Talk to me about naps, mamas

[lalemma]

H. is a really good nighttime sleeper. He's a good sleeper in general... so long as you're right there with him. At night, that means family bed. During the day, he'll eat and then fall asleep on your lap. And he'll keep sleeping so long as you're there: his daytime sleeping periods seem to run about 90 minutes. If you put him down - no matter how deeply he appears to be sleeping - he'll often wake up after a few minutes, interrupting his own sleep cycle.

I don't need or expect him to sleep by himself: he's a baby. He's welcome to sleep in arms or in the sling if that's what he needs. BUT I am now finding that as his daytime sleep is starting to organize itself, he's going toward longer awake periods followed by longer naps, instead of the short awake times/short catnaps. So this constant waking up if he's moved seems to lead to a bit of a sleep deficit. Does that make sense?

Basically, we get a lot of "tired baby nurses 15 minutes on one side, passes out. Wakes up after being put down next to mama. Tired baby nurses 15 minutes on the other side, passes out." - which is fine, but leads to less sleep total than the 90-minute naps that actually seem to be what he needs.

The other facet to this is that if he had more regular naptimes, I would just look at the clock, know that a feed+90-minute nap was coming up, and sit down with him. But because he's fed on demand and still in the process of organizing his sleep, we end up sitting down to nurse, sometimes he doesn't then go into a nap, but sometimes he does... and eventually a mama NEEDS TO PEE, know what I'm saying?

I am not super worried about this, but I would like to help facilitate more daytime sleep for him. Does any of this make sense? What are you guys doing for naps?

(As an aside, we're not good at nursing in the sling, so just wearing him and then getting up and going about my business isn't a good solution for us.)

[Gimme Pineapple]

Some days DS only sleeps on me. Today, he is having an independent day. We are lounging on the bed. I am sitting with his little feet touching me, he is reclined in his Boppy (sound asleep). Yesterday, I pulled his portable bassinet into the bathroom and put him in there with his womb sounds bear while I showered. I only did that to keep him close enough in case he started to cry, but when I got out of the shower, he was sleeping. I was completely flabbergasted. I figured I would have a 2 minute window before he went ballistic. He has never been a fan of the bassinet.

I just kind of go with whatever works that day. Some days he wants to be held, some days he wants "alone time" (what I call it when he is just chillin' in his Boppy).

As far as him not getting enough sleep because he falls asleep while nursing/waking/nursing, we have that going on over here too. I just massage his back to keep him awake or play with his feet. I keep him awake until he has emptied both breasts. That way when he does fall asleep, he has a full tummy and sleeps longer. HTH

[evinmom]

Everett won't sleep if he's not held or touched either. Daytime is harder than nighttime as far as him staying asleep. I usually nurse him while wearing my carrier. Then once he's asleep, I put him in the carrier and start moving. If he slightly rouses, the movement or butt tapping will usually put him back to sleep. Then I can get up to go pee or do something. Although wearing him all day is starting to kill my back regardless of which carrier I use (I think he's about 14 lbs now). It also makes me feel like I'm still pregnant with the extra weight up front so everything takes more effort to do.

[flapjack]

Sam will sleep in the buggy if it's moving, or in the wrap. If he's down, any noise or disturbance will get him up, which means that on days when all the kids are around, we have a very cranky small boy.
I don't nurse in carriers, btw. I nurse and then tie him on after he wakes up after 15 minutes

[evinmom]

I wanted to clarify I don't nurse him while he is in the carrier. He still needs help with his latch. I put him in after he is asleep, but putting the carrier on first makes the transition easier.

[nannymom]

Henry is also trying to organize his day time sleep and it sounds like we have some similiar issues. I never know when or how long he will stay asleep. I'll hold him or lay him down or wear him in the wrap depending on what he seems willing to do. knowing when he wants to sleep or for how long would be great because it would help me organize my time with dd. I try to deivide his sleeping time between spending time with her, house work, and a little break for me. Of course that rarely happens.


He seems to want to have 2 wakeful periods one in the morning and one at night and then sleep all day but when he wakes up in the middle of the day he is furious to the point that it is like colic.

Acording to the NCSS a 2 month old baby should take around 3 naps totaling 7 hours of day time sleep. I don't care too much about getting him on a set schedule but my dd was chronicaly sleep deprived as a baby and I really want to avoid that as well as setting Henry up for good sleep habits in a gentle way.

[Tattooed Hand]

I have yet to notice any pattern with Rassa's naps. Her night time seems to be anywhere from 10-11 to 6-8. Otherwise, I just make sure she isn't awake for more than 2 hours at a time and if she is, to focus on soothing her to sleep. It's usually the reason she's cranky if she's not working on her next diaper masterpiece.