Will my child eventually nap?

CarrieBrad · January 2011

I'm looking for advice from moms who are further into this journey than I am. My daughter is 4 months old and is a horrible napper. I know this will probably discredit my need for naps when I say she sleeps through the night. Goes down at 7:30-8:15 and sleeps approx. 12 hours. So is that the extent of sleep my child needs? She's only taking three 30 minute naps during the day and two of those I have to hold her because if I try to lay her down she wakes up (it seems those two naps she doesn't really fall into a deep sleep).

So my question is - does ANYONE have an experience with a child who STTN but maybe took horrible naps at a young age but now takes atleast ONE really good hour or two hour nap at an older age but still STTN? I'm hoping I don't have to give up STTN for the chance for a daytime nap!?!?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

octbridemaryland · January 2011

My dd has been an inconsistent napper when she was younger, but she STTN at an early age (12-14 hours at about 4-41/2 months). My advice to you is to keep trying. Even if your LO won't nap when you put them down, don't give up. My DD never stopped STTN except when she was teething/sick. She now takes at least one long nap/day. Most of the time, she takes two,

OIBGal2010 · January 2011

CarrieBrad:
I'm looking for advice from moms who are further into this journey than I am. My daughter is 4 months old and is a horrible napper. I know this will probably discredit my need for naps when I say she sleeps through the night. Goes down at 7:30-8:15 and sleeps approx. 12 hours. So is that the extent of sleep my child needs? She's only taking three 30 minute naps during the day and two of those I have to hold her because if I try to lay her down she wakes up (it seems those two naps she doesn't really fall into a deep sleep).

So my question is - does ANYONE have an experience with a child who STTN but maybe took horrible naps at a young age but now takes atleast ONE really good hour or two hour nap at an older age but still STTN? I'm hoping I don't have to give up STTN for the chance for a daytime nap!?!?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

This sounds almost exactly like my DD. She started sleeping through the night at 4 weeks but after about 2-3 months of age, she hardly ever napped at all. She would take cat naps during the day, but that was about it. She is now 10 months old and during the week, she is so interested in everything going on at daycare she really doesn't nap there. I pick her up around 3:15-3:30 and she'll nap for about an hour once we get home. On the weekends, though, she'll nap for about an hour (give or take 20 min) in the morning and usually 1-2 hours in the afternoon.

Everyone (from her doc to the teachers at daycare to other moms) has told us that if she sleeps that well at night (12ish hours for us too usually) we can't expect too much during the day. Hang on, mama! I know it's frustrating sometimes, but she'll probably get on a better schedule as she gets older.

pandagirl15 · January 2011

I could have written your post at that time! However, DD is taking longer naps now that she is cutting out 1 nap. She really is only doing 2 a day now. If she takes more than that, they are usually only 45 minutes long. I don't know what your care plans are, but once she went to daycare, her naps got longer. She started that at 6 months. We are a go-go-go family, so when we're home or off, she doesn't sleep as much. When she's there, she has less to do and will take better naps. She still STTN and is in a good mood even if she only gets one nap.

irish city girl · January 2011

You're not going to like what I'm about to say. That is how DS was . . . until we did CIO. He would only take short naps during the day if I held him until we did CIO. Then he'd take 3-4 45 minute naps in his crib during the day. It's only been recently that he has started to take longer naps and his napping now is pretty inconsistent as well (he was thrown off by a break from daycare).

I should also say that before we did CIO that he would wake up about 2-3 times/night and afterwards he slept 12 hours. It didn't seem to impact his napping that much.

Summer20 · January 2011

DD went through a horrible napping phase around 3-4 months. At best she would take several cat naps, but never longer than 45 minutes. I kept trying to get her on a schedule though and by about 6 months she was STTN and taking two 1-2 hour naps a day (at 9:00 and 1:00).

I think all you can do for now is try to keep her on a consistent schedule. Don't be a slave to it, but whenever possible, put her down to nap at the same time each day. Even if she doesn't nap, try to leave her in there for at least 30 minutes if she's not screaming. DD will sometime fuss for a few minutes and then sleep for a long nap.

Also, DD sleeps 11.5-12 hours a night and usually naps 2-3 hours a day, so no I don't think you're asking too much!

memali26 · January 2011

Check out the book No Cry Nap Solution. We used some methods from that book around 5-6 months to get DD to nap without being held. She still often only naps 30 minutes at a time, but it slowly got better and now she naps 1-2 hours at least 2 or 3 times a week. She doesn't STTN every night, but does a few times a week.

As PP said, try to keep her on a consistent schedule. Create a pre-nap routine, and as soon as you see sleepy cues start that routine.

Just keep trying. It does get easier, it just takes some time and sometimes a little extra effort. Good luck!!

sturgeje · January 2011

if it makes you feel better, landon was an awesome napper at that age but slept horribly at night until around 7 months. then he was suddenly taking longer naps (less of them, though) and sleeping all night. so if you ask me, i'd rather have more sleep at night (but i also work all day so i don't really deal with getting him down for naps monday-friday!) i guess the grass is always greener on the other side!

i do think, though, that most babies gradually fall into a "routine" and start having more awake time during the day which means longer naps when they finally DO fall asleep. GL & hang in there!

ANJ410 · January 2011

Yes! You are describing my son as an infant to a "T"! He would STTN from 7-6 but his daytime naps were a horror! It took 40 minutes of rocking to get a 15-20 minute nap out of him. And I didn't dare stop the rocking because he would instantly open his eyes and start crying.

When he turned one, I finally had enough and made him CIO for naps. I put him in his crib and made him cry until he literally exausted himself and just laid down and went to sleep. I'm not going to lie, it was an awful scene, but he did start take a 2 hour nap everyday.

Your LO is a lot younger, but you might try a shorter version of CIO. When you know she's tired, put her in the crib and give it a good 10 minutes before you go in there. She might just need to let off some steam in order to fall asleep.

Good luck! It is very frustrating when you have a bad napper. I got really lucky the 2nd time. I just put my DD in the crib and leave the room and she goes right to sleep and takes really good naps.

CarrieBrad · January 2011

Thank you all for your repies - you've given me a little hope!

I do value that she STTN so I can't complain really. But days are so long and exhausting and I know and can see she is sleepy! The days where I resign to the fact that nothing else will get done and I just chose to hold her and enjoy it... are FINE! But the days when I'd really like to write in her baby book or pay the bills or stare at a wall and zone out (haha) I'd give anything for her to lay down and nap for an hour!

I guess I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and hope that day will come eventually!

Thanks again girls! Smile

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