Moms of 5-6 month olds, nap and also sleep training?

cflynn

How long between nap times is your DC awake? I have been trying to form a good day time schedule with my DD and she woke up at 9am this morning and went down for a nap around 11:30 and slept for an hour. I was also wondering about sleep training, we where planning on using the ferber method but she hasn't cried for more then a couple minutes before falling asleep. My question is do i start cutting out the nught feedings too? Like last night she went down at 8, up at 12 at 7oz and put her back down, she fussed a bit then went out and got back up at 5 ate and went back down until 9am. Is this normal? 

 

brooke929

I don't believe in sleep training so I can't help you there.

Will is breastfed, so he is still waking up multiple times at night to eat. I firmly believe that if your child is waking up in the middle of the night and is hungry, you need to feed her.

As for napping, Will seems to be cutting his naps down to 45 minutes to an hour and is up for anywhere from 2 to 3 hours in between naps.

njbride0603

About 2 hours after she wakes in the morning she gets sleepy but only naps for like 30 min. After her second feeding she goes down for a nap around 10 and usually sleeps for 2 hours. She'll go down for another nap around 1:30 or 2 usually for an hour. this is her schedule at daycare and my MIL for the most part. At home on the weekends it varies a little bit.

 As for sleep training we didn't need to worry about it b/c she was STTN at 6 weeks.

cflynn

I didn't believe in it either until I talked to my pedi (who i have had for 10yrs with my son) and he said do it, and then we moved to a new state and the new pedi said the same thing. Having not done it with my son he didn't go to sleep on his own (i would have to sit and rub his back) until he was 6yrs old.  I am glad her naps seem to be on track. As for feedings during the night, I have no problem doing them but at one point she was sleeping thru the night so I wasn't sure if they where still necessary at this point or if at some point do you start weaning them from them. Meaning is she just eating out of habit at this point.

aivi08

I don't believe in sleep training either. I don't think it's right to make a baby sleep when he/she doesn't want to sleep and wake them up while they are sleeping so that they can sleep later. My dd is breastfed also and she sttn BUT i do have to wake up 3 or 4 times a night to give her back her paci. Her last feeding is 8.30 or 9 and dream feed lasted at 11. Depending on the days sometime she will nap for 2-3 hours sometime 30-45minutes. She would be awake for 2 hours max and need a nap.

williamcaitlin

Lucy will nap twice a day, anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. She hates to nap because she doesn't want to miss anything. She's usually up around 9 or 9:30, naps around noon and naps again around 5 and then goes to bed around 9:30 or 10.

I also don't believe in sleep training. I tried the CIO method at several family members' insistance, but I was so stressed out from having to listen to her cry and resisting going to comfort her that I gave up. Now I go in every time she cries and I pick her up and nurse her if necessary, and we're both much happier.

cflynn

Let me clarify on my sleep training, I don't wake her up if she is sleeping. I let her sleep when she wants and only put her to bed when I know she is tired. I watch her signs, usually I know it is nap time when she is yawning alot or rubbing her eyes every couple of minutes. As for our schedule, I have been letting her dictate it pretty much like I said I watch her signs. However, I do believe now that she needs to learn to fall asleep on her own.

babyike

brooke929:

I don't believe in sleep training so I can't help you there.

Will is breastfed, so he is still waking up multiple times at night to eat. I firmly believe that if your child is waking up in the middle of the night and is hungry, you need to feed her.

As for napping, Will seems to be cutting his naps down to 45 minutes to an hour and is up for anywhere from 2 to 3 hours in between naps.

This...word for word!  Nicely put ~brooke99~

swtpea517

She is usally awake about 2 1/2 hours. My DD did the same this morning woke up at 9:00 but she went to sleep at about 11;45 and is still sleeping. This is her long nap of the day she will usually sleep 2 hours. She usually takes two more naps; one around 4:30 for an hour and then another around 8:00 but only for 30 minutes. She eats about every 4 hours during the day. She goes to sleep around 10:30 pm and doesn't wake to eat until around 8:30  or 9;00 am. I'm going to try to start putting her to bed for the night around the last nap by doing our bath and bedtime routine earlier and let her just wake up probably close to midnight to eat. So, I guess the only difference is my DD isn't taking that 5 am bottle that yours is. It all sounds normal. And, as for sleeping I just watch for her sleepy cues. But, I still rock her to sleep. I haven't done any sleep training.

NewBlue

aivi08:

I don't think it's right to make a baby sleep when he/she doesn't want to sleep and wake them up while they are sleeping so that they can sleep later.

I just can't leave this alone.  Sleep training is not about making a baby sleep when the don't want to.  It is helping a baby learn to fall asleep when they are tired.  And a lot of sleep training methods do not recommend waking a sleeping baby.

Babies do hit a point where they can go without eating at night.  They want to eat because they are used to eating.  If you had a snack every night at 3am you would wake up wanting it too.  You don't NEED it.  The book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child states that some babies will need one to two feedings up to 8 months.  You will be able to tell if your baby is hungry or just wanting the attention that comes with a feeding.