How Long Should Naps Be?

Updated on April 07, 2008
A.L. asks from Gig Harbor, WA
40 answers

My son is 12 weeks old and he seems to cat-nap all day long. I read the "On Becoming Babywise" book and have been working on a 3 hour schedule: feed, play, then nap. His naps range from 30 minutes to MAYBE an hour during the day. I read that they are supposed to be over an hour each. Do any other moms have any advice on how to make his naps longer? Thank you!

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K.K.

answers from Seattle on

I've heard that Babywise works well for bottle-fed babies, but not so well for breastfed ones because their tummies don't stay "full" for as long when they are breastfed. It takes longer to digest formula, therefore the longer nap. Any book on parenting needs to be taken with a bit of flexibility. The eat, play, nap schedule is a good routine to get into but don't be too strict with the time because every baby is different. At about 6 months you can expect to have settled into a 2-nap-a-day routine (one in the morning and one in the afternoon.) This is because they can eat more at a time and stay fuller longer. Enjoy the awake time - as long as they're happy, you're doing just fine! I'm a momma of 3 and each one was different.

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A.H.

answers from Seattle on

I just heard this on a radio show. They recommend to LET A BABY SLEEP as long as they wish so long as they get up before around 6pm. This will help them sleep through the night. Babies sleep a lot. Don't worry. Their bodies know better than we.

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B.G.

answers from Portland on

A.,
It could be that when he wakes he really isn't quite ready to get up yet? See if giving him a pacifier or just letting him fuss a little until he goes back to sleep might be what he needs.

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A.G.

answers from Portland on

I guess i disagree with previous postings. I didn't use the babywise book but rather the baby whisperer by tracy hogg. not really sure how they compare, but it also helps you establish a 3 hour routine of eat, play, sleep. at 12 weeks by DS followed this pretty well with a bit a help. he was taking three naps per day that were between 1-2 hours long and sleeping 12 hours per night with 2 feeds. he is not 9 months and has been sleeping through the night since 5 months. gaining weight well and is generally very happy, in part because i think he gets good sleep. I think routine and helping little ones get good solid sleep is really important to their overall health. a recent study showed that something like 70% of 2 year old are sleep deprived which starts really early.

anyway, as for solutions, i would suggest getting the baby whisperer from the library because your little one may be taking short naps for a wide variety of reasons and her book will help tailor a approach that will work. good luck!!

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M.G.

answers from Seattle on

Do yourself a favor and throw the Babywise book away! Babywise has been linked to dehydration in Babies and Failure to Thrive! http://aapnews.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/1...

At twelve weeks your baby should eat and nap on demand, especially if you breastfeed. You can try to start establishing routines slowly, but I would suggest listening to his rhythm and going from there.

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S.W.

answers from Seattle on

Hi A.,

I have a lot of friends that read babywise. I agree with some of it, but realize that all babies are different. I have been reading healthy sleep habits happy child. It has made a large impact on our lives. We enforce a pattern during the day. I let him sleep as long as he wants and when he gets up he nurses then playtime and back to sleep. We have not started to let him cry it out because he is not ready for that. He will be 12 weeks tomorrow. We do put him down for bedtime at 7pm and are slowly working towards a 6pm bedtime. believe it or not they sleep longer at night with an earlier bedtime and take longer naps. This book doesn't talk about strict schedules, it talks about the importance of sleep. It might be worth checking out.

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B.Z.

answers from Seattle on

I think all babies are different. Some nap longer than others. I don't think you should worry about it. Maybe he just isn't a good napper. Does he sleep well at night? If so, I wouldn't worry about it. Just enjoy the awake time you have with him during the day. Think about it this way, more time for him to learn!

Good luck!

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S.R.

answers from Portland on

My baby is the same age on Tuesday the 8 th. I have been told that babies this age need a total of 5 hours in nap hours combine. My son will sometimes do the cat napping thing also. I just try to check his blanket,sleeping area and diaper and then lay him back to sleep. I myself have not tried the babywise approach.I have to agree with what was said about using everything more as a guide then a prefect hand book. Because we all know that "Our" baby is different. And you can't raise children by books in my opinion. Good luck !!

