Too many naps?

Sian - posted on 02/18/2011

HI, my son is 8months now and he does the exact same thing napping all the time fro about 10 20 min an he dont sleep tru the night either he wakes up around half 4 then goes bk to sleep around 5am then dont wake back up till half 8am it does get stressfull at times

Hellenah - posted on 01/24/2011

You need not to worry so much,coz we are in the same catagory,however,mine as somehow reduced to those two naps,but I just gave it time coz my Jeremaiah is making 8 months tomorrow.

Stephanie - posted on 01/23/2011

haha...i can't get my guy down for bed until maybe 9 (on a good night...sometimes he's wired until 11!), and he sleeps til 8:30 or 9 the following morning. he takes 3 naps, too: 1 for about 20 minutes in the morning, 1 for about an hour or so around noon, and 1 for about half an hour in the late evening. my ped nurse said his sleep pattern is normal for him, and that i shouldn't worry. they sleep when they're tired. as long as he's sleeping, that's the important thing. i wish there were some way to magically regulate when they sleep and for how long, but each baby is different...

Heather - posted on 01/20/2011

Thanks ladies!!! Glad to know me little guy just has his own schedule. Every once in a while lately he gives me and hour or a lil more with his first nap. He puts himself down for naps and bed so I know he can soothe himself. All that matters is he is a happy healthy baby.

Clare - posted on 01/19/2011

Ruby-nearly 8 Months (25th May)- sleeps exactly like this. Apart from it being a pain like you said, nothing gets done etc...I wouldn't worry about it:). Babies sleep when they need to. Just be thankfull he doesn't sleep like that in the night and sleep soundly all day lol :) x

Karen - posted on 01/19/2011

I'm also very jealous of these replies!!!! My 8 month old will rarely sleep at all through the day. Perhaps a short nap after a breast feed but wakes up 5-10 mins after being put down. Maximum at the moment and for the last lot of months has been a 1 hour sleep. He is awake most nights till well beyond midnight and still has 2-3 breast feeds through the night @ 2am, 4am, 5.30 and 7am (quite typical for him) He can basically be awake for 16 hours straight...with very brief cat naps if I'm very lucky. Have tried everything and been reassured that they're all different and have their own individual patterns that will constantly change.I always feel that I can never get anything done and often when I get the 8 month old down the 2 and a half year old wakes up! And they NEVER sleep at the same time during the day even if the little one goes down briefly. I absolutely tear my hair out every day, feel delirious from sleep deprivation and feel like I'm barely functioning...Just be grateful that your baby has such an amazing sleep through the night and perhaps doesn't need any more during the day. My little one is climbing, crawling and walking around constantly on furniture...doesn't seem to tire him out! I've been advised that some babies are just like this...they're all different. He's happy, interactive and I have no idea how he does it when I am so frazzled. Good luck to you!! Bravo!

Bianca - posted on 01/17/2011

My daughter (23.5) did the same 2/3naps 1/2hrs for months only in the past few weeks shes started doing the 1 1/2-2hrs naps in the day now, she does 10-12 hrs at night still! Im not sure if more active or more food but yeah i havnt changed anything so maybe just give it time! They say if u can get them to self sleep they will sleep longer because the 1/2 hr is only REM sleep and if they go longer then thats the deeper sleep, u just have to judge if they have waken up awake or tired, grumpy!! Maybe see if can keep up a bit longer before the nap and do as many activitys before the nap so they feel like done lots! Good luck!!

Karen - posted on 01/17/2011

Man! I read these answers and I'm soooo jealous! My LO at 7 1/2 mths has one nap during the day but it seems like he still wakes every 3-4 hrs at night! Last night it was every 2 hrs!

Amber - posted on 01/16/2011

Tiffanie i'm SO glad you said that your little one gets up early too, i kept reading all these people saying how "late" their kids sleep and i thought it was crazy that my baby boy usually gets up by 6:30 or earlier pretty much everyday!! Glad to know i'm not the only one =p i work overnite so he usually wakes up right before i get home.

