Anyone have a cat napper?

orangegoggles · March 2013

Happy Monday!

Ever since we hit around 7 weeks, LO has had trouble napping during the day. Gone are the days where he would fall asleep in my arms, swing, bouncer, etc. with little to no effort. He now requires a dark room with white noise, swaddle, paci, shhh-ing, bopping, etc. Which is totally fine as I know babies have trouble soothing themselves however, he is only taking half hour naps on the dot.

He has not gone longer for a nap since before 7 weeks so its pretty consistent. I could set a timer and know exactly when he will be up. I did a little research and found that 30 minutes is the first cycle of sleep for babies and many have difficulty getting past that. I have shortened his wake time and pay attention to his sleep cues. I wouldn't be bothered by it if he constantly didn't seem overtired and cranky.

He has no problems at night. Gives us a 5 hour stretch then a 3 hour stretch, then 2 more. I guess I don't get why he have this issue at night? Any advice on how to extend naps?

Mobile users: LO is a little over 9 weeks.

Junebug060609 · March 2013

My ds was a cat napper. There were spells when I'd only get two thirty minute naps. Exhausting.

Unfortunately I don't have any sage advice. Some kids, like mine, just are wired to sleep extra at night and nap less.

The good news is that since he started walking he's napping better. Still less than the avg seventeen month old, but getting an hour, or two on occasion, is heavenly.

charmedgrl517 · March 2013

DD was the same way too and still kinda is. She takes about three 45 mon naps a day and sometimes only two that are maybe an hour. Maybe once or twice a week she sleeps 1 1/2 to 2 hrs for one of those naps. She is also great sleeper at night 11 to 12 hrs straight so I will take it! Lol but I agree that it wouldn't bother me either but you can tell he is tired and cranky. Eventually it just worked itself out. Good luck!

orangegoggles · March 2013

shmeell25:
I'll be stalking this post. DD is 8.5 months and STILL only naps about 20 minutes at a time. Every once in a while I will get a longer stretch out of her, but it's really rare. Thank goodness she sleeps well at night, it's the only thing that saves my sanity! Sorry I'm no help - just wanted to commiserate with you. Hopefully we can get some ideas from other mamas!

Oh no, that scares me!

Does she seem grumpy and overtired during the day?

orangegoggles · March 2013

Junebug060609:
My ds was a cat napper. There were spells when I'd only get two thirty minute naps. Exhausting. Unfortunately I don't have any sage advice. Some kids, like mine, just are wired to sleep extra at night and nap less. The good news is that since he started walking he's napping better. Still less than the avg seventeen month old, but getting an hour, or two on occasion, is heavenly.

Yes, it definitely is exhausting. Poor guy is exhausted too.

orangegoggles · March 2013

charmedgrl517:
DD was the same way too and still kinda is. She takes about three 45 mon naps a day and sometimes only two that are maybe an hour. Maybe once or twice a week she sleeps 1 1/2 to 2 hrs for one of those naps. She is also great sleeper at night 11 to 12 hrs straight so I will take it! Lol but I agree that it wouldn't bother me either but you can tell he is tired and cranky. Eventually it just worked itself out. Good luck!

I'm hoping it will work itself out too. When he wakes up he is still so tired but fights it when I try to get him back down. So by the afternoon he is majorly grumpy and tired.

melly918 · March 2013

Both of my kids sleep better at night than through the day. When DS was a baby, he could not nap in the crib until around 8 months when we did structured naps, I think (2x day, one in the AM and one in the PM). He now still naps in the afternoon.

My 11-week-old DD still cannot nap in her crib. Even yesterday I had her swaddled and practically fast asleep and she fussed in the crib within 15 minutes. I nursed her and she "fell asleep" three minutes into that so I put her down and within a half hour she was crying. During the day, she seems to nap better in the swing. At night, she is completely asleep in the crib for at least six hours and will fall back asleep after a 10 minute feed.

I have no advice except put your son wherever works best for naps. If he sleeps or is contented in a swing during the day, so be it.

orangegoggles · March 2013

shmeell25:
pangnl79:
shmeell25:
I'll be stalking this post. DD is 8.5 months and STILL only naps about 20 minutes at a time. Every once in a while I will get a longer stretch out of her, but it's really rare. Thank goodness she sleeps well at night, it's the only thing that saves my sanity! Sorry I'm no help - just wanted to commiserate with you. Hopefully we can get some ideas from other mamas!
Oh no, that scares me!
Does she seem grumpy and overtired during the day?
Sorry, that wasn't my intention! I will say she seems to be the rare exception on this so hopefully it won't be an issue for you!
The reason I don't push it is because she's bright eyed and bushy tailed when she does wake up. It just seems like she'd rather sleep at night. I have talked to her pedi about it several times, and with her sleeping 12 hours at night and taking 3-4 naps during the day, she says she is technically getting in all of her sleep.

Haha that was ok, I was just kidding.

Thats good that she's doing so well, my little guy is so grumpy when he gets up but for you it sounds like its working out.

orangegoggles · March 2013

melly918:
Both of my kids sleep better at night than through the day. When DS was a baby, he could not nap in the crib until around 8 months when we did structured naps, I think (2x day, one in the AM and one in the PM). He now still naps in the afternoon.

My 11-week-old DD still cannot nap in her crib. Even yesterday I had her swaddled and practically fast asleep and she fussed in the crib within 15 minutes. I nursed her and she "fell asleep" three minutes into that so I put her down and within a half hour she was crying. During the day, she seems to nap better in the swing. At night, she is completely asleep in the crib for at least six hours and will fall back asleep after a 10 minute feed.

I have no advice except put your son wherever works best for naps. If he sleeps or is contented in a swing during the day, so be it.

Yeah, I don't really mind where he sleeps. I've tried the swing, bouncer, elevated crib, RNP, a car ride, etc. He still can't seem to get past that 30 min mark, like literally on the minute, lol.

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