Can we talk naps?

Meg&Austin · November 2014

I am interested to see how everyone else is doing with this. I am having a hard time getting a good morning nap but I am also not sure how long she should be staying awake now so maybe it is normal? Granted we only have the weekends to be all day together but this is a usual weekend for us

Wake at 6/7. usually I can get a half hour nap when she eats around 10. Then she will be up until I can fight her down for a nap around 12/1. I am trying to get her to go down on her own without nursing to sleep.

We usually get a good 2 1/2-3 hour nap here. Then I cant get her down again for a cat nap before bed so then we have a cranky baby around 6. On bath nights we start that at 7 then feed, play and to bed. She does great going to sleep on her own here but not with naps. Maybe i need to move this up? She will usually sleep from 730/8 until 2/3 eat and back to bed until around 6.

So i guess my question is is that one 3 hour nap really enough for a 6 month old? Hows everyone else's lil ones doing? Any pointers on getting her down on her own at nap time?

KBowen715 · November 2014

What's a 'nap'?

kendy20 · November 2014

Generally DD will nap about 1-1.5 hours after she eats. Normally those naps are 20-30 min. She skips her late afternoon nap because she's excited when DH gets home from work and makes up for it on her last nap before bedtime by taking a good 1 hour nap. So I would guess throught out the day she sleeps about 4-5 hours from when she wakes up around 530-6. She gives us a 5 hour stretch at night, eats then is back down for 2-3 hours before she decides if she wants to up for the day or not. So total sleep I would say is about 13-15 Hours depending on the day. Though today she's fighting me with her naps and crying hysterically and won't let me put her down :-/

bazingaa · November 2014

3hr nap?!?! Holy cow! DS usually takes three naps a day at daycare or at home with us on the weekends and we don't even average 3hrs total. I'm lucky to get 45min stretches each time.

bumpuser10194737 · November 2014

Our schedule is usually:

Up at 7 or 7:30

First nap around 9:30-10:30

Sometimes takes a short nap in the car around 12:00 if we are out.

Afternoon nap about 2:30-4:00/4:30

Bed at 7:30 or 8:00

THD7580 · November 2014

comicsans said:
Naps are confusing. What's more important...baby not being awake too long or total sleep in a 24 hr period?

I've seen lots of info that says around this age 14 hours total sleep is about right. Your baby seems to sleep 10.5 - 11 hours at night and then nap 3ish hours? Sounds like enough.

My girl seems to max out at 2 hrs awake during the day but will go 3 - 4 before bedtime. For naps I get about 1 - 1.5 hours in the morning then 2 x 30 - 40 mins. She's now back to sleeping about 12 hours at night with one wakeup to eat that only takes 15 - 20 mins. So I guess her total sleep is ok too. The last nap of the day has been ending around 3:30 and she doesn't wake up happy from that one, but will then stay up till bedtime. We shoot for 7:00 bedtime, but last night was 6:30. She was up today between 6/6:30. She's had 2 naps before noon. I'm thinking somehow she's going to need 2 more naps today or bed time will be really early.

The good news for us is that over the last few days good sleep has returned and she's been going down for naps without a fuss - it's amazing!

I could have written this. This is DS exactly to the T. His morning nap is about 1-1.5 hours and then the other two are about 30-45 min. I try to have him up by 4 so he can go down between 6-630.

lrmrtn · November 2014

During the week, DS is at DC and his nap schedule is all over the place, usually 3 or 4 30-45 minute naps. On the weekends DS usually takes a 1-2 hour morning nap and either 2 30-45 minute naps (usually if we are driving) or 1 1-2 hour nap in the afternoon. He's usually up by 4pm until bedtime around 7. Those 3 hours before bed are painful. Our pedi said ideally you want 3 naps a day - morning, afternoon and a catnap before dinner. We've never mastered that early evening catnap. Either he won't go down or it turns into an early bedtime with a 2 am wakeup.

Meg&Austin · November 2014

This is my problem exactly. I know she needs that evening catnap but she wont take it so she is cranky as craps about 6 n my husband thinks I'm spoiling her by holding her so she will stay awake longer

haylo33 · November 2014

My guy wakes around 7. Naps around 8-9. Then another nap around lunch and then around 3. Last week he was napping an hour each time and he was such a pleasure. Now we are back to 30 min and he wakes up exhausted and grouchy. He just woke up at 3 from a 30 min nap and I'm back upstairs rocking him back to sleep and it is 3:40. He goes to bed at 7, gives us about a 5-6 hour stretch then up again around 4. I wish he would nap better because he is such a happy baby when he gets enough sleep

hbird0723 · November 2014

I was just reading that around this age they tend to drop a nap and go to two but since she sleeps like carp all the time she needs more but fights every time. If I even get a nap it's 20-30 minutes and some days 1 hour nap. They are supposed to get at least 14 hours and I'm getting 10-12 at night (not straight and around 4&5 is a bear) so if I can get 2 hours total during the day I'm happy. She still has no pattern though because she wakes up at different times and I can't seem to figure her ques out because she just always seems tired. She's pretty much always grumpy lately and it's usually because she's tired hungry or has to go to the bathroom and I feel like lately she's at least one of those all day. Anyway rant over.

To sum it up naps and bedtime sucks! She hates anything sleep related.

hbird0723 · November 2014

Oh and I also read usually they give up their 3rd nap if LO is taking 3 and that it might mean earlier bedtime. That'd be nice!

Katzalia · November 2014

We're down to two naps here, usually an hour in the late morning and 2-3 hours in the mid afternoon. The only catch is she needs to either be held, taken for a walk in the stroller, or nap with me.

ama7165 · November 2014

Since starting daycare, naps are horrible. He only takes 30 min naps there, maybe two. Then when we get home he wants to sleep forever. We had some evenings when he would sleep until almost bedtime! Any advice to get him to nap better at daycare or should we be limiting how much he is napping in the evening?

spinsoffresonance · November 2014

DD has the same nap schedule as OP. Up for the day around 7-8am, nap around 10-11am for about 45min, nap around 1pm for 2-3hours and occasionally catnap around 5.30pm depending on how long her afternoon nap was. She does fine with this schedule. She's usually awake about 2.5hours in between naps.

katekat8721 · November 2014

We follow Sleep Easy. If nothing else, try this... keep her awake 2 hours between wake up time and first nap. Then try keeping her awake 2.5 hrs in between end of 1st nap and 2nd nap. You want her nice and tired for those naps so she'll consolidate her sleep.

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