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J.T.

answers from Portland on

A.,
I followed the same book, & it DOES work. My daughter was the EXACT same way! However, now at just under 1 yr old she takes only 1 nap a day....it can range from 1 hour to 3 hours. According to Baby Wise, she SHOULD be sleeping more, but she is happy, well rested & a general pleasure - some days excluded :) What I really like about the book, is that it ecourages you to KNOW YOUR BABY. Since people are all different, it stands to reason your son will be unique in all his habits & schedules. If he seems to be a happy well adjusted baby, work w/ what WORKS FOR HIM. Eventually, his naps WILL fall into a regular pattern, just keep working on a regular routine.

J.

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D.F.

answers from Corvallis on

My son didn't nap very long when he was that age. Sometimes putting him in the swing would help him nap longer, but his naps were around 30, with an longer nap if I slept with him. He slept well at night and didn't usually get up until 9 or sometimes 10 in the morning, so I just figured he got enough sleep all in all and didn't worry about it too much. When he moved to 2 naps a day, they were a little longer, then when he moved to 1 nap a day, it was about 2hours on average. Maybe try to put your son in a swing, or laying down with him. Good luck!

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A.D.

answers from Portland on

I think that there are a lot of books out there that try to give advice assuming every child is the same. Yes many of them are similar in napping, but many of them are not. My son slept a lot during the day and still had no trouble sleeping at night. However my daughter hardly slept at all during the day and had no trouble sleeping at night. If you can get your son into a schedule then that is great, but don't beat yourself up if you can't. As long as you aren't waking him up on purpose then he will get the sleep he needs one way or another.

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M.C.

answers from Seattle on

Neither of my kids took a real nap until they were around 6-8 months old. Our son just started taking good 2-3 hour naps about 3 months ago at 8 1/2 months old.

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K.H.

answers from Portland on

First of all, I'm a grandmother to nine children, and had five myself. I am 64 years of age. And the only advice I can give is throw out the textbooks! Children aren't science projects, and each one is totally different. Raising them consists of mostly just common sense, and not trying to change them. Each one has their own schedule, and you need to try to adapt to it (within reason), rather than trying to change their schedule to fit yours. This is my opinion, but ultimately you are the one who has to make the decision. I will guarantee you'll have a much happier baby if you do this.
Please also keep in mind that there are a ton of child rearing books on the market, but most are actually written by people who don't have children.

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R.L.

answers from Seattle on

First of all, I think the three hour schedule is really smart. I do, however, haaaaate the Babywise books. I think they are way to strict in how you handle babies and can be dangerous. But, The Baby Whisperer (my favorite of all baby books) talks about a three hour routine also - I just think her approach is kinder to the baby.

My guess is that if he's only sleeping 30 minutes, he's not eating enough. I'd try encouraging him to feed longer and making sure that he's really ready to get up when you get him up. He may just need you to pat him and put him back down.

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J.H.

answers from Portland on

I personally don't care for the baby wise approach as it doesn't follow a baby's natural cycle. A friend of mine did that and I remember her following it to a T. She would nurse her son and then he would fall asleep which is a God given affect of the breasts on a baby. Nursing is natural and sleep inducing, God made it that way. Then she would sit him up and pat and jiggle him awake because she needed to teach him that he slept when she wanted and he would never learn to sleep if he had a boob in his mouth to do it. He would sit there with his head slumped over and finally would wake up and be groggy and moody for an hour then she would put him down for his nap with out nursing and let him scream forever until he fell asleep. Then the cycle would repeat. If I am correct the baby gets fed every 3 hours? Studies have shown that breast milk digests in 1 hour so the baby is justifiably hungry after 1 hour. That is why most drs will tell you for your baby to gain adequate weight not to schedule feed. On napping, every baby is different. My daughter took cat naps, drove me nuts!!! Her sleep cycle was very different from my 3 sons who developed their own "schedule" of nursing and sleeping. If you watch a baby without setting a strict schedule you will see that they set their own and in the early months is pretty good. Of course as soon as you and baby get it down they change! They get sick, teeth, grow and need turbo naps. Go with the flow:) As they get older and develop and more independent like around 9months- year you need to say now is nap time and be the adult because a 1 year won't go crawl in bed. Good luck and remember those mama instincts! They are usually right on the money.