Also he sleeps off and on throughout the day for about 30 minutes at a time too, he's a little over 7 months now (May 28, 2010) I cant wait until he will take longer naps then i can get some sleep during the day!

Desarie - posted on 01/16/2011

thats ok! Mine takes cat naps all day long. If he's tired, let him nap! Who cares what "other" babies are doing at this age. Your baby is unique. Mine takes 20 min naps about 4 times a day. Some babies are just cat nappers!

Vicky - posted on 01/14/2011

My son is now 8 months (may 12th) and he has 3 1hr naps during the day. still don't have any problem getting him to sleep all night tho so I'm not too worried about that. Every baby is different. He will let you know when he is ready to cut down his sleeps.

Monique - posted on 01/11/2011

be happy he is sleeping hes a baby hes tired as along as his naps are not interfering with his bed time routine and sleeping all night the the boy sleep. my daughter is the same age and i try and keep her up any time after 7 because bed time is 9 30 so i make sure i do active things like bath time and reading load toys and sing dancing all those sorts of things and she sleeps all night!!

Kasey - posted on 01/11/2011

He will grow out of it. My son was taking 4 naps a day at that age. now at 2 he takes 1 nap a day sometimes 2. but it is a 3 hour nap. just give him time. Enjoy him being little.

Heather - posted on 01/11/2011

To tiffanie...... I dont have black out curtains but I put a thick blanket over his window. I did this awhile ago. Maybe around when he was 10 weeks when I started his bed time routine. It doesnt make him sleep longer but I did notice him sleeping more soundly. If he has to nap somewhere else. Like a relatives or if I hold him for his nap ( i do this if he is having a bad day and I just want to cuddle him) and its light where he is sleeping he will sleep at least the 30 min but not as soundly. So my feeling is the darkness in his room helps him sleep better but not longer all though once I darkened his room and started the bed routine at 11 weeks he was sleeping through the night a week later. I say give it a try. I know i sleep better whenits dark.

Liz - posted on 01/10/2011

My daughter just started taking good naps. She was napping 3 times a day for 30-45 minutes. Just give it time. She is just 8 months old

Tiffanie - posted on 01/10/2011

I don't have any suggestions for you. I do understand what you mean about 30 min not being time to get anything done. My son naps pretty much the same as yours, sometimes 4 naps. But never more than 30-40 min each. The only time he sleeps longer is when, on occasion, I can get him to fall back asleep once he wakes and that's only when I'm laying in bed with him and not in his crib. Even if we're rocking him he will wake after 30-40 min. I always hear moms talk about cat nappers and how they only sleep for an hour and I laugh! What we wouldn't do for an hour of time to get some stuff done, right?!

However, you should feel very lucky your LO is sleeping in that late in the morning!! and is he actually sleeping straight through?! My son has the same 7:30 bedtime and he wakes at 1:30 to eat and then sometimes he wakes again at 5-ish and we have to put him in our bed to get him to sleep again. Sometimes once I feed him he won't go back into his crib (it's in our room so it's hard to keep him in the crib until we move and then we can work on it more). But he very very rarely will sleep until 7. Usually, he gets up between 6:30 and 6:45 but sometimes he decides to get up 5 or 5:30 for the day.Makes me feel horrible for DH because I leave for work at 4:30 am and he doesn't get home and to bed until at least midnight so he never gets any sleep!

If your LO seems happy and healthy and he isn't fussy or overly tired, I would let him nap how he chooses. I'm not really even sure it could be changed. I've read to try black out curtains but I never have. If you try them you will defiantly have to let me know if it helps any!

Chantel - posted on 01/10/2011

My son 7 1/2 months old (22 May) and is exactly the same. He goes down at night between 6.30 and 7pm and sleep right through until 7.30am. He will have 3 or 4 sleeps during the day and they can be any where from 30 mins to an hour in duration. A few mothers in my mother group have told me the same but I spoke to the maternal health nurse and she said that it is fine for him to sleep and that he will change him sleeping pattern when he is ready. I was told by another mum to let him sleep as that is when they grow and besides all babies are different and like adults some can survive on more sleep than others. I wouldnt worry about it as your son is not the only one sleeping more that twice a day.