Will your baby only take 40 minute naps during the day?

Vanessa - posted on 10/12/2009

hahaha i wish my daughter would sleep...i might get 15 20 mins naps...she'd rather be up and lookin around.. shes so spoiled!! wants to be up all day...doesnt sleep in the car nothing..struggling on how to get her to sleep all night...

Dana - posted on 10/12/2009

i do 2 naps a day. one hour to 1 1/2 hours in the morning (usually 2 hours after you wake up for the day) and a 2 to 2 1/2 hour one in the afternoon (starting at 2:00). My only trick/advice is to literally get into a routine. I do everything the same every day as closely on time as i can. Breakfast same time everyday, same amount of playtime before first nap. another feeding, then a walk outside or at the mall on rainy days, then playtime then bottle then big nap (i think a full belly works best for longer naps) and then i only let him have another little 20-30min snooze later in the evening around dinner time. Entertaining them and making them tired is key with a routine. my boy is like clockwork now and he knows its 2:00 before I even realize it sometimes and is totally ready for a nap. this took me about a month of routine before he got the hang of it. hope this helps.

Kristen - posted on 10/06/2009

I was so over the cat napping thing when by baby was about 11 weeks. I bought Tizzie Hall's book 'Save Our Sleep' and with a bit of persistence bub now sleeps for 2 or 3 hours at a time during the day and puts herself to sleep with no fuss. I also play white noise in her room which covers up any sudden noises in the house (can use your radio off the channel). Good luck!

Samantha - posted on 10/06/2009

Sorry my duaghter is the same way. On a rare day she will sleep for 3 hours but then doesnt nap at all though the day.

Fran - posted on 10/05/2009

My daughter is a shocking sleeper, but hers resulted from having severe reflux.

She will have maybe two 1 hour sleeps a day on a very very very good day, and on an average day 2 30 min sleeps. At night however she sleeps from about 10pm to 3-6am.

I try numerous things, some things work one day, others not.

I find my daughter wakes at 20 min intervals. She loves being on her side, with her butt being patted. Sometimes I have to put her mobile on, sometimes her dummy. She has a little blankie that goes to bed with her, and we blow kisses to each other before bed to try to make it more a pleasurable experience.

Sometimes a large bath with bubbles help, a massage.

I agree with wearing them out before: I put my daughter in the jolly jumper on on her tummy without a nappy.

Watching a DVD of sleep signs really helped me too, some I never really took notice of :)

HTH :)

Rebecca - posted on 10/05/2009

My daughter is also a major daytime catnapper, she has been doing this since she was 3 months old. I always put her down in her cot awake so she puts herself to sleep but once she wakes after the 40min mark there is no way of ressettling her, I have tried everything!! She does sleep extremely well at night though, 6.30pm until 7-7.30am!! At one stage I was lucky to get 2 daytime naps out of her but since I read on a website about routines I have been getting 4-5 x 45min naps out of her without any protest and sometimes she will sleep up to an hour. I was keeping her up too long between sleeps (2hrs) so I started keeping her up only 1 1/4 hrs, making sure there is plenty of playtime when awake (songs, jolly jumper etc) and it has worked really well. I was trying to read her tired signs but failed miserably so sticking to a set length of awake time has helped me. Hope that helps a little. Good luck!!

Tonya - posted on 10/05/2009

my daughters name is morgan also so i agree with amy it must be a morgan thing bc she does the same thing!!

Michele - posted on 10/05/2009

Such great advice. Thank you all. Keep it coming :)

Charlotte - posted on 10/05/2009

My son is 4 and a half months and i have just taken his dummy away. He was only napping for about 30-45 mins but since i have done that he sleeps for a lot longer. Also not rushing in when he starts to moan helps as he normally goes back off and sleeps for around 1 and a half hours now. it means i get time on facebook and time to relax too!!

Rebekah - posted on 10/04/2009

I think as long as she wakes up happy then it's not a big deal. I read somewhere that as long as they are sleeping 45 minutes, it's considered a real nap (for certain short nap lovers).

My daughter usually only sleeps 45 minutes, but when she wakes up I let her play in her bed for an additional 15... that way at least I get an hour to spend with just her brother.

Layna - posted on 10/04/2009

My daughter cat naps during the day as well, but I'll take that over not sleeping through the night. Not getting her up right away to see if she'll fall back asleep on her own sometimes works for me.

Chelle - posted on 10/04/2009

my daughter only has two naps a day for about 30mins each, she goes to bed at about 8.30 and is up at 7. i dont mind it too much because if she was sleepy she would nap more. i got her a bumbo to situp in because she cant sit up on her own yet, i got a tray with it to put all her toys on ...she loves it. she also likes the door bouncer,play mat and other toys .... i give her rusk biscuits to keep her ocupied with her hands and mouth and she spends a good 10mins chewing in one.x

Amanda - posted on 10/04/2009

My Daughter only get naps for 30-40 minutes at a time too and feeds every 3 hours during the day but she sleeps through form 8pm to 6-6.30am, I don't mind her cat napping because she sleeps through and that is wonderful!!! She sometimes gets bored during the day but we have a jungle mat for her to play under with hanging toys shes likes to chew on and a rocker she goes in sometimes, she goes in the bouncer for a bit and we have a jolly jumper so I just like to change her acitivites up a bit and keep her occupied, then daddy gets home and its play time and that helps tire her our and keep her busy before bath and bed too

Amy - posted on 10/02/2009

my daughter sleeps all night . but during the day im lucky to get her down for 30mins .. some days she wont sleep at all =/

Colleen - posted on 10/02/2009

My son is so inconsistent with his naps. Sometimes I'm lucky to get half an hour out of him, sometimes I swear he'll sleep all day if I let him. I wish I had some tips but 4 months later and I'm still trying to figure this out. A routine does help but not always.

Danielle - posted on 10/01/2009

Niven was onmly having 40 min sleeps during the day as well and i was holding her until she went to sleep then putting her down, once i started making her go to sleep in her own bed then she started sleeping for 1 hr to 2 1/2 hours at a time

Phyllis - posted on 10/01/2009

My daughter does the same thing. I tire her out a little bit so she will sleep a little longer and take longer naps. We have an exersaucer and a jumperoo and it helps. She loves them and will play for a long time. It makes her tired and she sleeps better

Michele - posted on 10/01/2009

Thanks for the advice. I have a fisher price ocean wonders toy that plays ocean sounds and that seems to work sometimes. I will take your advice and try to put her on her tummy more. I love the name Morgan. It really must be a Morgan thing :).

Amy - posted on 10/01/2009

mine likes her little cat naps too...i've gotten lucky some days when she'll sleep longer. mine will nap in the car seat but that's when we are on the go. at home...try getting a noise machine (bed bath & beyond has one for $20.00) and put her on her tummy. by now I'm sure she can handle lifting her head. works for me sometimes :).



I just noticed your babies name...Morgan...must be a Morgan thing with these cat naps...they don't want to miss anything!