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M.A.

answers from Seattle on

A.:

As I read many of the posts, there are people who believe in Babywise and those that don't. I am a firm believer in this strategy as it has worked for both of my children and most of my friends. As with all parenting philosophies, they need to be adapted to your child that's why it's called 'parent directed'.

Your son is 12 weeks old. How many naps does he take a day? My daugther used to nap 3 times a day until she was 4 or 5 months old (first 2 naps were 1.5 hours and the 3rd one shorter). My son only wants to nap 2 naps a day since he was 3 months old (his a.m. nap is 2 hours and afternoon is 1.5 hours). All children go in and out of sleep cycles. You have to determine if this is what's happening and if he'll soothe himself back to sleep. My son wakes up and coos for 5 minutes and he's back asleep. Sometimes he cries a little but again he goes back to sleep. Your son will be better at it as he gets a little older too.

Routines are wonderful, especially when your baby knows what to expect. I found my daughter (she's 2.5 years now) doesn't have temper tantrums or cry alot b/c of this. You are taking the guess work out 'what might be wrong'. This is healthy for your child. I also found sign language to be very helpful when they are 9+ months so they can communicate with you.

Sleep is very important to all babies and it helps the brain develop if the sleep is extended. Sleep puts your son's brain back in order after all the chaos from being awake and playing. With the right amount of sleep, your baby will be happy.

I'm happy to share more of my thoughts/experiences. Just send me a response.

:) M.

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H.C.

answers from Portland on

you can read all the books you want but no one knows your baby better than YOU. Trust your instincts....if your son seems happy and is eating good I don't really think you have anything to worry about. My son went through a phase where all he would take was 30 min naps....it was frustrating but he was perfectly fine and did eventually settle into a longer nap schedule.

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K.R.

answers from Portland on

Happy Birthday! To be honest with you, I literally burned my copy of "Babywise." I found it to be very frustrating and unhelpful. And when I looked it up online, I found some scary info about it - babies failing to thrive, etc. I'm now on my third baby, and we've definitley learned to just do what seems right for you and your child. My newest baby does a huge morning nap (3-4 hours), and then the rest of the day is a series of little 30-45min. catnaps. I figure, if your son is pretty happy and content when he is awake, then he's getting enough sleep. With my older two kids, I just did whatever worked (swing, car seat, co-sleep) up until 4 months old. Once I got the OK from the doctor that their weight was fine, and they didn't need middle-of-the-night feedings, we moved them to a crib out of our room and let them cry it out. It was a pretty quick process once we committed to it - one night for each of them. It's our plan do do it again with our third after her check-up this week. I really like Ferber's book, personally, because it does a good job of explaining the sleep process. Good luck!

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M.S.

answers from Portland on

One of the biggest mistakes of new parents is thinking that their baby has to fit into whatever mold they read about. There is no "suppose to". Every baby is different, and the best thing to do it allow your baby to show you what is normal for him. Don't try to make a schedule for him, but instead feed when he asks for food, put him down for a nap when he shows signs of needing one, and play when he is alert and interested. This will show you his natural schedule and you can adjust your schedule to accomidate his. Every person is born with their body telling them when they are hungry, full, tired, etc. If you try to over-ride this by feeding him when he doesn't ask, stopping too soon, forcing food on him, forcing a nap when he's not tired, or forcing him to stay awake when he is tired, you will teach him to ignore his body's cues.

