Daytime Sleeping
Jaqq
member
DS is 3 months old, and I've been reading that he should still be getting about fifteen hours of sleep per day. He sleeps really well at night - usually a full stretch from 8 pm until 1 or 2 am followed by a stretch lasting until 6 or 7 am - but during the day, he is usually up for about an hour and a half followed by a tiny 30 minute nap each time. If we run an errand and he's in the car he usually sleeps longer - about an hour to an hour and a half - but as his normal day stands, he's usually getting only 12 to 13 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period. Is this cause for concern at all? Should I just let him set his schedule as he has it, or should I try to get him to sleep more during the day? And if so, how? We already have a dark blanket pinned over the window to block the sunlight during naptime, but I'm not sure what else, if anything, I should do. Thanks in advance for your help!
Re: Daytime Sleeping
I would say you are in a normal range. My DD did the same thing, up until recently, and she start sleeping for 1-2 hours three times a day, at the same time every day.
I think a cause for concern would be if your child was acting extremely fussy, not gaining weight, not eating. If your baby is happy, then don't worry!
this is my child too. We used to get catnaps out of her, 30 to 45 mins. Recently her naps have lengthened a lot. We have had to sleep train her due to many many nighttime wake ups, but the naps were a little bit better before the sleep training...even better now though.
I agree with everyone else. I was in the exact same situation, 30 min. cat naps every 2 hours, and I was getting really concerned bc I kept reading how much sleep they were "supposed" to have. However, like you, my child was extremely happy and seemed fine so I wouldn't worry about it.
However, with that said, we started Ferber sleep training last Saturday and it has worked wonders. My LO always slept from 7-6 with one wake up so that wasn't the issue, it was the constant rocking her to sleep for night and all of her naps. The naps were becoming exhausting considering I'd rock her longer than she actually slept. She only cried the first night, hasn't since, and her naps have improved drastically. She still fusses and sometimes cries for naps, never more than 5-10 mins. and Ferber states naps are much harder to train for. But the length has increased significantly. I will usually get at least 1 1.5 hour nap and her others are at least 45 mins. I also let her fuss/cry if the nap has been less than 40 mins and she will usually go back to sleep. I don't know if your interested in sleep training but it has helped us so much.
My DS is 5 months old and has never been a long-napper. He is a happy baby and sleeps well at night so as much as I really, really want long naps so I can get stuff done, I don't worry about it in regards to his health.
It helped me to keep in mind that the sleep "requirements" are not based on what is "necessary" but what is typical. Some babies need less sleep and if he sleeps well at night and does nap, even if for smaller amounts of time than your friends' babies, and is happy and healthy, then he just needs less daytime sleep.
BTW, if you find the nap-magic, let me know because I would really, really like to get more done during the day!
This. I always leave LO in her crib for about a hour before I check the monitor(after she's definitely fallen asleep). Usually if she gets up after the 30-40 minute arousal, she'll fall back asleep if she's still tired. If she's not, she'll be in her crib, laughing and babbling and I know she's ready to get up. If she ever fusses, and I know she's not hungry, then I let her fall back asleep because I know she didn't get enough.
Some days we get just a bunch of cat naps BUT usually what happens is by that 3rd nap, if she's just cat napped she's so exhausted she'll fall back asleep.