Napping (or not...)

mamacat123

So DD's nap schedule is crazy.  She wakes up for the day around 7:30 or 8.  She has a bottle of breastmilk and then plays/hangs out with me until around 9:30, when she starts to get fussy, red eyes, etc.  I put her in her nursery in her RNP (where she sleeps at night), turn on white noise machine, turn off lights, and let her nap.

She's up like 45 minutes later and will NOT be put back to sleep.  So then we get into this eat/play/sleep cycle with sleep being only about 40 minutes each time. The problem is that she has started taking an insanely long nap from about 3 PM to 6 PM.  I know she needs the sleep because she's sleeping so poorly during the day, so I don't wake her or anything, but I'd like to get her taking longer naps earlier in the day so she doesn't sleep for so long so close to bedtime.

Ideally she would nap for 1.5 hours or so during her AM and PM naps...anyone have any advice?  She loves to sleep in the swing, but I'm trying to get her to sleep in her room, at least in the RNP, so we can transition her to the crib and start sleep training in a month or two.

I would appreciate any help from people who have good nappers!  Thanks! 

megaloo27

I don't know why you feel she needs to nap 1.5 hours at a time. My DD is on a  3-4 hour schedule right now. Eat/burp (I pump) which takes around an hour. She then has 1-2 hours of awake/playtime. Then She sleeps about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Then we start all over again. If she skips a nap, I just move on to the next part of the routine. I don't let her sleep more than 1 hour past her next scheduled feeding time because she will be super fussy and her routine gets messed up. As she gets older I will increase awake time and lengthen nap time. But as of now, she still can only go about 3 hours before she needs to eat again. I hope this helps. 

michelle_1221

megaloo27:

I don't know why you feel she needs to nap 1.5 hours at a time. My DD is on a  3-4 hour schedule right now. Eat/burp (I pump) which takes around an hour. She then has 1-2 hours of awake/playtime. Then She sleeps about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Then we start all over again. If she skips a nap, I just move on to the next part of the routine. I don't let her sleep more than 1 hour past her next scheduled feeding time because she will be super fussy and her routine gets messed up. As she gets older I will increase awake time and lengthen nap time. But as of now, she still can only go about 3 hours before she needs to eat again. I hope this helps. 

This is pretty much what my DD does also! Yes, alonger stretch of sleep would be nice early, but it will come with age.

mamacat123

megaloo27:

I don't know why you feel she needs to nap 1.5 hours at a time. My DD is on a  3-4 hour schedule right now. Eat/burp (I pump) which takes around an hour. She then has 1-2 hours of awake/playtime. Then She sleeps about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Then we start all over again. If she skips a nap, I just move on to the next part of the routine. I don't let her sleep more than 1 hour past her next scheduled feeding time because she will be super fussy and her routine gets messed up. As she gets older I will increase awake time and lengthen nap time. But as of now, she still can only go about 3 hours before she needs to eat again. I hope this helps. 

I think I am saying 1.5 hours because she is so fussy by that 3 pm nap time that I attribute it to being overtired. That's the only explanation I have for her taking that giant marathon nap in the late afternoon. I guess I assumed if she took better/longer naps throughout the day, she would be better rested and less fussy in the afternoon and evening? The days she DOES nap for 1 hour plus, she just seems so much calmer and happier during those awake times!  

meg_2006

megaloo27:

I don't know why you feel she needs to nap 1.5 hours at a time. My DD is on a  3-4 hour schedule right now. Eat/burp (I pump) which takes around an hour. She then has 1-2 hours of awake/playtime. Then She sleeps about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Then we start all over again.

 It goes about the same for us.   As long as she's sleeping decent through the night, I wouldn't worry about the long nap.  Itty bitty ones can't really oversleep.

I know with this routine we have,  I have a harder time giving DS my attention b/c I feel like I hardly have any time of my own.  Those 45 minutes are spent in a mad dash to get housework done, phone calls made, etc.  I get no "me" time and find myself more distracted and entertaining him less.  Whereas if he happens to get a longer chunk of sleep by some miracle I feel like I can give him more of my attention.  Maybe she's bored (or senses your exhaustion:)  )

sanbry

I've been desperately trying to get my daughter on a decent nap schedule and this week I've been keeping her up after her 645 am feeding.. She seems to nap best in the a.m. Have you tried not going in right away if she starts to cry? Or darkening the room. Mine has been starting to take a 3 hr nap in her crib in the morning but does wake and fuss randomly throughout it and I usually end up having to wake her up to feed her. Then she catnaps the rest of the day. Some days she's fussy, sometimes not, can't tell if it's related to napping or not.