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J.A.

answers from Seattle on

Hi A.. I have 2 children and my first was a great sleeper. He was sleeping through the night and napping on a regular schedule by 2 months. Then I had my daughter...she also cat napped (30 minutes, maybe 45) every 2 hours like clockwork. She didn't sleep all night without waking until she was nearly one! She finally got into a 2 nap a day routine when she was 9 months, only to give up the morning nap by 1 year. She is now 2 1/2 and naps daily and is a great sleeper. Some kids are just different nappers...as long as the baby seems happy, you are doing great. I loved the Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child book...great tips!

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A.B.

answers from Eugene on

After reading some of the responses here I just want to start by telling you not to let anyone discourage you from the babywise approach. When I used it with my son I found very little support out there and found it difficult to follow through with it. But I did follow through and it worked great for us. It may not be for some people but that doesn't give them a right to tell you that it's absolutely WRONG for you!! I agree with the mom with twins who said you should try letting him cry it out for 10-15 minutes. It worked with my son and he almost always fell back to sleep. There are two sides to every approach... the ones who believe it works and the ones who will tell you how wrong it is. I believe that people are allowed to voice their opinions but shouldn't be telling you how awful you are for doing what you're doing. I found the best approach to babywise was using it as a "guide" and not a "rule book." By not following it to the T, I was able to not feel like a failure when things didn't go the way the book said they would. So don't sweat it if he's only napping short periods at a time. Just keep on trying different approaches. I hope this helps. And I am more than willing to be of support in your "babywise" journey. Let me know if I can help anytime!

E.B.

answers from Seattle on

Booth my boys never napped for more then twenty minutes at a time until they were like seven months to a year old. it was horrible for me because they say you sleep when they sleep but when they are only sleeping for a little at a time it would take me that long to get comfy. so thats my take on it. that you baby is normal for taking such short naps i dont know any ideas for making them longer though...ill check and see what other moms do i am especting baby number three it would be nice if this one would sleep.

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H.O.

answers from Portland on

I have no advice on how to make this better, just know my doctor said not napping or short naps are ok as long as the baby is happy. My daughter didn’t start taking any naps until she was 8 months old. The only way she would nap was “cat naps” 10-15 minutes sometimes when she nursed. She loved to nurse or was very bad at it I am not sure which. She slept through the night pretty much from the beginning but in her waking hours she would nurse for an hour, then not for an hour, then nurse for an hour, then not for an hour. So we nursed every other hour for an hour for the first 5.5 months at least, then she started rice cereal and she would go a little longer between feedings. She never took what most people would call a real nap. I asked my doctor and she said not to worry if she wasn’t getting enough sleep I would know it. She was just a nursing “cat napper” and that is what worked for her for a long time, although it didn’t work so well for me. I just had to learn to live my life on her schedule.
Thankfully now she will nap for me. She is still very erratic but at times we get a routine. Hope this helps.

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M.G.

answers from Seattle on

I did "Babywise" with my first and used most of the principles with my second. Although, my second was not quite as compliant as my first. I don't remember my son having problems with naps at that age, but my daughter was definitely a cat napper. It hasn't been just until recently that she has gotten into a good nap schedule. She takes 2 naps a day around 1 1/2 -2 hours long. She is 6 months old. I never really found anything thing that worked all the great to get her to nap longer. The only thing you might try is when she wakes let her fuss for a little bit to see if she'll put herself back to sleep. Sometimes when my daughter would wake early, I would just set the timer for 15 minutes and see if she would settle back in. About half the time, she would go back to sleep. I have several other friends with babies the same age as mine, and they all followed the same cat napping pattern. They too are now on good napping schedules. While "Babywise" has some awesome principles, they don't always carryout exactly like they book says they will. I know how frustrating it is....just know that this too shall pass : )

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C.S.

answers from Seattle on

My son JUST started taking longer naps and he is almost 8 months old. I agree...don't stress about length of naps, yet. I am also not a big fan of the BabyWise book. I would actually reccomend the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child". It is a FANTASTIC book and it has worked WONDERS for us with our sons sleeping. He JUST slept through the night (8:30pm - 5:30am) last night!!!!!!!!! WHOOHOO!!!

