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Scheduled naps

mamatotwins0812mamatotwins0812 member
in Preemies
So my LO's just turned a month old and are doing great at home after 2 weeks in the nicu. The first week home they were on the nicu schedule of every 3 hour feedings and sleeping in between. The past week or so I notice they are much more awake during the day. They take their morning sleep from around 10-12 and then aren't too interested in a solid stretch of sleep until bed time at 9. (they do sleep between there, just on and off). My question is, at what point is it normal to transition to a nap schedule rather than every 3 hours (I thought this was a little young).  How do you determine when the naps should be? Clearly I know one should be in the morning since they like that, but how do I determine what time in the afternoon? And then what do I do to entertain 2 newborns for that long duration during the day? It seems like they're constantly fussy unless being "entertained", and without them being able to engage, interact, sit up etc, it makes it very difficult, especially with 2. Any ideas on what worked for you? 
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Re: Scheduled naps

  • haziedazehaziedaze member

    I agree with you, long stretches of awake time would be very unusual at this age. DS's awake stretches started getting a little longer closer to 1.5 months corrected, but he slept between every feed until about 3 months corrected.

    Do you think they are getting overstimulated? This is pretty common for preemies and they show it by hiccuping, looking mottled, or avoiding eye contact. I would try the 5 S's (sway, swaddle, suck, sush, sidelie) after feeds to soothe them and encourage them to sleep. Try swaddling and putting them in a bouncy seat or bassinet and then turning on something for white noise (sleep sheep, fan, ipod).

    Good luck! Babies can be tricky!

    BFP#1 9/14/10 (EDD 5/21/11); no fetal pole 6w6d, 7w4d, d&c 10/8
    BFP#2 3/16/11, beta 138; 4/12 Baby/HB DS born 9/10/11 at 29w4d due to partial abruption and PTL
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    BFP#3 8/19/13 Another boy! 17P, modified bedrest and Nifedipine helped us have a termie! DS2 born 4/19/14 at 38w5d.
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  • nicole0066nicole0066 member

    My LO still only goes1-1.5 hours before needing to nap again.  We are working on naps on a flat surface so they are much shorter than they should be, but if she is in the swing she usually takes a couple morning naps, a long afternoon nap, and an evening nap.  With her cat naps we sometimes get a short fifth nap in.

    When she was the age of your LOs she was still sleeping all the time.  I did notice once she became more alert that she would become overstimulated and then be up for a long time, but very fussy.  Now, I will let her go 2 hours, but like I said it's more like 1-1.5 hours and then I turn on music, rock her, and read a book.   

    I can only imagine how hard it is with two, but if you start limiting their awake time and get them to nap before they get too overstimulated I think they will be much happier during their awake time. 

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  • aquariogirlaquariogirl member

    I also think too young for a schedule, but try naps between feeds, maybe 1 hr to 1 1/2 hr naps, if you are feeding every 3 hrs. also think bedtime should be earlier, like 7:40 or 8:00 pm. My LO used to be too tired by 9pm and slept poorly as a result. 

    I try to reduce stimulation in the afternoon and evening specially.

    Then introduce a daily routine of eating, activity, nap like pp suggested. 

    DS was born in April 2012 at 31 weeks - 45 days in NICU
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