Are good nappers born or made?

rssnlvr

So, Ali was always a champ overnight sleeper but a craptastic napper. She has ALWAYS had a hard time getting past that shallow sleep stage, and when she was young, the longest nap we could get out of her was 30-45 minutes. (If I held her, and was able to pat/shush her through the shallow sleep stage, I could get 1.5ish hours...two sleep cycles.) Even now, she naps for about 1.5 hours. She has NEVER slept for longer than 2 hours for a nap.

I'm wondering if Sam is going to be the exact same way. He's already doing great at night, but I have a hard time getting him to nap during the day unless we're out driving and running errands (the car seems to help). Really no matter if he's in the swing, the bouncy chair, the crib, the pnp, whatever, that 30-45 min range hits and he wakes up.

Is there something I can do to get him to be a better napper than his sister (without jeopardizing his rock star nighttime habits), or do I just breed poor nappers? (which would make sense...I'm a crappy napper myself...)

ali-1411

I think it just depends on the kid.  Jakob always loved his naps.  He didn't give them up until nearly 6 years old.  I brought Layna along the same parenting principals and she was a crappy sleeper from 4 months old and on.  She gave up naps entirely back in December, so around 25-26 months old.

Mrs.Froggianna

At this age, I think he is what he is.  Luke was a horrid napper (except when he was with Libbyann...she must have magic over him or something) until well after a year old.  Then when his nights got better (after sleep training) his naps slowly started getting better. 

For now you may just have to roll with him until he gets old enough to do some form of sleep training.  And even then, it may not matter.  Ali seems to be too interested in the stuff going on around her at daycare, and therefore doesn't want to nap.  Sam may be the same way, or he may nap like a rockstar at daycare.  Every kiddo is different.  But I feel for you!  I couldn't get Luke to sleep past the initial 35/40 minute sleep cycle either.

rssnlvr

Mrs.Froggianna:

Ali seems to be too interested in the stuff going on around her at daycare, and therefore doesn't want to nap. 

*sigh* so true. I was at her school yesterday nursing Sam (we were out running errands, he had to eat, they have a nursing room) during her nap time and she took a whopping 30 MINUTE nap, after which she woke up and started playing peek-a-boo with the boy on the other side of the book case. 

In fact, she is such a notoriously bad napper at school that all the infant teachers were oohing and ahhing over Sam and every.single.one said something about how "social" his big sister is and how they wondered if he was going to be a better napper than she had been.

My 21-month-old is infamous. 

Abrooks

My oldest was never a good napper. Never.  Stopped napping right at 3 and prior to that it was always a struggle.  Even her teachers at daycare would tell us how hard it was to get her to nap.  (Sounds just like Ali!)  

Baby N is a wonderful napper.  (And I hope I'm not jinxing this.)  She just is. We were smarter the second time around too but overall, she just sleeps more during the day than her sister ever has.  Although...it didn't start in the beginning.  I don't remember when, but she's been napping really well now for months.  We just waited until we got a schedule figured out and then went with that.  I do remember thinking she wasn't ever going to get a schedule or sleep longer periods of time in the beginning.  But it did happen.  Probably around 4-5 months or so.  She's almost 1 now and I'm so glad she doesn't have the same non-nap gene of her sister.   

molliedb

i think its a combination of things, but at 3 weeks, 45min is a decent nap around our house!  mine didn't get longer naps until closer to 4-6mo.  annie just now started taking 3 naps of about 1.5-2hours a day instead of 4 or 5 45min naps!

 i'm sure environment plays a big part.  lily has never (NEVER) napped at MDO, but at home she still takes 2-3 hour naps most days.

thethomps

molliedb:

i think its a combination of things, but at 3 weeks, 45min is a decent nap around our house!  mine didn't get longer naps until closer to 4-6mo.  annie just now started taking 3 naps of about 1.5-2hours a day instead of 4 or 5 45min naps!

 i'm sure environment plays a big part.  lily has never (NEVER) napped at MDO, but at home she still takes 2-3 hour naps most days.

Yep.  V was a HORRID napper at first.  Just terrible.  I was lucky to get 30 minutes out of her for a nap.  And that whole "newborns sleep all day"?  Uh...not my kid.  Around 5 months, she actually started napping alright in her crib and is now a good napper (2- hour to hour and a half naps a day, sometimes longer, plus sleeping 12-13 hours a night) when it's dark and she has her sound machine. But she pretty much will not nap when there are other kids around.  My guess is it's a combination of being curious and social.  She passed out last week in the swing in the church nursery and they let her nap in there because she won't nap in the cribs they have.  

Slobina

Abrooks:

Although...it didn't start in the beginning.

This, exactly.  Ruby didn't start be a good napper until she was about 4 months old.  And by good I don't mean consistent, but she does take her naps.