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A.E.

answers from Portland on

HI A.,
I worked with the feed, play, nap schedule, too and it worked well for us. It really helped our daughter, Wren< learn how to fall asleep on her own. I read "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" and followed it almost religiously. Sleep cycles tend to be around 45 minutes long. Our daughter's littles sounds (more wakeful times of sleep) during sleep occurred and still occur on a regular 45-minute intervals.... When Wren was little, she sometimes slept for only 45 minutes....and I know it rested her. We just kept on her cycle, following her sleepy signs (eye-rubbing, fussiness, low energy, glazed stare). She was and is a good sleeper (thank goodness). As she got older (around 6 months), when we started feeding her solids, we definitely noticed a lengthening in sleep times when she got more food. Also, exercise (pedaling legs, rolling, working stomach muscles....) and fresh air can help your babe sleep better.
One point of warning. Wren got to be such a good sleeper that she was sleeping 12 hours a night at 2 months!!! We thought that was great until at 4 months we realized my milk supply had gotten so low that she had lost weight. I was told that eat, play, sleep from Babywise was often the culprit. We used eat, activity, sleep, you (EASY) from "Secrets of the Baby Whisperer." So, if you are breastfeeding, keep feeding in the night to keep the milk supply up. Our milk is at its most plentiful at night. Good luck.

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M.L.

answers from New York on

A....you're not going to like this, but I always found my baby was happiest (sleepwise) when I just followed her schedule. She usually knew what she needed.

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S.G.

answers from Portland on

We did Babywise with our twins and it was GREAT! The one thing I did learn was that if they woke up crying after 30 minutes it might be a sign that they aren't done sleeping yet. I would let them cry for a few minutes and most of they would fall back asleep for another 30 minutes or so. We also did the eat, play, sleep and it also worked for us. Now my twins are 21 months old and love their naps! Don't get discouraged - good sleep habits take a few months! Like I said the book worked wonders for us!

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N.M.

answers from Portland on

Wouldn't it be wonderful if all of our kids followed the rules and guidelines in all of the books. But the truth is they don't. Just like adults they are all different and follow the beat of their own drums. My oldest, now 10 and a half, was a cat-napper. Her naps, if you could really call them that, would range from 10 minutes (literally) to an hour. An hour and a half on very rare occaisions. There were times I would get her down for her nap and just gather up my towel and shampoo for a shower and before I could even get the water turned on she would be awake and happy and ready to play. She gave up naps all together at around age 2. My youngest, not yet 3 and a half, was a better napper. He would take a shorter nap in the mid to late morning and a longer, two hours or more, in the afternoon. He quickly gave up the morning nap but kept the afternoon nap until he was almost three. That nap gradually grew shorter and shorter until he just gave it up all together. Now he will sometimes fall asleep on the couch or in the car for cat naps - 10 to 20 minutes. As long as your son is happy, don't worry about how long the naps are or how long they should be. We all need different amounts of sleep. Congratulations on your new baby!!

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N.L.

answers from Portland on

Hi A.,

Don't worry about it so much, my daughter is a cat-napper herself and will sleep for only 45min at a time. Both my husband and I read that there are 3 different types of nappers, those who nap for longer than an hour, those who cat-nap, and those that don't nap at all. Be thankful he is napping and you can get a break every now and then.

good luck!

