Question
Catnaps vs. Long naps
What is the secret to getting my 4 1/2 month old to take a long nap instead of her short little "kitty cat naps"? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. TIA
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4 Answers
One thing that worked with my son was putting him down at the same time everyday. I would make sure he woke around the same time each morning so he would go down for his morning nap at around the same time every day. My other piece of advice is wait it out! I know not very good advice. But when my baby was doing that at 3-5 months, he would sleep 30-45 min. at a time. Nothing longer. It was so frustrating! I would do everything, take him for a car ride, go for an hour walk so he would sleep the whole time. But then I was getting nothing done at home. Finally at about 5 months, when he started getting more active, rolling and trying to sit up I think he tired himself out more. He started taking 1-1.5 hour naps! Life is heavenly now! Stick with the routine and in a few weeks he will probably start taking longer naps!
Good Luck!
Hi. My son is 13 months and he still cat naps. although they are 40min now. He used to only take like 15 min naps. I have him on a schedule but he has always cat napped. so i think some babies just do that and some sleep for a long time. Some of my friends babies did the same thing. Good luck. Eventually they will take longer naps
I read that 45 minutes is the typical time for the first sleep cycle. If you don't rush in, the baby would probably go back to sleep. Until I read this, I was getting confused that some days she had two 2 hour naps, and other day she had only two 40 minute naps. Now she's sleeping at least 1-1 1/2 hours twice daily. The Baby Whisperer book really helped us.
Good luck!
Karmen
Mom to Molly, Wife to Chris, I forget what else sometimes!
Karmen
I have heard that 30-45 min. naps off and on during the day is pretty normal for infants up to 6 months. My daughter is 3 mos. old, so we haven't gotten serious with any sleep training just yet. Holding her during the day to help her get to sleep soundly seems to help, or putting her in her swing. I also think a fairly consistent schedule and maybe even a short routine will help. Also, I would never do this at night, but if you are going to be right there and can check on him/her a lot, try tummy sleeping. Mine sometimes likes being on her tummy and sometimes doesn't, but she has napped pretty soundly several times like that. Just make sure you check in often, keep blankets, toys, whatever, away from the face.