Less than expected napping hours

[Rei]

Hi,

I'm a first time mum of a 10wk old boy. I often have difficulty coaxing him to nap. Usually, he'll only nap for 30mins, 1 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. However, if I am to put him in the sling and walk about, he'll nap very well. Despite the short hours of sleep, he is generally a happy baby and is growing well.

Is it ok for me to just let him be (most of my time will be spent talking/playing with him)? I had been trying hard to get him to nap more, if not longer, but in vain. I'm instead stressing myself out with that objective. Any health issue involved with such napping hours?

warmest rgds

[First Time Mom]

Hi Rei,
It sounds like he may be used to sleeping in the sling in the day. I would try to gradually change this to his crib or bassinet as he will get heavy when he's older and hard for you to carry to nap. My dd is 12 weeks and would not nap past 45 minutes per nap so I worked on one nap at a time, trying to extend them. I wait for 35 minutes to go by then I go into her room and give her the paci and she usually drifts off into a second nap. 30 minutes is really short, I'm surprised he's not cranky (your lucky!) I would try to go into his room at the 20 minute mark, wait for him to stir, then pt/sh or give a paci (if he takes one). I think in total they should be getting around 15 hours of sleep including their night sleep.

[Rei]

Hi First Time Mum,

you are very right about the weight issue as he grows, he is already 6.5kg now, I can't possibly continue napping him in the sling.

He does get cranky, but it's for no more than 2hrs (usually between 6pm to 9pm) when we try to put him down for the night. Other than that time slot, he is generally satisfied.

Will continue to try to get him to nap more. However, any idea if there'll be health issues involved for little napping?

[First Time Mom]

Hi Rei,

Not sure if any health problems would arise- hopefully one of the experts can answer this. I think it would only result in an overtired/stimulated baby (I would think for health problems it would have to be a baby that was only sleeping a fraction of what they're supposed to). If he's crying lots between 6-9 he's overtired- this happened to my dd so we started her sleep time earlier. We originally tried for 8:30 and she would crank out for 2 hours so we backed it up- we now start her sleep time at 7:30 and it only usually takes 5 minutes for her. Try extending even one nap time, I do this with dd (usually try for 2 but doesn't always work) and I find it makes a huge difference in her sleeping better overall.

[Jaime]

i agree... i would give up sleeping in the sling - he's only going to get heavier!!   

if he doesn't get decent sleep in the daytime, it can result in more disturbed sleep in the nighttime, and then you can have a whole host of problems.  but, as PP also said, if he's waking happy there might not be much you can do for now.  if he's waking cranky, i'd work on the pat/shh in the crib (instructions at the top of this forum)

you mention he has 2 afternnon naps?  when does he get up from the last one??  if it's anytime around 4pm (or earlier) he probably needs a catnap of about 45 minutes before bedtime.  that catnap can actually be anywhere, since it will be the first to go when he gets older, and this will not affect sleep training. 

HTH 

[Rei]

Thanks for advice. Still hoping to hear from experts out there if there'll be health issues (physical & mental) with regards to little napping hours.

Had been making him sleep more frequent in the day (he is still napping about 30min slots), instead of talking/playing with him when he's awake. Very happy to say that he's less cranky in the evening, more manageble. Sad to say, those naps were successful because I had to rock & pat him in my arms before putting him down.

A relative just commented that the reason for his short napping is because he had not gotten over a "scare" (my boy jumps easily by sudden sound). According to her, the slight tinge of green round his mouth and at the nose bridge between his eyes are evidence of him being scared. She suggested giving my boy a traditional medicine, I'm not quite sure about that. Any ideas?

[First Time Mom]

Hi Rei,

My daughter has a slight green tinge of colour on her nose, between her eyes and I asked my doctor about it a while back and she was not worried or concerned about it. If you are concerned and thinking about giving a medicine I would check with your doctor first (I would always check about any type of medicine, even a vitamin or anything herbal as a baby's system is so delicate). As for your baby jumping at sound I find many babies a little jumpy when they are young- they get easily startled.

More likely the reason for your baby's short naps is that their average nap cycle is 45 minutes long and when many babies wake up they are not able to re-nap. My daughter has 3 short naps in the day and if I'm lucky, one longer one. If sounds like you've had some success with rocking and patting him, have you tried to do this with him laying down in his crib/bassinet? I would try this next, put him down when he's awake (not crying), pat his bottom/side and softly sh/sh/sh him,  it may help if there are not toys/distractions hanging above him or any music. Put him down before he looks too tired- if you wait for him to yawn many times it will be too late, he may be overtired by then. It may not work the first time but if you do this repeatedly it should.

Give us an example of a typical day's schedule. Also, how many hours in total is he sleeping in a 24 hour period? The experts will probably need to know this to help out.