how long fof 5 month old?

[LucySol]

just hoping someone could answer my question? i have a 5 month old dd who has 4 or 5 little cataps during the day each one lasting 30-45 mins.after getting some advice on here i was advised to try and extend her naps to stop her catnapping so much.on the odd occasion that this has worked i am unsure how long to let her sleep for.she has now been asleep for nearly 2 hrs and has already had 2 short catnaps today.do i just leave her to wake up when she is ready or is there a length of time that i shouldnt let her sleep longer than? any help would be appreciated ,love Lucy xxx

[Mashi]

i have an LO similar age who is also a catnapper.  once last week he took the first long nap of his life and i was actually worried about waking him! ha!!   no worries, he woke at 2hrs exactly!!  clock changed and ping! eyes open.

i would say if you have a chronic catnapper, let him go 2.5 hours, but i'm no expert, that's just my gut.  but, i would also take into account how it will affect timings for his next feed, next A time, a later catnap and bedtimes, etc and go from there.

sorry my lo is ill and i am rocking him and typing one finger so can't type more!

[Evgenia]

Hi Sol,
My litle one is a cronical catnapper as well and it took a while to sort out her naps. The first few days I stuck to the clock and woke her up on time for her feeds regardless of how long she’s been asleep for. After 3 exhausting days she started getting into a swing of things and started sleeping for longer stretches of time.
From then on if she is asleep for longer than 2 hours I normally let her be and then continue with the rest of the routine without adjusting the feed, activity or bed times. However I did notice that if she sleeps for longer 2.5 hours she ends up cranky and fussy for the rest of the day and her routine gets messed up.

I would suggest to keep a detailed log and try waking her up after 2 hours one day and let her sleep for longer another day and then compare the effects.

I also noticed that with my lo even the smallest change in her life (e.g. cold) has an immediate effect on her naps with her relapsing back to cat naps. 

Hope this helps! Good Luck!