I'm so obsessed with LOs naps still. He has improved so much since he was about four or five months old (now 7.5 mo), but of course there are days where he refuses to nap more than 30-45 min at a time. I'm always worried that if he sleeps horribly during the day, that he'll sleep bad at night too. So far, I haven't seen that with him, but my sleep bible (HSHHC) has beat it into me that sleep begets sleep. so if there's a few days in a row where he doesn't nap well, should I expect that his nights will start to be affected too?
I guess I'm just looking for moms who have always had bad/less-than-ideal nappers but great night sleepers...do those kids exist?? So I can stop worrying how much he naps everyday and just roll with it!
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Yep. My DD was a chronic 30-45 min napper till about 10 months. She was sleeping thru the night starting at 6 mths. However, she did have one long nap (1.5 hr ish) combined with her 1 or 2 crappy naps tho. Hope that helps. Ohh and there was nothing i could do to lengthen those short naps. She just outgrew them eventually
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My 11mo old DS has always been a 45 min napper (1 hour if I'm lucky!), but he's a good night sleeper. He's EBF and just started STTN (12 hrs), but has given me 6+ hour stretches since about 3 months or so. We started solids at 5.5 months, which helped night sleep IMO. Anyway, the naps are frustrating, but his night sleep is so good, so I can't complain much!
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My sisters youngest LO (currently 6 months) has always been a crappy napper. 30-40 mins. An hour is a blessing for them. BUT she has STTN since 8 weeks!!!
My pediatrcian has also beaten into my brain that sleep begets sleep and bad daytime sleep means bad night time sleep. Yet my sisters baby is living proof that's not always the case.
And personally, there was one day a couple of weeks ago that my 4 month old had crap naps all day because we were traveling - and that was the one and only night that he slept without a single wake up and my feet didn't hit the ground once. So I have wondered if I'm actually napping him too much during the day! -
I have a great night time sleeper and a crappy crappy napper. Just now at 9 months we are getting longer. Sometimes still 30 mins though.
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Don't always believe what you read! For DS1, sleep did not beget sleep. He was a 30 minute napper until about 8 months and started STTN at 4 months. Come to think about it, he began waking up at night and began sleeping with U.S. at around the same time his naps lengthened.
DS2 is a bit different. So so napper and a better night sleeper. But there isn't a big correlation for him on nights and naps n
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Meh. My kid as always been a bad napper (she stopped napping completely at 20 months) and a really good night sleeper.
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Yep - dd slept 8 hour stretches at 5 weeks. By 4 months she was sleeping 7-7. She's a rock star overnight. She was a TERRIBLE napper though - only giving me 40 min naps and only in her swing. It got a bit better around 8 months when we moved her to her crib and she dropped to 2 naps , she started taking two 1 hour naps. It got better still when she dropped to one nap at 12 months.
She's 16 months now and will take anywhere from a 45min-2hour nap. Usually it's 1.5 hours which feels like an eternity compared to what she was doing as a baby!
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I often wonder about this too! My LO is 5 months old tomorrow and he is a terrible napper. BUT he sleeps 7-4, eats and then sleeps until 7 so I feel like that is awesome night time sleep. He naps for at most 45 minutes at a time... I never really got him in a good nap routine and now he is at daycare so they have their own routines that we can't/don't follow on weekends.
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these responses make me feel so much better! I know I'd be happier if I could just relax about it all a bit more!
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We have crappy naps also, but it's gotten better. She still only naps about 30-40 mins. I just noticed that the Ferber book says that if they don't nap well, they will typically sleep better at night. So, there's that.
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My LO is hit or miss when it comes to naps. Some days are great and I think, "Oh, wonderful, he's finally on a good schedule," and then the next day they go to complete sh**. I've never noticed they really affect his nights sleep, at least not enough to notice a correlation.
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@Pumpkin Pie: oh really, Ferber says that? how interesting! Weissbluth says the opposite!
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My DD had always been a terrible napper and she's a pretty bad night sleeper too! But the days when she naps well are not necessarily the same days she has good night sleep..... it is completely hit and miss either way!
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I tried reading Healthy Sleep Habits, but it just didn't click with me…. It made me feel stressed about making sure everything was perfect to get the best napper/sleeper… I gave up. DS has never napped well or long and he has always been a great night sleeper… I just gave up on the long nap idea and decided that I'd rather have a good night sleeper than a good napper… He was always just content with short naps but has slept 12 hours at night for a very long time.