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E.W.

answers from Seattle on

OMG, I have the EXACT same situation with my 4.5 month old!! It is very frustrating! What I do, and this does seem to work...I turn my baby monitor up so that I can hear when she just begins to wake up...I go in right away and pat her bottom and turn her aquarium music back on and try to just get her to go back to sleep again, (You can just do whatever routine works for you). Try not to pick baby up...as this can rouse them even more...but if thats how you get him back to sleep then do what it takes. But the trick I have found is to get to him before he completely wakes up, don't turn lights on, move blankets around, etc. just try to woo him back to sleep! It's good that you discovered this now while he is small, and not when we did...which was very recently. Chances are, with some work, you will be able to train him to sleep longer. We are still working on this issue with my daughter, it is difficult! But I have noticed her sleeping better at night now that she takes longer naps. Good luck A.!

E.

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S.H.

answers from Portland on

I also am anto baby wise. babies are not all the same. I think it would be cruel to allow a baby that young to cry even for a few min. Now when they are older it is a different story. My son was not a very long naper at first either but that changed in time. I like all of Dr. Sears books on sleep. He also has a great web sight. If you only have one child and you are able to lay down with him that would get him to sleep longer. He is use to being near you. I was so tired with my thrid child I took any advantage I could to sleep when he did. As he got older he ended up sleeping longer. If I layed with him next to me I would get a lot mroe rest. I also wrapped my son up real tight so he felt secrue. I also tried alternetive places for him to sleep. He hated the crib and who could blam him because they are not very comfortable. He loved the recliner when I put the leg up. I would wedge him in his back and he felt so snug and secure. Also you may try the swing! My son would often sleep longer in there or a bouncy seat that vibrates. Music sometimes helpes as well or white noise. I think when they are 6 mo old is a good time to work on the whole nap shcedule thing. before that they are to young!
Good luck!
Us moms all have very different and stron opinions. You got to do what works best for you and your baby.
Lisa

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M.T.

answers from Portland on

Hi A.. I read the whole Babywise series as well and the program worked very well for me conceptually. Some folks say it is strict, but I think they must be reading it too literally. I never thought of it as strict or restrictive because I was more focused on what the author was trying to convey vs. any specific regimen. The key is to take the primary principles that you agree with and apply them as appropriate to your child. Like some of the other mom's below said, only you can determine what works for you and your family. One of the key things I found is to make sure baby gets a full feeding (no snacking on the breast...which by the way would contradict any claims that a baby on following this kind of routine gets dehydrated or does not thrive). My daughter completely thrived. In addition to the full-feeding, I found I had to keep a close eye on her to put her down before she got overtired, so I looked for early signs of tiredness during "playtime." Just as a reference, my daughter sometimes only played as little at 15 minutes before needing to nap. Like your son, my daughter was also a good night sleeper (thanks in large part to the Babywise philosophy) and a light day sleeper. And again like yours, 30 mins-45 minute naps, sometimes 1 hour, and once in a rare while 1.5 hours (probably growth spurt time!). By the way, she was a bit colicky as a baby too (for extra fun!;) It used to STRESS me out that she wasn't sleeping as much as I thought she should during her day naps. I also read another book "HEALTHY SLEEP HABITS, HAPPY CHILD" which gives quite a few statistics about sleep patterns by age. I found that helpful in understanding what to expect and it helped me worry less (since first time moms worry about everything right?). This book was a good complement to Babywise. Now my daughter is 3 and she has GREAT sleep habits. She naps once a day for 2.5 hours and sleeps 10-11 hrs at night. For a week or so every now and then she will not want to nap. Instead of just letting her dictate her nap schedule, I told her that it is her choice to sleep or not, but she needs to be in her room either playing quietly or napping. Surprisingly, most of the days during that week timeframe she would end up sleeping, and other days playing. But then she would end up back on her regular nap schedule again. If I just "went along with her" she probably wouldn't be napping anymore...and not getting the ~12-13 hrs of sleep/day she needs at this age. So I do find great merit in routines with some discipline around them. Hope that helps.

