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Need naptime help!

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1:39 am
March 26, 2010

Jonna

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Hi my little boy just turned 5 months old and up until 4 1/2 months he was a great napper and we had a good schedule. He was wake for 1 1/2 hours and slept for 2. He kept up this schedule all day until 6:30pm when we put him to bed.

All of a sudden his schedule changed and he will only sleep for spurts of 45 minutes during the day! He is awake for anywhere between 1 to 2 hours and goes back down for a nap. He doesn't look tired when he wakes up so we take him out of bed. He sleeps in his own room by the way. I read Nicole's nap time tricks and the sleep schedule of a 4 month old and she mentioned cat naps.

Is my son's napping behavior age approperiate? Is there any way to get him into a schedule? (I know babies shouldn't be propped into schedules but it works better for him too if he has a routine.)

I hope someone can shed some light on my situation.

Thank you,

Jonna

11:04 am
April 2, 2010

Kimberly

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Hi Jonna,

While an hour's nap is more the recommended amount, a 45 minute nap is often okay as well as long as he's getting good uninterrupted sleep and doesn't seem overly tired when he wakes up. In Nicole's post about the 6 month old schedule, she indicates that by this age, babies are often taking 30-45 minute naps. Your son just might be headed in that direction. You can read the entire post here: http://www.babysleepsite.com/s…..-schedule/

Does he seem overly tired by the time bedtime comes? If so, then you might need to consider squeezing a third nap in the late afternoon and pushing bedtime to 7 or 7:30.

Hope this helps. Feel free to post back with any updates or additional questions.

Kimberly

The Baby Sleep Site (TM)

12:07 pm
April 8, 2010

Jonna

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Hello Kimberly,

Thank you for replying. I have read the post about the 6th month schedule and maybe my son is heading that way. He isn't tired when he wakes up but his energy is short lasted. An example is that he wakes up and with an hour and a half he's tired again. At this moment…although wait two days and it will probably change…he wakes up at 6:30am and goes back to bed by 8am. He's up by 9am and back in bed by 10:30am. He's up by 11:15am and back in 12:45pm. He's awake at 1:30pm and back in bed by 3:00pm. He's awake around 4 and back in bed at 5:30pm. This means he has 4 catnaps…for the meantime.

Do you recommend putting your child on a set schedule or taking each day as it comes and while keeping in mind that he goes to bed when he's tired?

I hope to hear from you again.

Jonna

2:02 pm
April 8, 2010

Kimberly

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Hi Jonna,

I'd really recommend getting him on a schedule. Babies really thrive on consistency and a set schedule will help immensely as he gets only and starts to grow out of his catnaps or as he finds he wants to be awake more to explore his world. Also, it's good to keep in mind that good consistent daytime sleep and schedule can help to ensure that he's getting good nighttime sleep as well.

Nicole has some really good advice about napping and schedules in her ebook- Mastering Naps that you may want to consider getting if you find that his catnaps and lack of set schedule are becoming a problem. You can find it here: http://www.babynapswell.com/

Also, keep in mind that he might currently be going through a growth spurt and that may be why he is napping so often or tiring easily. I'm assuming he's sleeping well at night and getting some good interrupted sleep since you didn't mention it as a problem.

You can work on getting to him to nap longer, but sometimes a baby is just wired for shorter naps and he may not ever really be a long napper. My son wasn't typically a long napper.

Hope this helps. Feel free to post back with more info or any updates!

Kimberly

The Baby Sleep Site (TM)

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