How many daily naps for a 3 month old and for how long?

Carrie - posted 6 days ago

@ Monika...I could've written your post. Seeing as this was last year for you, can you tell me how your baby started going down for naps and at what point?

Grace - posted on 04/17/2013

I am surprised no one suggested this old time tested trick: a really warm bottle and bath. I was having probs with my baby's sleep too. We switched him to infamil gentleease for gas. 2 weeks later still same prob. So I decided to try what my mom used to do. A warm bottle and tlc for naps and a really warm bottle, bath and tlc at night. Now he takes 2 hour naps and sleeps from 10:00 to 6 or 7:00 almost all the time now.

Beth - posted on 02/28/2013

Apparently, a baby is likely to stir every 10, 20 and 45 minutes of sleep due to entering a different sleep cycle. So I think at 45 minutes they enter into deep sleep but are more prone to waking up. If you can help them through this patch then they will enter deep sleep and nap for longer? I'm not 100%, but it's something to look up and might make it easier to understand? Hope it helps. At first my boy woke every 10 mins, got him through to 20. I really struggled with the 45 min for a few weeks but eventually got it and now he naps for an hour or two at a time. Just keep at it, you can do it :)

Laura - posted on 02/11/2013

I have found that the eat, wake, sleep cycle (suggested per the book Babywise) works best for my 3 1/2 month old. Up until about a week ago, she would not nap well during the day and was inconsistent with her wake up time in the a.m. She now wakes up at 7 a.m., eats, plays and then I put her down for a nap exactly 90 min later (as suggested by the book The 90 min Baby Sleep Program), and she now naps for 2-3 hrs! She would be due for her next feeding at 11 a.m. but if she sleeps through it, then I feed her when she wakes up, and she will play for 90 min and then back down for another nap. I follow this consistently throughout the day and have found that she gets much better daytime sleep. Also, Lucy was waking up 30-45 min after I put her down as well, so what I started to do is when she woke up, I would go in and give her the pacifier and walk out of the room, and keep doing this for 15 min, if she would still be awake in 15 min, I would get her and let her play and then try to put her down to nap again 75 min from when she woke up. Soon, she was putting herself back to sleep and she's been sleeping so much better! Try it, and hopefully it works for you too!

Oh, and yes I know this person posted 3 years ago, but figured someone else may be able to use this advice now!

Tonya - posted on 12/17/2012

At least 3-4 a day lasting for a hour or two

Makhetsi - posted on 12/13/2012

I have difficulty learning my 3 months old to feed on a bottle,he wants the breast only how do i go about couse soon i must go back to work.

Monika - posted on 11/24/2012

My 10 week old will not sleep for more than 35-40 min at a time unless she is in the car, or in our arms! I held her a lot at first as I am more for the attachment parenting but I've been trying to get her to nap in her bassinet or crib now and it's not working! I've read the "No cry nap solution" which helps somewhat but not for a long period of time.

My sister says "not to worry" as she's so young but I need to get things done around the house even though my husband says "don't worry about the house." She doesn't like her wrap anymore b/c I think she feels smothered. I've tried that. I'm just worried she'll never nap in her bassinet or crib.

This is my first child so and I'm not a patient person: I want results yesterday! How long will this take? Should I be concerned?

Hubby is with her now rocking her and she's sleeping. But in his arms! Transfer her to the bassinet or crib and "pop!" her eyes are wide open! I've tried putting her down just as she starts to drift off. That was a major fail. I've waited until she's asleep-failed. I get her at the first sign of tiredness, a yawn, a small cry, a blank stare but she's not sleeping. I tried the E.A.S.Y method (eat, activity, sleep, you (yeah right!) so she gets play-time (stories, toys etc.) She is tired, her eyes get so heavy when I sing to her. I put white noise on as well. Like I said, it all helps for 35-40 min. That's it. It's not enough. When we are out in the car and she's fast asleep she'll stay that way for over an hour-then she sleeps well at night-5 hours sometimes 6. Now that she's not getting her rest, she's up every 2.5-3 hours. She is breastfed and I feed her around 10ish lastly. I've tried waking her at midnight to "top her up" that never helped.

What do I do?

Can you tell I'm lost?

Any help is appreciated.

April - posted on 02/17/2011

I'm having the opposite problem: most days, my daughter will only take naps totaling 1 - 1 1/2 hrs sleep! I know she needs more sleep than that, but she's so afraid of missing anything. Even if I dim the lights & rock her to sleep, she wakes up shortly after being put down & won't go back to sleep. She sleeps great at night, but I know that isn't enough. Any suggestions?

Sarah - posted on 02/11/2011

It;s normal that your little ones want to nap so much and often. I heard through a source of some sort that was valid, it is recommended that an infant sleeps up too 18 hours a day including their night sleep!! hopefully this helps, even though it is frustrating but for me it passed for my daughter at about 3-4 months. Now she has one nap that consists of 3-4 hours.

Misty - posted on 12/16/2010

I have found that my side-to-side swing is my BFF when it comes to my son's naps. It helps him sleep sometimes up to 2 hours or so. We arent on any schedule except he eats when he wants to eat and sleeps when he wants to sleep. He does good through the nights waking only 1 or 2 times briefly to bf. (until recently, he wakes more since we're going through a growth spurt...but that too will pass)

Heather - posted on 12/10/2010

My son does the same if he is up after 2 hours he is cranky and needs a nap and he will nap an hour and ready to go again but sometimes he naps for 2 and 3 hours if you hold him and rock him

Kunang - posted on 12/08/2010

Some of your bubs sound just like mine. Thanks for the responses. I have tried to resettle her many times but 40 mins later we end up nowhere and cranky. I think I've come to realise that it just her sleep patterns and theres nothing you can do to make a baby sleep who doesn't want to. Besides I wouldn't trade her sleeping through the night for anything, not even longer naps during the day.

