"consolidating" naps?

[blairinargentina]

okay, i am wondering about isa's nap schedule or lack there of. especially after chatting with a friend about how it works at their house. note: they are more of the "baby training" mindset than us, which may be where this whole issue lies. i DO NOT want to set off another furious ferber debate. but i do have some questions...

she said that a 45 minute nap reflects one sleep cycle. i agree. but that they "soothe" their baby back to sleep after she wakes from the first 45 minutes so that she gets fewer, longer naps during the day.

so, i wonder if i should try to get isa to go back to sleep for another cycle? she is usually pretty alert and awake after 45 minutes though? but she never seems "rested" and ends up taking these little power naps all day long. if this is just how she works then okay, but if i could be doing something different that would help her be rested and happy (and help with my own all-day-fussy-baby-burnout), should I?

thoughts anyone?

[BetsyS]

What I have found is that when Will wakes after 45 minutes, I can go in and nurse him, and often, he will fall back asleep for longer.

[mamamilkers]

I have heard that before, but I'm not sure it works for every baby. When my DDs wake up from naps, they are AWAKE. I couldn't ever get them to fall back asleep. Always curious how that works!

[peilover010202]

I tend to agree with your friend. However, from some books I've read, usually around 6 months is when babies start to develop a nap schedule on their own. I definitely found this to be true for ds1. ds2 on the other hand is all over the place, but I have found he typically takes 3 naps a day (am,pm and evening.) But the times vary widely.

The book I read (which I will not mention the name here because it's not AP and I don't agree with anything but the sleep info in it), says that ideally babe should be back to sleep within 1 hour of waking. I have found that true in both my boys (it essentially extends their "night" sleep.) And, I have typically found that if I rush right in when ds2 (and when ds1 was a babe) wakes up, he'll go back to sleep if I nurse him. Now, with a 3yr old, it's not always feasible, but I try...

Personally, I think that good sleep habits are learned. I don't think it's something we are born being good at. So, while I don't force my boys to sleep, I definitely encourage it and do whatever I can to make the atmosphere conducive to it.

[JenMidwife]

double post

[JenMidwife]

Originally Posted by peilover010202

"...ideally babe should be back to sleep within 1 hour of waking..."

What does it mean by this? During the day, during the night, etc?

[Robynee]

For awhile, Sean was waking up after 45min-an hour. Often, I could lie down next to him and get him to go back to sleep for another hour. Now he sleeps for about 2 hrs straight. The same thing happens at night when he goes to bed before me. He will often wake up around 9 but will, for the most part, nurse back to sleep. The big if though is, I have to catch him before he wakes up all the way. Otherwise, I am doomed.

[blairinargentina]

Originally Posted by Robynee

The big if though is, I have to catch him before he wakes up all the way. Otherwise, I am doomed.

yep, that pretty much sums it up for us too! i have been trying since i posted this to get her back to sleep... but no luck. she just gets so mad because she is awake and sees absolutely no reason for taking another nap!

as for me, i could sleep all day and be one very happy lady!

[peilover010202]

Originally Posted by JenMidwife

What does it mean by this? During the day, during the night, etc?

Ah, sorry. In the am when they first wake, they should be back to sleep within about an hour (this is according to the book I read). I found with ds1, it was more like 1.5-2hrs and it's been similar for ds2.

[veganf]

We have three 45 minute naps right now. He's often awake for a few minutes before I can get to him, or before I even hear him. He now naps in the boys' room in the big crib and he loves it there. The first I hear of him after a nap is often giggles of delight when he plays with himself in the mirror or with his Taggie and he loves looking around the room at the birthday balloons, they've always been one of his favourite pasttimes.
IF on the rare occasion we're home alone and he's sleeping on the bed I can sometimes nurse him back to sleep.

For us, the longer naps have always started when they become mobile.

[JenMidwife]

Originally Posted by blairinargentina

as for me, i could sleep all day and be one very happy lady!

me too!!! esp being w/ erin full time!!!

[2 in August]

We have no predictable naps either. Our schedule changes everyday so it is hard for him to get set schedule. In the Life with a Babe forum, somebody mentioned that as babies get older they fall into a 2-3-4 pattern. Like 2hrs after they wake in the morning, they take an am nap, then 3hrs after waking from that nap they take a pm nap and then 4 hrs after that they go to bed for the night. We are nowhere near that. On days that we stay home in the mornings, he sleeps off and on all morning waking up to eat then back to sleep. Then he cat naps off and on through the afternoon and evening. He sleeps his long stretch at night from about 1am - 6am. When we go away, he likes to be up to see what's going on, but he'll often take a cat nap while we are out once he knows what's happening.