Can a nap be too long?

violetigerlily

For the past few days DS (12 weeks old) has started napping from about noon or 1pm to 4 or 5pm. So it's generally around 4-5 hours long. He dreamfeeds (starts to stir/root and partially wake, I latch him on, he eats for 5-10 min and falls back asleep) about once or twice in that time-span.  He usually goes to bed around 9:30pm, has 2-3 quick feedings per night, wakes up around 7:30 am and takes one 45 min nap between then and his long nap. After his long nap we can usually get a catnap out of him before bed. Does this sound right?  On one hand it's kind of nice but he's also been a terror during the witching hour lately. We've tried moving his bedtime up but he seems determined to be fully awake and ready to play around 8pm regardless of when he was put down.  Adding it up it seems like he's getting about 14-15 hrs/day but I haven't heard of anyone else having such a long nap. Should I try to let him wake up fully after a certain time period?  

P.S.--I'll bring this up to the pedi when we see her in a few weeks (DS has a reflux re-check) but he seems relatively happy and healthy otherwise so I don't see a reason to call them now.

thatgirlree24

Sounds like what my LO started doing around 11 weeks. As they get older, they sleep longer and feed for shorter times. Yay for hitting that home run stretch! 

taysun

DD is 11 weeks and her sleep schedule generally looks like this:
6 am wake up
7/7:30-10 nap
11:30/12-3 nap
4-6 nap
7-10 sleep 
10:30-2 sleep 
2-4 sleep
4-6 sleep
it does vary some but I'm following her cues, if she doesn't sleep as much she gets super fussy. 

laurabwalker

taysun said:

DD is 11 weeks and her sleep schedule generally looks like this:
6 am wake up
7/7:30-10 nap
11:30/12-3 nap
4-6 nap
7-10 sleep 
10:30-2 sleep 
2-4 sleep
4-6 sleep
it does vary some but I'm following her cues, if she doesn't sleep as much she gets super fussy. 

Omg amazing! This is my babies sleep dream, she should sleep this as well, I work so hard to get her to sleep and I'm lucky if she sleeps 30 mins at a time

taysun

@laurabwalker she doesn't always sleep so great, especially if we spend the whole day away from home, and we do get fluke nights where she won't sleep at all. She didn't go to sleep until after 10 pm the other night after skipping her 4 pm nap and then was up from 2 am to 4 am. But we bedshare most nights so it's super easy for me to feed her before she even wakes up. 
And if it helps make you feel better, she hasn't slept more than 4 stretches not in my bed since she was a month old. 

navyblueladybug

My DD is 13 weeks and her schedule is usually:
Wake up at 7am
Nap 9am-10am
Awake 10am-12pm
Nap 12pm-3pm
Awake 3pm-6pm
Nap 6pm-7pm
Bedtime 10pm

She sleeps through the night, occasionally wakes up at 4am for a bottle but very rarely. These are off by an hour sometimes but she usually has two hour long naps and one three hour nap.

willashbaby

7 weeks old, his times for the last week (we've been working on The Baby Sleep Solution for one week!)
Wake up and eat 8 am
nap for 30-1hr starting from 9-10 am
eat 12pm
nap for 1-2hr starting from 2-3 pm
eat 4 pm
only allow SHORT (15-30) naps if needed
Bedtime ritual and eat 8 pm---go to bed! (usually asleep within 15-30, working on self-soothe)
wakes to eat once around 2am 

spottedginger

We don't do naps longer than two hours during the day. It seems to help him distinguish day and night. Every baby is different though. If your baby is happy and sleeping well, go with what works. 

littlebitmom

@navyblueladybug my DD has a very similar schedule at 12 weeks old except that she wants to eat around 3am but quickly goes back to sleep. 

Bubbz

Rowan is 11 weeks and will also sometimes do what I call "mega naps". It doesn't seem to affect his night time sleep. He's taking one right now, when I wanted to go grocery shopping...haha

grkgdss00

I wish my baby would nap!! It's such a struggle.