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A.M.

answers from Eugene on

Hi--
I dont have much advice for how you can get your baby to nap longer, but I wanted to let you know that with my daughter (now almost two) and several other babies i personally know, around that age (between 3-5 months) cat naps are very common--perhaps even as "normal" as hour long naps at that age. Forty-five minutes seemed to be the longest I could get out of her unless I was walking her in the stroller or sling, where she would sleep for an hour and a half (so I did that every day! Not so bad when I used to live a few blocks from the beach--doesnt give you much free time though, but some exercise is nice!) She would also sometimes do longer stretches in the baby papasan--maybe a little more snug and upright than her crib. Other than that, we just had to wait it out til she got older and started taking longer, more consistent naps--now at almost two she takes one 2-3 hour nap everyday, so there is hope! But hang in there and know that you are not alone! Good luck and happy birthday!

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A.C.

answers from Portland on

You know YOU know what's best, not them. If you are both happy (not guilty), then enjoy it! It is frustrating when they don't sleep much but that sounds normal and it WILL get better! My second son is now 7 months old and is sleeping maybe 2-3 hours sometime. My oldest is a great sleeper now and did we have the nap battles!

Good luck and happy sleeping!

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D.B.

answers from Portland on

I don't know anything about the babywise approach, so I won't comment on that. I took the approach of letting my little ones tell me what they needed and when (I now have 21 month old twins). This was not the easy way, but it was worked best for me. Just remember that every baby (just as every parent) is different. And what works for one may or may not work for another. One thing that was really helpful for my kids to take longer naps, was the use of white noise. We had a DVD called "Happiest Baby on the Block" (which has some great tricks by the way, if you haven't seen it try to pick it up). But one of the "Bonus tracks" is White noise sounds, which remind them of being in the womb. It REALLY helped. It also helped calm them when they were really upset. I had to turn it up LOUD but it worked. Good luck to you!

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S.D.

answers from Portland on

I have a 13 weeks old who doesn’t nap much. She cat naps few times a day. She sleeps pretty well at night. I am not concerned about her short naps since I know every body is different. Books have good theory but may not work for everyone. Your son will sleep longer when his body needs it. Don’t stress yourself.

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J.L.

answers from Seattle on

Ditto what Maya G wrote. Schedules are a good thing to encourage once the baby has indicated what will work for him. I personally think that 12 weeks is too young to enforce any time constraints on when he eats or sleeps.

Because he's so young, he may not be capable of staying awake for long periods of time. You can, however, encourage longer naps by letting him sleep on you. My daughter would sleep for two hour stretches while I held her, but only 30 minutes if I tried to lay her down.

Don't worry -- he'll consolidate his sleep times with some careful attention from you and when he's developmentally ready to do so.

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B.A.

answers from Seattle on

I highly recommend that you check out this website which has a lot of info about the Ezzos before you follow the "Babywise" recommendations too strictly:

http://ezzo.info/

Babies generally sleep just as long as they need to. Just as with adults, it's also healthier for babies to eat when they're hungry and sleep when they're tired.

I also recommend that you check out some books by Dr. Sears. He's a long-time pediatrician (also Christian, if that matters to you - since Ezzo is as well) and he specifically recommends against many of the "Babywise" practices since they have been known to cause failure to thrive and attachment issues in many of the babies whose parents follow Ezzo's routines too strictly.

Best wishes!
~B.

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K.H.

answers from Seattle on

Hello A.,

For his first 4-6 months, our son would not sleep at all during the day unless he was in the stroller or in the front pack. It was driving me crazy. He would nurse every two hours, go to sleep right away in my arms for about 10-15 minutes and that would be it until the next nursing session. He would sleep well at night tough, although he would also wake up every 2 hours to nurse.

Finally, after he was in his room alone, he started to sleep during the day, to my relief. Nothing else made a difference.

Now, almost 4, he still takes 2 hour naps during the day and sleeps a lot longer than his baby sister who used to sleep 2 hours or more at a time when a baby. Her nap is 1 hour and she is up at 5:30 in the morning. He could sleep until 9 and not be bothered by anything.

They are all different and I think as long as they eat and seem to be behaving normally otherwise, you should not be worried about anything.

Good luck.

Peace,
K.

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