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Babies: 3 - 6 Months
Eitak82
member
Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child
Eitak82
member
I've started reading this book (I'm only about 100 pages in) and I have two questions/concerns:
1. It seems to indicate between weeks 12-16 most babies are ready to go down to 2 longer naps per day. Is anyone actually finding this? My 14 week old's limit still seems to be about 2 hr 15 min of awake time before he is ready to go down for a nap (and his naps are usually 45 - 60 min). I'm not clear on when to start this transition or how it will become apparent by observing LO?
2. The author mentions always allowing baby to nap at home in his crib. I can absolutely see the benefits of this, and want my baby to have good quality sleep, but I do struggle with what this means for my day. I am desperately trying to lose the baby weight and found a mommy & baby bootcamp, but it meets from 9:30 - 10:30... is this just completely off limits because he is usually ready for a nap then?
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Re: Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child
Agreed. Especially with the bolded.
In my personal experience (as well as that of my friends) 12 weeks is extremely early to expect 2 naps/day. I would say that happens closer to 6mo. Let your baby sleep when they need to sleep. They're going to develop at different rates. I honestly believe that you're going to end up with a better sleeper in the long run if you just let them sleep when they need to sleep rather than trying to force them to conform with a schedule you want them to have.
As far as sleeping on the go, IME some babies are better at this than others. Also, when babies are really young they can pretty much sleep anywhere, but many will outgrow this. You'll likely be better off being home for naps. I know people who just kind of ignored their baby's sleep needs and did their own thing and expected baby just to go along with it and honestly their baby's sleep suffered for it. It's hard to live your life around your baby's nap schedule (especially when they're taking so many naps a day!), but you'll both be better off in the long run if you're able to let them sleep for their naptime, whatever that entails. If I were you I would see how it goes. If your LO is able to nap in their stroller or whatever and get a good nap in, then great! If it's not working and they're going to end up missing a nap (or taking a really crappy one) and then getting overtired then I think you'll have to reassess and maybe be home for their naptime. Just experiment with it, you'll know what works and what doesn't.
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As far as not going out during nap time...I followed the school of thought that naptime is sacred and most everyone thought I was crazy. But my oldest is still an excellent sleeper and I think it was worth it. It gets much easier when they are only taking one nap. Now with this 2nd kid things are getting a little iffy! But I'm trying!
1. My DS is almost 18 weeks and still is only up for 1.5 to 2 hours max before he is ready for a nap and still takes about 4 naps a day usually for at least an hour each. I think they will make the transition to less naps when they're ready just by wanting to spend more time awake.
2. I read this book as well and since reading this have tried to make more of an effort to do my running around right after my LO eats, during his awake time so I can be home in time for his nap. But that being said I agree with the PP in saying that I think our kids should learn to sleep in all different places. We can't always put our kids down in the perfect environment for sleep and I think if we did they would learn to need that specific perfect environment to sleep and that's not realistic for everyday life.
Thanks all!
First off, I'm happy to hear that two naps doesn't come till later on -- I thought I might be missing something as he certainly does not seem ready for that.
He is great about napping through noise (as was just put to the test when our apartment decided to test fire alarms during nap time), it's just that the naps are poorer quality when they are in the stroller/car seat.
I went to my exercise class this morning and he napped (only for 27 min) in the stroller and was then a little fussy/sleepy during his feeding. I spoke to some of the moms there and they seem to fall into the same two camps described above: 1) naps are sacred, stay home for them (as much as possible), or 2) they need to learn to nap in different environments and happy mommy = happy baby, so go to boot camp class!
Not sure what's best for now as there are compromises on both sides. I'm more than willing to sacrifice some (most) of my daytime hours to fit his schedule/needs, but I do need to be healthy too and part of that involves exercise and actually meeting people (H and I have only lived in our area for less than a year and have no family around).
I see HSHHC as a guide to what is happening developmentally, more than an instruction manual. I think my DD is starting to move towards two bigger naps but she still needs a mini cat nap in the morning and another in the evening. So she wakes around 6:30/7, takes a swing snooze around 8, then a longer nap around 9:30/10, often a long nap from about 12:15-3:30 and then before her 6pm bedtime she needs to get a power nap in at some point.
As for napping on the go, most do outgrow it. If LO is doing fine, keep doing what you're doing. If it starts to seem like LO is overtired or having a hard time falling asleep then reassess. I love Baby Boot Camp, too, but by 4 or 5 months with DD1 I had to stop going because she wouldn't nap and turned into a monster. DD2 is doing ok so far but if it stops working then I'll commit to the nap and do something else for fitness.
My DD is 15 weeks and has been doing the 2 long naps thing for about a week now. She totally transitioned to this on her own. Previously she was taking 3 (or 4) one hour naps. She gets up between 7 and 7:30 a.m. and is ready for a nap by 8:30 or 9 at the latest. She sleeps for 2 hours and I just plan on staying home until after her morning nap and her 2nd feeding (between 10:30 and 11) Then we head out for the day, run whatever errands I need to run, get lunch, etc. During that time she takes about a 20 min catnap in her stroller or carseat. We plan to come home by 2, she eats again and then goes down for another 2 hours normally from 3-5. She goes down for the night between 7 and 7:30. Both of her long naps she takes at home, in her crib - with one catnap on the go.
At first I was so frustrated because I didnt know how to work my day around this and It bothered me that she couldnt nap wherever I was - but she really does sleep better in her crib where she can be in a quiet, dark room and take a REAL nap with no distractions! BUT now that I've accepted her new schedule and plan around it, life has become much more pleasant! She is SO much happier on the days when she takes great naps, the difference is crazy! and sleep begets sleep. the better she naps, the better she sleeps at night.