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Desperately need nap help...

RMarie88RMarie88 member
edited February 2014 in Babies: 3 - 6 Months
So my little girly has terrible napping problems. She's wonderful at night, she'll go to sleep around 9pm, wake around 6am for a bottle then go back to sleep until about 10am. We're sooo lucky for that, I know, but her naps during the day are terrible. She'll be awake and happy for about 3 hours then get really crabby and need a nap, the only way she'll nap is if she's being held a certain way (snuggled into my chest) and then she'll only nap for 15-30 minutes. Sometimes she wakes up crying, sometimes she wakes up happy. We've tried putting her down after she's fallen asleep and she'll wake up, if not right away very shortly after we put her down. We swaddle her at night and I've tried swaddling her for her naps but she gets upset. I'm not sure what to do...it's rough because my husband and I don't get much of a break at all during the day. :-/
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Re: Desperately need nap help...

  • agfox92agfox92 member
    Keep swaddling for naps. My lo would fuss and then give up and sleep. Do you use a pacifier? It has worked wonders for nap time at our house. Swaddled, nuk, and in her swing and she naps great now.
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  • BlondieBia21BlondieBia21 member
    3 hours of awake time is entirely too long for my lo, she can last around 1.5-2.5 hrs of awake time during the day. If I miss the moment to get her to sleep and she becomes overly tired, our naps are pretty much screwed for the day. I would try to shorten her awake time and see how she does with that. (As in, at the 2 hr awake mark, try to rock her to sleep for a nap or put her in the swing.)
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  • KristintificKristintific member
    I would definitely watch for her sleepy cues- rubbing eyes, a listless vacant look in her eyes, yawning... and get her down for a nap as soon as she does this stuff.  Drowsy, but awake, kwim?  Do you use white noise at all?  I got an app for my iphone called the "baby shusher"... it's amazing.  Seriously. Download it now. It works every time.

    It may help to time a bottle for right before nap time, but before the drowsy cues.  I nurse DS around the time he usually naps and he seems to sleep well with a full belly. hope that helps.
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  • olga1311olga1311 member
    I think you are waiting too long to put her down for a nap. 3 hours is way too long. They are supposed to be awake 2 hours max around this age. DD starts rubbing her eyes after about 1.5 hours. Put her down as soon as you notice her sleeping cues. When they are overtired, they fall asleep harder and they do not sleep as well / wake up earlier.
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  • hilalkhilalk member
    I agree with PP's. My LO naps exactly for 30 min at a time. She is like a clock but I put her to sleep every hour or hour and a half. You can try to put your LO on her belly where you can watch her. My LO sleeps on her belly really good.
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  • RMarie88RMarie88 member
    I had no idea 3 hours was too long for her to be awake...I thought because she slept so much at night she just wasn't going to nap much during the day. These parenting forums are a god-sent to first time moms, lol.
    We do use white noise, it's the only way she sleeps well at night.
    If she starts napping more/longer should I expect her nighttime sleeping to decrease?
    Thanks for the help...I'm definitely going to try out all your suggestions.
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  • roo1ooroo1oo member
    I try to get mine to go to sleep every 2ish hours. Sometimes he lasts 2.5, sometimes only 1.5. I always give him a small bottle the minute I notice he needs a nap, and that usually makes him sleepy or puts him out. I've also started putting him in his playpen at 2 hours and letting him talk himself to sleep. That's worked a couple of times, and is nice cause I'm nearby in case he gets upset but I don't engage him at all so he has a chance to settle down and drift off.
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