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Just out of curiosity, for everyone who says their LOs only sleep 30-40 mins at a time: do you go in and try to rock/soothe/etc them back to sleep? My son's sleep cycles are about 35mins each and more often than not he will wake up after the first cycle. I can USUALLY (not always) get him to go back down with some effort. Could I be screwing up his natural rhythm by 'forcing' him to go back to sleep? Like many of you I just figured more day sleep = better night sleep
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@thismustbetheplace: Interesting question! Usually I just think okay he's done with his nap and he either eats or plays or wants to do something else. Sometimes if he is in the stroller or his car seat he will fall back asleep if we keep moving. (I should also caveat that my child never, ever naps in his crib at home.. like maybe once.... he naps in his mamaroo or when we are out and about in his stroller/car seat)
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@thismustbetheplace: I didn't fight the crap nap, just got her up. It was less stressful on both of us. That was until 5.5 months. Then I discovered that if I left her to cry for exactly 8 min, she'd go back to sleep.
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@thismustbetheplace: no, I didn't because it didn't work. He was awake, like eyes wide open ready to play awake. Now at 2 years old, if he wakes up from a nap early, some cuddling works to get him to finish the nap.
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@creativemomma15: I feel the same way! Though I do reference that book a ton, I can't help but feel stressed out about it when he doesn't nap well. How old is your LO now?
@thismustbetheplace: I have never been able to extend a nap. If it's a short one, I will leave him to see if he'll fall back asleep but it's really hit or miss. Sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't.
@BadgerMom: yeah, we'll have a few good days in a row and then a crappy day and I'm all thrown off! How old is your LO? -
My LO has always been a crap napper. At 16 mo, he still usually only takes one 1h15min nap a day. When younger, his naps were usually only 1 sleep cycle (~40 min) with the occasional 2 sleep cycle thrown in.
Yet, he's been STTN since ~9 mo of age. Funny enough, he started STTN more regularly once he started daycare -- and with the chaos of the infant room, was napping even less. I think he was so exhausted he passed out deeply overnight.
I was stressed about "sleep begets sleep" for a long time, too, but honestly it's not true for my kid.
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My LO is a pretty good napper and night time sleeper these days - but on the days when he does nap less, I never see a correlation in bad night time sleep. If he is allowed to get consistently overtired over a fairly long period of time (eg when I tried out moving him to one nap), then he will start to wake up very early in the morning - but a few days of bad naps don't seem to make a difference. My advice would be to try really hard not to worry about it - especially if he's happy. I drove myself insane over naps with the aim of helping his night time sleep and it never really made a difference!
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@BabyTsMom: DS who I was talking about is 2 1/2
He has only recently started taking naps longer than 1 hour & 15 minutes… but has always STTN once he started doing it. DD just turned 1 year and she is the same way… shorter naps and good overnight sleep… I guess that's just how my kids are! I will say, with DD I was a lot more relaxed about everything and more go with the flow regarding naps/sleep and the result has been basically the same!
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@BabyTsMom: LO is 7 months. I finally just had to let naps go. If they're long I'm happy but I don't guarantee myself anything longer than 40 minutes. That way I end up being pleasantly surprised instead of disappointed.
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M takes horrible naps. But he sleeps through the night, which is the better deal, so I'm not going to stress about it.
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@BabyTsMom: I use both books and I'm pretty obsessed about sleep also. I just read that part in the Ferber book the other day (though now that I try to look for it, I can't find it).
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My LO was the crappiest napper until she was over a year old. 30-45 mins was the norm. She sttn since she was 6 months though. I stressed myself out so much over her naps when it was completely unnecessary. She was happy with her short naps and she was a good nighttime sleeper. Put down those books!! You'll all be happier for it.
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BTW, the sleep begets sleep thing never held true for my daughter either...
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@SleepyMonkey: lol, yes I need to put down the books!!! I'd be much happier and relaxed if I did. Reading these replies really makes me feel so much better though!
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@BabyTsMom: yes...seriously, stressing out over her napping is one of my biggest regrets because it took away from enjoying her during that time. She was such a happy baby too!
He has only recently started taking naps longer than 1 hour & 15 minutes… but has always STTN once he started doing it. DD just turned 1 year and she is the same way… shorter naps and good overnight sleep… I guess that's just how my kids are! I will say, with DD I was a lot more relaxed about everything and more go with the flow regarding naps/sleep and the result has been basically the same!
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