Stephanie - posted on 12/08/2010

Yea, its normal, at least you get that much my 4month old takes 10minute naps here and there but shes up most of the day...She sleeps all night though so it pays off in the end...

Jen - posted on 12/07/2010

My daughter will be 4mos here soon, and she does the same thing. I read recently that for a 3-4mo old staying up much longer than 1.5-2hrs at a time is pushing it for them and you'll be in for a cranky overstimulated baby. Keira takes roughly four 30-45min naps a day and sleeps at night from around 830-9 til around 6am, eats and goes right back to sleep til about 930-10 then we start the 1.5-2 hr wake 30-45min sleep cycles :)

Leah - posted on 12/06/2010

also i found that sometimes when he wakes from a nap i can nurse him back to sleep and get another 10-30 minutes on the nep. then he goes longer between naps and is less fussy.sometimes he will nurse back to sleep several times during one nap

Leah - posted on 12/06/2010

totally! my son has been doing this since he started being awake more. now he is 4 months old he is having a bit longer stretches awake and asleep. between when he wakes for the day (6-7:30am) and when he goes down for the night (7:30-9pm) he takes about 4-5 naps. sometimes the naps are from 30 min to 1.5 hours. i think most moms go through this and it can be worse if he is teething. they also have a hard time sleeping and napping when they are teething. dont get yourself down, it is completely normal and most moms go through it. check out this threadhttp://www.mothering.com/community/forum...

Leone - posted on 12/06/2010

Response is a bit late but yes, I have a little rascal on my hands that sleeps for even shorter periods and can stay awake much longer.
Pablo turns 4 months on the 8th of Dec and since the age of 2 has never slept for 2 hours in a row. It started out him waking at 7am. He would stay awake about an 1-2 hours and then nap like 50 mins. At this point, he stays awake from 2-3 hours (I am amazed by that) and sleeps 20 mins................30 if I am lucky.
It is seriously driving me insane. I can hardly get things done around the house. Not to mention the lack of time I have to be with my 2 year old or to study.
So no! you are not alone. All we have left is hope that one of these days they decide to give their mommies a well deserved rest by sleeping longer.

Amanda - posted on 12/02/2010

My lil man takes about 1 hour naps 4 times a day, but were aon a set schedual, it helps to know when your gonna be able to do things, he eats 4 oz every three hour.

Italia - posted on 11/30/2010

Oh Kunang I feel your pain! My baby takes 3-4 30min naps a day. I'm starting to accept this is her and there is no right or wrong way your baby should be and your baby doesn't have to be certain way and that how many naps a 3 month old takes depends on the baby. Some babies need 2-3 2 hr naps and that's good my baby like 3-4 30-40min naps. She sleeps thru night tho so I don't want to change what is working for us. At first I was like you wanting to lose my sanity until I surrendered to this process that one day will change or become tolerable. I would love more time for myself but the reality here is I have a newborn who like me is adjusting. You can try that book No-Cry Nap Solution and try some of those techniques if you feel his naps conflict with you daily life.

Good luck my dear but remember you are not alone... i'm going through it to. aahhh sometimes i want my life back... take it a day at a time :)

Jennifer - posted on 11/29/2010

My 3 1/2 month old usually wakes around 6:30am..He naps from 8:30-9:30am then from 12-2pm then from 4-5pm then goes to sleep for the night around 7:30pm. Waking up once for a bottle around 1:30 am.
It feels like Groundhog's day!

Ally - posted on 11/28/2010

i have the opisite issue mine sleeps all day except wakes up maybe 2 times and wants a change + a bottle/food and soon after is back asleep.. he was sleeping through the night but he recently went back to sleeping all day and staying up most the night. i must be more interesting at night?

Gemma - posted on 11/28/2010

My boy will often wake after 40 minutes, but I get him to go back to sleep - 40 minutes is how long their deep sleep cycle is, and then they move into light sleep (REM/dreaming state) and instead of rolling over and going back to sleep like adults do, they wake up cos they don't really know how to go back to sleep, especially if you are helping them get to sleep in the first place. I keep the room dark/quiet, get Dan up and hold him to my chest and pat his back to the beat of my heart.. for as long as it takes him to settle right down (for us about 10 minutes). Then pop him back down and he goes back to sleep for the remainder of his sleep. I was using a dummy as well but have found he will re-settle without it now, so not going to encourage a habit he doesn't have yet!

Italia - posted on 11/30/2010

Oh Kunang I feel your pain! My baby takes 3-4 30min naps a day. I'm starting to accept this is her and there is no right or wrong way your baby should be and your baby doesn't have to be certain way and that how many naps a 3 month old takes depends on the baby. Some babies need 2-3 2 hr naps and that's good my baby like 3-4 30-40min naps. She sleeps thru night tho so I don't want to change what is working for us. At first I was like you wanting to lose my sanity until I surrendered to this process that one day will change or become tolerable. I would love more time for myself but the reality here is I have a newborn who like me is adjusting. You can try that book No-Cry Nap Solution and try some of those techniques if you feel his naps conflict with you daily life.

Good luck my dear but remember you are not alone... i'm going through it to. aahhh sometimes i want my life back... take it a day at a time :)