, or is it really important?

[heylottie]

I've posted before about dd not napping/sleeping well and being really overtired. Her nights seem a bit better and a lot of driving at the weekend seems to have made her take slightly longer naps since then (45 mins/1hr rather than 30 mins, which she was doing before).

But her first nap of the day, about an hour and a half after she gets up, is a different story. She wakes like clockwork after 30 mins. She just won't go back to sleep. Her next nap comes another 1.5/2hrs after that. That's about 45 mins, unless I boob her to sleep repeatedly...

Now all the books (i think 'all', have read a lot...) say that a nap under 45 mins/1 hr doesn't count. I was thinking of admitting defeat on the morning nap but what else can I do? I guess I am looking for reassurance that this 30 mins does count on some level, cranky old baby notwithstanding.

She is 18 weeks - will she just begin to take longer naps or do I need to really nip this in the bud now?

Thanks in advance...

I wouldn't worry about it to be honest but I've not read any books and didn't know the 30 minute thing. In the daytime I would just let her sleep when she wants to and for as long as she wants. But it depends on how much of a routine you want I guess and also how happy your baby is. I don't think you can make her sleep for longer though if she isn't tired.

Sorry, how old is she?

When DS was small he would have up to 5 x 40 mins naps a day. Drove me batty.

Only way I managed to sort it was by very gradually moving back his first nap of the day (by 5 mins every couple of days, he really was like clockwork) and eventually the first and second kind of merged together and he ended up sleeping for more like 90 mins in one stretch.

sorry, just seen she's 18 weeks. It's so hard, isn't it.

ds, until about 20 weeks, rarely slept longer than 20 mins at a stretch during the day. I used to worry (as well as finding it incredibly frustrating) but he's now a healthy 2.5 year old who doesn't seem any the worse for it. So if you can live with it, perhaps try not worrying. I am sure longer sleeps are better for them (and you) but if a baby won't sleep they won't sleep and I'm not sure there's much you can do at that age.

Is she just having the two naps a day?

I was going to suggest moving her first nap a bit earlier (as short naps can indicate over-tiredness) but then noticed that she's going down an hour and half after waking so doubt you could do much earlier than that!

I read that "naps under an hour doesn't count" thing but as far as I was concerned, if it was long enough for me to make a cup of tea and put my feet up for a bit, it counted!

DS used to be the king of the 40 minute nap when he had three naps a day. The only way he'd sleep for longer was if I walked him in the buggy so I'd do that for one of the naps.

Once he dropped one nap (at about 7 months) the two remaining naps got longer (about an hour to an hour and half each), and then when he droppped the morning nap (at 11 months), the one remaining nap got really long - about 2 and a half to 3 hours!

He never got the recommended amount of sleep until he was over a year old but has managed to turn into a happy, healthy two year old!

My ds now 18 months hardly napped at all when he was wee. I doubt if I got more than 2 x 30 min naps a day or one 1 hour nap.And he got up at 5.30am every morning. I fretted and worried and spent hours walking with him to try and get him to sleep more - it didn't work.

He would get overtired occasionally but I would put him in his pushchair in the house so that at least he was taking a rest. By 9 months I would strap him in and let him watch the TV ( I know bad mother) so that he would sit still for 20 mins and chill.

I wish I had known just to go with the flow. Some babies just don't seem to sleep as much as others. At 18 months he sometimes has a nap and sometimes doesn't. It's a PITA for me as I get no time to do anything but he's happy enough.