Longer nap time

Abbie - posted on 11/21/2009

My son was and still is that way. He is 19 months old and takes 2 20 minute naps or 1 nap for 45-60 minutes. He never has slept longer then 1.5 hours at one stretch for naps, at night he is out cold for 10-12 hours. Some just aren't nappers; or at least I just accepted that with my child.

Naomi - posted on 11/21/2009

Hey, I had the same problem. My daughter is 14 mths. old now but when she was that age I tried all of the above and it seemed like nothing helped! Then i made sure that she was full and dry and the room was very dark and quiet, I think that was the biggest battle. I also didn't barge in there as soon as she woke up I let her stir for 5-10 min. and sometimes she would fall back asleep. Good luck :)

Stacey - posted on 11/21/2009

If your baby is only catnapping it usually means that they are not tired enough when they go to sleep, try to keep him up longer or maybe you need to look at his routine, maybe his naps need to be at different times or maybe you need to change his feeds because he might be waking up because he is hungry. You would be amazed at what difference a good routine will make, I learnt this from one of those sleep books and it worked magic on my two children, I even had them sleeping 12 hrs through the night after getting this book, I used 'Save our sleep' by Tizzie Hall, but there are many out there that are prob similar.

Erin - posted on 11/21/2009

My daughter was exactly the same, and there's really nothing you can do about it besides wait it out. She started taking longer naps as she became more physically active (rolling, sitting then crawling) and now at 9.5 months she has about 2hrs in the morning and another hour in the afternoon. You can try resettling her after that first sleep cycle by patting and 'sshhhhh'ing her, but it never worked with mine. Sorry lol.

Danielle - posted on 11/21/2009

i think that its better to put him on a schedule so that when he is older then he nows when its nap time and when its time to play

Danielle - posted on 11/21/2009

Do you put him down at specific times, or do you let him dictate his own sched? I try and put Pax down for a nap, and he sleeps for about 30-45 mins and then gets up. It's hard for me to get anything done because of it! But, he does catch other naps during the day - such as on a walk around the neighborhood in his stroller, while nursing, or during car rides. Although its frustrating that he won't nap when I want him to, I know he's getting enough sleep - even if it isn't in 2 hour stretches.

Nikki - posted on 11/21/2009

I agree with Sonia - at that age, swaddling helped my little one sleep longer because her arms and legs didn't jerk and wake her up.

Kara - posted on 11/21/2009

My daughter is 7 months now. But she didnt want to take naps when she was his age. Most of her naps were when she fell asleep while in her swing.

Sugar - posted on 11/21/2009

is he full before going to bed? or checked his diaper if its wet? make sure that he is comfortable with his blanket, pillows and there is no small insects around.sometimes, it becomes the reason why they are being disturbed, how about the weather? is it affecting him? consider all the possibilities... no loud sounds most especially.How do you make him sleep, by swaying? did he wake up everytime you will put him in his bed because he wants to be carried and danced? my kid was like that before, he is so smart. Ill carry him and dance him to make him sleep, and yes he will sleep. But everytime ill put him on the bed, he will be awake...smart baby!hahaha! Goodluck! hope i have helped!

Stina - posted on 11/21/2009

Have you tried wearing him? during my dd's first few months I wore her a lot- and she slept easily for long stretches. I use a moby wrap wich distributes her weight nicely. She slept so well in it that I had to keep an eye on the clock and take her out so she'd sleep at night. Once she had a good sleeping rythm down, I wore her less and put her down in her bed to sleep when she got tired. She's 7 months now and takes a short morning nap (45 minutes) and a long 2 hour afternoon nap.

Sonia - posted on 11/21/2009

get the softest blanket ur baby has an fold it over in a triangleput the baby,s feet at the pointy end then fold the 2 ends of the blanket over tucked in tight and and the bottom corner tucked up! so that its arms and legs cant get out! my daughter always took a 3/4 hour sleep when she wus that age tucked up like that!

Jessica - posted on 11/21/2009

Hi!

I'm Jessica. I have a four month old daughter who had the same problem. I felt like she was tired and when I laid her down the nap was about a half hour. This happened three times a day. So this is what I did.

When she woke up I would try to rock her back to sleep, feed her, something for a couple minutes. Then I would put her back into the crib for five minutes. If she cried longer than five minutes I got her out. Yet, I found that within a couple minutes I found she was playing. then within a couple more minutes she was... ASLEEP. It takes some time... but it works.