Good napping = bad night sleeping?

tryinforbaby · May 2010

I know this sounds backwords but DS has always been a catnapper... 30 minutes at a time and he's up and happy. I had been doing alot of reading though that babies really need to take longer naps so I had been working on getting him back to sleep once he woke up. I did that for 2 days and both of those nights he went from sleeping 9-330 to waking up at midnight as well. Yesterday I didn't push the naps and he slept until 330.

Am I doing him any disservice by not making him take longer naps during the day as long as he seems happy?

kcisthebombdotcom · May 2010

I'm a firm believer in the "if it aint broke don't fix it" philosophy. Do what works for your son-every kid is different.

CJ2008 · May 2010

I don't know, but I wanted to share that DD is a crappy napper as well. She always takes 30 min naps, even in the car. She takes 4-5 a day and wakes up happy as a clam. We've tried to prolong them but it was a big fail. She also sleeps 9-10 hours at night, eats, and then sleeps another 2 hours, so I know she's getting the sleep sometime! and while I wish I could get more done around the house, I am happy that she sleeps well at night now.

BlondeBarbie419 · May 2010

I just read an article in a magazine that said baby's who nap good during the day sleep good at night. Not quite sure if that means longer naps or what not, but it said they should take at least a 45 min. to 1 hour nap for it to do any good.

finally_mommy2b · May 2010

DD just started taking GOOD naps-like 3 one hour naps a day. but she won't go to sleep at night and she wakes up several times. i wouldn't dare wake her up, because she is a beast when she is tired. but just to let you know i am in the same boat as you are.

Mereou12 · May 2010

BlondeBarbie419:
I just read an article in a magazine that said baby's who nap good during the day sleep good at night. Not quite sure if that means longer naps or what not, but it said they should take at least a 45 min. to 1 hour nap for it to do any good.

Ugh. Articles like this do nothing more than piss me off. You know what I would do to get my little man to nap for 45 minutes to an hour? Magazine articles always make it sound so easy...like I'm choosing to only let my LO sleep for 30 minutes at a time. Ugh.

(oh, and my hostility is directed at the article, BlondeBarbie, not at you. Smile )

jillms413 · May 2010

Is he cranky after the 30 minute naps? How about at the end of the day? If he seems generally happy then I wouldn't push for the longer naps.

ELPB · May 2010

I let DD sleep whenever she wants during the day- whether it's 1 30-min nap or 3 2-hour naps or whatever... and she sleeps 6+ hours each night, and when she wakes up mid-morning, I feed her and put her back down (half-hour tops), and she sleeps for another 3. I don't believe babies are meant to be on rigid schedules- some days, they need more/less sleep than others!

JDWNYC · May 2010

DS seems to be pretty similar to your LO and we try to help him nap longer and it just doesn't work. But, DS is also pissed off and a pain in the ass about an hour after each time he wakes but is still not ready for another of his catnaps. I think longer naps develop in time, and that as long as we are making sure they get the total sleep they need and not keeping them up too long at a time then that's the best we can do...

littlemaybaby · May 2010

Mereou12:

BlondeBarbie419:
I just read an article in a magazine that said baby's who nap good during the day sleep good at night. Not quite sure if that means longer naps or what not, but it said they should take at least a 45 min. to 1 hour nap for it to do any good.

Ugh. Articles like this do nothing more than piss me off. You know what I would do to get my little man to nap for 45 minutes to an hour? Magazine articles always make it sound so easy...like I'm choosing to only let my LO sleep for 30 minutes at a time. Ugh.

(oh, and my hostility is directed at the article, BlondeBarbie, not at you. )

Yes If we lived closer together we would be friends IRL!!!

beckypooh03@yahoo.com · May 2010

If he wakes up happy after a 30 minute nap I wouldn't worry about trying to have him nap longer.

Now on the other hand if my DS gets only 30 minute naps during the day he's fussy all day long! Every baby is different!

Culkinator54 · May 2010

DD used to be this exact same cat napper, and although I never got anything done, she was pretty happen when she woke up. I asked the pedi about it b/c I thought she wasn't getting enough sleep, and she told me if she wakes up happy, don't mess with it. Plus, she was STTN. Yay!

Well, then we started DC, and our DCP got her to take 2 long (2ish hour) naps before DH picked her up. At first, her STTN went to crap, but after a week of the new schedule, she went back to STTN. Now, if she doesn't get those long naps, there's heck to pay!

I say, do what works for you, but I'm a firm believer that good sleep begets sleep, regardless of the time frame.

Mereou12 · May 2010

littlemaybaby:
Mereou12:

BlondeBarbie419:
I just read an article in a magazine that said baby's who nap good during the day sleep good at night. Not quite sure if that means longer naps or what not, but it said they should take at least a 45 min. to 1 hour nap for it to do any good.

Ugh. Articles like this do nothing more than piss me off. You know what I would do to get my little man to nap for 45 minutes to an hour? Magazine articles always make it sound so easy...like I'm choosing to only let my LO sleep for 30 minutes at a time. Ugh.

(oh, and my hostility is directed at the article, BlondeBarbie, not at you. )

If we lived closer together we would be friends IRL!!!

LOL! Yes, I believe we would be!

BlondeBarbie419 · May 2010

Mereou12:

BlondeBarbie419:
I just read an article in a magazine that said baby's who nap good during the day sleep good at night. Not quite sure if that means longer naps or what not, but it said they should take at least a 45 min. to 1 hour nap for it to do any good.

Ugh. Articles like this do nothing more than piss me off. You know what I would do to get my little man to nap for 45 minutes to an hour? Magazine articles always make it sound so easy...like I'm choosing to only let my LO sleep for 30 minutes at a time. Ugh.

(oh, and my hostility is directed at the article, BlondeBarbie, not at you. )

No, I totally agree with you! I would looooove if I could get my little guy to take more than a 10 minute nap!!!

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