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February 2013 Moms
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Short Naps Suck

jocgymnast72jocgymnast72 member
in February 2013 Moms

I?ve seen a few other posts about this topic, but no real solutions, which reinforces my fear that there is nothing I can do about this, but here goes?

 

How can I make my baby?s naps longer? His crib naps never last longer than 30-40 minutes. So most days his total nap time is between 1.5 hours and 2 hours. The poor kid is exhausted all day and is ready for another nap a mere hour and 15 minutes after getting up from the last one. He will sleep longer if I hold him, about 1.5 hours, but I feel like we?re past the stage where this is a good idea. He used to nap longer in the RnP, but after I observed him try to roll over in it, I decided that wasn?t a safe option.

 

I don?t understand why daytime sleep is so different than night! Why can he sleep for hours in his crib at night but top out at 40 minutes during the day? The only thing that is different is that he?s in footed PJs and a sleep sack at night.

 

Also, I always have to nurse him before his nap because there is no other way to make him sleepy (he no longer takes a pacifier or tolerates rocking). However, it doesn?t seem to matter whether I nurse him to sleep or let him fall asleep on his own. It?s still a short nap. Should I try buckling him in to the RnP? Commit to holding him for one nap a day so he gets a good nap? Or do I just accept that this is the way my baby is and hope starting day care in September will improve his napping?

 

While obviously I would prefer longer naps so I can get things done, my main concern is that he seems tired all day and I can?t seem to help him.

 

On a related note, if my LO isn?t a ?nap-anywhere? kind of baby, is that just how he is and I can?t do anything to change it? We go to a weekly ?play date? with a couple other teachers and he will not sleep in someone else?s crib, which means he?s up for quite a while on those days. He will not fall asleep in his stroller, play mat, swing, etc. Just wondering.

 

I feel like a failure. Any thoughts or advice are appreciated.

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Re: Short Naps Suck

  • happy_un-bridehappy_un-bride member
    I have same problem too. DS is sleeping on me right now, because I know if I put him in crib that he'd wake up.  I am lucky tho he'll sleep when out and about.
    *** DS born February 21, 2013 - Toronto, Canada  ***
    imageimage
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  • happy_un-bridehappy_un-bride member

    imageTeacher Clark:
    I have found that DD will wake 45 min into a nap. If she wakes up crying I know it's too soon. I let her cry for 5 min or so and she usually puts herself to sleep again.

     

    i wish! I've tried to experiment and DS just gets more and more upset. 

    *** DS born February 21, 2013 - Toronto, Canada  ***
    imageimage
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  • DublinMamaDublinMama member
    My son only took 30 minute naps for months. You could almost set your watch by them, that's how exact they were. Just this past week, he has consolidated (or so I hope...). He now takes one long nap of 2.5 hours and two 30-40 minute ones, or he takes two 1.5 hour ones and one 45 minute one. I didn't do anything to make that happen, he did it on his own. I know it's not helpful to hear to some degree, but maybe your LO will do the same thing shortly. Many things I read about short naps and naps in general is that babies will consolidate and take longer naps at around 6 months.
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  • carriesu2003carriesu2003 member

    First off you are not a failure.  It is so funny how we all blame ourselves for everything.  From what I have researched it is very common for babies this age to only take 30-45min naps.  I am in the same boat as you my LO doesn't sleep for more than 45min usually and is exhausted all day.  FWIW I tried something new today and woke her up 2 hours earlier than she normally gets up.  She took four naps today a 1.5 hr nap, 35min nap, 1.5hr nap and a 10min nap.  She then went to bed an hour and half earlier than yesterday.  The naps she didn't cry at all for and the bedtime it took 5 tries off comforting and putting her back down in her crib.

    I think the earlier wake time helped and I also went in and woke her up at the 1.5 hour mark when she napped. This is NOT how she usually sleeps.  I'm going to wake her early again tomorrow and repeat.  Fingers crossed.

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  • chimneygrlchimneygrl member
    My son takes 4 30 min naps. When I told doctor he said that "He was one of those kids." I gave up on trying to make his naps longer. Today he took an hour nap between 4:15 and 5:15. Of course I woke him up after an hour because he would have never gone to bed.
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  • jely26jely26 member
    I could have written this post word for word. I used to be okay with the short naps because he slept all night, but new my son wakes in the night, sometimes for hours at a time, so I'm concerned he yacht getting enough sleep. He is still a generally happy kid, but has started to fuss more, which also makes me wonder. And though I know we are not failures because if it, I share that feeling as well!
    BabyFruit Ticker
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