[natty]

How much does your little one nap during the day? Is Alex the only one still not napping? She still refuses to sleep more than 30min And only mabey two hours a day but by some miricle I got her to take an hour nap and another two hour nap and then another 30min nap and she slept better last night than she has in a long time. I know better daytime sleep means better night sleep. I am going nuts here and am constantly exhausted. I already use a sound machine her( well my ) room is quite, we got the temp rigth. We still swaddle. I am really all ears if anyone has any suggestions, I always joke I live on caffeine and I'll sleep when I'm dead but it's starting to be more truth than joke lately

[ashj_1218]

I have no suggestions. Kieran naps four times every day for no more than 40 minutes each time. I think it is his sleep cycle and when he wakes up, he is too nosy to go back to sleep. He pops his head right up and that is the end of sleep. I did notice that if he gets a nap within 1.5 hours of bedtime, we have a MUCH easier time getting him down at night and he *generally* sleeps better for that first stretch. So I have been trying for a nap between 7-7:30 lately, so he is up by 8 and back down by 9:30. It has worked the past two nights, but sometimes he fights sleep so much that we miss that nap and then end up trying to put him down for more than an hour at night. He just does not want to miss a trick. I wish I could help This is the second kid I have had who hates to sleep. And I just love it soooooooo much. It is like a cruel trick. Lol. I just keep telling myself that they WILL get out of this stage and we will forget and there will be many more nights of sleep for me. But frankly, it only helps when I am feeling somewhat positive about life and not like I am gonna jump out the window.

[debraf555]

We have Luigi on a pretty good eat, play, sleep schedule. He eats every 3-4 hours, plays for about an hour or two, and then naps anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half. He starts his bedtime routine about 8pm: bath, massage, bottle, sleep. He is asleep by 9pm, gets up for a bottle around 330am and then is back to sleep until 730. So far so good . . . we're keeping our fingers crossed that this continues to work!

[karelle]

Sounds like Claire! Only way I can get her to sleep more than 30 minutes at a time is by sticking her in her swing. She'll sleep a nice 3 hour chunk and then will sleep better at night.

[Urchin]

Audrina is all over the place with her naps. Some days she will nap every two hours for 30-60 min at a time, other days (like today) she won't nap at all...it makes for an awful day!

I also agree that on the days that she naps, she's much better with sleeping that night!

[natty]

At least she isn't the only one a few days ago I got over three hours worth of naps in her and there is deffinaly an improvement at night when she gets a long nap in but that rarely happens, we have tried the swing, bouncy, crib everywhere and she still just won't sleep. I know it might just be her but my doc at her four month check suggested trying to get her to nap more asshe sleeps mabey 14 hours a day including night sleep and "normal" is more like 16 hours and she needs to be awake a minimum of an hour if not more before she is ready to nap

[Urchin]

Originally Posted by natty

At least she isn't the only one a few days ago I got over three hours worth of naps in her and there is deffinaly an improvement at night when she gets a long nap in but that rarely happens, we have tried the swing, bouncy, crib everywhere and she still just won't sleep. I know it might just be her but my doc at her four month check suggested trying to get her to nap more asshe sleeps mabey 14 hours a day including night sleep and "normal" is more like 16 hours and she needs to be awake a minimum of an hour if not more before she is ready to nap

I don't understand how people "get them to nap." lol. Maybe I haven't learned that skill yet, but unless Audrina falls asleep herself, she's not going to nap. I can give her a soother, put her in the swing, rock her, bounce her, everything, but if she doesn't wanna nap, it's not happening. lol

[natty]

Originally Posted by Urchin

I don't understand how people "get them to nap." lol. Maybe I haven't learned that skill yet, but unless Audrina falls asleep herself, she's not going to nap. I can give her a soother, put her in the swing, rock her, bounce her, everything, but if she doesn't wanna nap, it's not happening. lol

I have the opposite problem she never just "goes" to sleep I have to watch for signs she is tired and swaddle her then pat/bounce her to sleep even the few times she has fallen asleep nursing ( not swaddled ) she digs at her face untill she wakes herself up she has to have her arms confined to sleep at all and if I miss her tired signs she gets a second wind and is up for like another hour

[ashj_1218]

^^Kieran is like that, minus the swaddling. I have to "catch" his signs of being tired and jump to put him down...or he will just hang out for a couple more hours and then we have to "fight" to get him down because he is so overtired.

I think some babies really just fall asleep on their own when they are tired and Audrina might be that way (falls asleep nursing or while you are holding her). And some kids fight sleep to the death. Which is where Kieran and Alex fall. Kieran so rarely falls asleep nursing that I guess it is one habit we won't have to break. But it means I have to come up with other ways to get him down...which involve bouncing, rocking, shushing, and other complicated dance steps

As well guided as your doc sounds, I just don't think it is possible to "get" them to nap more. I mean, you have a two-year-old who needs stuff during the day and you can't spend the entire afternoon trying to get her to sleep. KWIM? At least that is part of the issue here...I just take what I get. But I can't spend two hours nursing and shushing and rocking to get 1 hour worth of sleep. So for now, I am just going with his routine. Adding it up, he gets a little more or a little less than 12 hours on a normal day. I just don't know how to increase that time. It seems kinda impossible.

[Seattlite]

Maggie is a total cat-napper most days. I mean, once in a while she'll have a long nap, like an hour and a half, but most days it's just 20 minutes and she's back awake again. And, I can't just put her down and expect her to fall asleep, she just lays there and fusses until the fussing becomes a full-on crying fit. So, I usually rest her on my chest and pat her back, and maybe sing a song to her. That usually soothes her.

[laurenmarie]

I thought Brooke slept too much, but i guess not. She sleeps 8-9 hours at night(not all at once). During the day she takes prolly 3-4naps. They range from 20 mins to 1 1/2 hours. Most are on the shorter side.