daytime sleep - please tell me it gets better

klmbbb

I'm a FTM looking for advice from experienced mamas.  LO is 3 months and not sleeping well (short naps) or regularly during the daytime.  I have to put her in the swing, take her for a walk in the stroller or let her sleep on me to get her to sleep in the daytime.  Is daytime sleep going to come in time or do I just have a baby that won't sleep in the daytime?  I keep hearing about LOs this age napping for 1-2 hours several times a day and I envy them.  Her nighttime sleep seems to have finally settled in - she started STTN after her 2 months shots, which she had about three weeks ago.

NewMrs07

Many babies that age don't sleep well during the day. I remember having to put my son in a swing or take him for a ride in the car to get him to sleep. It WILL get better, although right now it sucks, I know. Sleep patterns usually get better after 4 months, at least that's what I saw happen with my son. Hang in there!

stever

DS was a sh!ttastic nighttime sleeper until over a year old but generally a decent napper. He did go through phases of bad napping though, usually the product of growth spurts, teething or some other developmental leap.

It all got better eventually. Good luck!

mwd

DS slept in his swing from about 3 months old to about 6 months, we wore out the swing.  DD on the other hand  slept great through the night  but was not a good sleeper durin the day.  It does get better, but it takes time.   And then you'll forget, and have another one. ;-)

 

Ilumine

Sleep Patterns suck.

Here are two pieces of information that I learned trying to get my sucky sleeper to sleep.

1) Per the latest British Studies, STTN for babies (what to acheive by age 1), is actually Midnight to 6:00 am.  That is the basic/average cicadian rythm for human babies. 

From there, you either work on them going down earlier or sleeping in later...but only ONE at a time and whichever works best for your child's individual sleep patterns.

My issue is my DD will not sleep later than 6:00a, but usualy is up around 5:30.  So we worked at having her go to sleep earlier.  That means Mommy goes down at 9:00pm, but at least we get enough sleep.

2) until they are about 1ish, the 2 hour rule rocks.  Its wake, play, eat, sleep exactly 2 hours from when they last woke up. 

I did that with my Monkey too. 

HOWEVER, like all studies/hypothesis/programs you do what is best for your individual child.  If your baby gets enough sleep during the night, to combat not enough during the day, then why not push her to the 2 naps a day now.

klmbbb

Thanks for the words of encouragement, ladies.  Sounds like I may be using the swing and going for a lot of strolls to get her to nap (so no naps for me), as opposed to using the crib.  I know she's tired because she rubs her eyes and yawns but she just fights daytime sleep when I put her in the crib. 

jlw2505

My older DD was never a good daytime sleeper but since she was a pro at night, I didn't sweat it.  She was sleeping 12 hours a night starting at around 2 months.  During the day, she would take 2-3 45 min naps and that was it.  She was down to 1 1-2 hour nap at 1 year and dropped her naps totally at around 4 1/2 or 5 years old and is still my pro night time napper.  I noticed with both of my kids that at around 3 months, they got into a real routine of when they napped, ate, etc and I really, really followed that and it made life so much easier overall for everything.

LauraLynneC

someone needs to do a study and write a book about my child:  He needs so little sleep it's killing me. (he sleeps maybe 10 hours TOTAL in a day) *sigh*

It does get better though - eventually.  hang in there!

sucredee

M'y DD napped on me, in the carrier or in the swing for the first year of her life. Napping on me was probably the first 4 months or so. I did a lot of walks or shopping with the carrier. She also napped in the swing a lot. In fact she napped in the swing until she was about 15 months old and then refused one day and has napped in her crib ever since. I had tried her naps in the crib prior to that but was never successful (she slept in her crib at night without any problem since she was 2-3 weeks old). Until she was about a year old she would nap for no more than 30 minutes but would do so every 2-3 hours. Sometimes it would take me longer to get her down than her actual nap. So yeah, that trying to get stuff done while they nap never worked so well for me.

Around 13 months she started taking 2 45 minute naps and then when she moved over to the toddler room at daycare (she goes 3 mornings a week) at 14.5 months she switched to 1 nap at noon and that is when she started sleeping anywhere from an hour to 1.5 hours (once in a blue moon she naps 2-2.5 hours but that doesn't happen very frequently at all). She goes to bed around 7 and usually sleeps til about 630-7. So I think she gets most of her sleep at night and I am fine with that. A daily 3 hour nap would make it hard to do a lot of things so for us a shorter nap during the day and early bedtime at night (when I get to have some down time) works well for us.  She also doesn't fall asleep in the car unless it is time for her nap (even on long drives).

I was always jealous of the people that had babies that did all these long naps  but you can't force  your baby to sleep longer and they will do what they want, at times it was a pain but I just realized that this was my kid and just went with it. Enjoy the snuggle time for now, soon enough they won't want to do that anymore!

robynlesley

Honestly, for us, naps SUCKED until my DS was crawling. Morning naps were good but afternoon naps were terrible until he was 11 months old and I did CIO for naps. At 3 months, the only way he slept was ON me (in the Baby K'tan Carrier) or in his car seat (which was not good because he developed brachycephaly--flat head).  The naps improved as he got older and he always slept well when he was worn in the K'tan or the Ergo, but napping in cribs was hit or miss until he was closer to one.

He eventually gave me this sleep schedule (9-11 months to 18 months):

Wake 6:30
Nap 1 9-10:30 am
Nap 2 1:30-2:30 pm
Bedtime 8:30

From 18 months on (current routine at 2.75)

Wake 6:30 am
Nap 1-3 pm (average... sometime more, sometimes less)
Bedtime 8:30 pm

 

charmiecraner

I have 2 kids and am an in-home daycare provider.  I greatly believe that babies sleep better when they are on a consistent schedule and when they are swaddled.  I love the book Baby Wise.  It's a super short read.  My first baby was a terrible sleeper and I remember feeling so desperate for sleep.  I kept waiting for her to learn to sleep.  What I learned is that babies need to be taught to sleep just like kids need to be taught to ride a bike or be nice to their peers.  I did the Baby Wise method (along with swaddling really tight) with my second child and it was so wonderful.  He slept 8 hours a night and two 2-3 hour naps a day at 8 weeks old.  It was so nice to know exactly when he would eat, when he would sleep and when he would be happy and play.  Read it and try it.  I know lots of moms it worked for including all the babies I babysit.