How many and how long are your 6 month olds naps?

[Millie2]

Just wanting to get an idea of how much sleep some babies are getting.  My DS is a short napper and I sometimes worry that he's not getting enough sleep (the red eyes and grizzling gives it away).

[BoxerBaby]

My LO is 6 months, 3 weeks old.

She typically naps 3 times a day (9am, 1pm, 4pm) for 1 hour and 15 minutes or 1.5 hours at a time.

I posted earlier about how to get her to extend those naps.

She does well at night (bed sometime b/t 7 and 7:30pm and sleep until sometime b/t 5:30am - 6:30am - if she wakes at 5:30am she eats and goes back to sleep for at least an hour).

GOOD LUCK

Jessica

[nona]

we are 6 mo 1 week and a few days...

my lo only takes 2 naps almost 2 hrs each. sometimes 1.5 hrs but usually closer to 2 hrs. we do not have a catnap. gave up on it a long time ago. my LO refused it. we use to get him to take a little snooze in the bjorn or stroller but then things got too interesting!

we just started sleeping thru w/ an occasional NW  = usually in bed by 7:30, awake btwn 6:30-7:30. if there is a NW, we have to wake him up. we still have a DF.

[Tanners Mom]

Tanner is 6 mos, 3 weeks old. He typically takes 2 naps a day - 1.5-2.5 hours each. Usually his morning nap is shorter (1.5 hours) and the afternoon nap is longer (2-2.5 hours). We dropped the catnap a couple of weeks ago b/c he kept fighting it - it was pretty tricky for a few days as we sorted out A-times with no catnap.

Lately he's been fighting some of his naps - so in the last week there were about 3 days when he only had one long nap. I think it's because he wants to stay up and play so we are working with longer A-times to see if that works.

Tanner sleeps about 10 hours total at night with one waking to feed - I don't do DF.

In regards to your LO getting enough sleep - their behavior is the main give away. I used to worry about Tanner too (most babies his age are getting 11-12 hours at night, etc) but he isn't cranky in the day at all. So I figure that he is just one of those babies that doesn't need as much sleep as the 'average' baby.

If you are interested in reading the averages - here is the link: https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=85130.0

But do remember that these are averages and your LO is unique!! 

[nona]

jaci-

do you mind posting your schedule? we're in the middle of trying to sort out A-times and just curious what you came up with. been frustrated the last week!!! my LO wants to stay and play too and it breaks my heart when he's crying out in his crib staring at me through the bars  ...and i know he's tired.

[Tanners Mom]

Hi nona!
Isn't it SO hard to sort out the A-times?? I've been going crazy with it! Tanner went from 1.5 hours to 2 hours A-time overnight and then to 3 hours within a few more days!

And his cues do nothing but confuse me - yesterday he screamed and screamed and screamed when I put him down (after 2.75 hours) but he had been yawning like crazy!

Anyway...I'm pretty sure that we're close now and this is what it looks like.

6:30 wake and bf
7:30 solids
9:30-11am nap
11am bf
12pm solids
2pm bf (this is to help him wind down (spirited) and b/c I don't want him to wake early from his nap due to hunger)
2:15-4 or 4:30 nap
5pm solids
6pm bath, pjs, book, sing
6:30 bf
7pm in bed and falling asleep

This is our general routine but it varies by up to an hour each day - it all depends on when he wakes and how his naps are! Oh...and sometimes I add another bf after his second nap.

HTH!
~Jaci

[Erin M]

Allie is 6 months, a week, and a few days (was born the same day as Nona's LO). 
Assuming she wakes up around 8 AM, she goes down for a two hour nap around 10 AM, up again around noon.  Things get interesting at this point as she needs more A time in the afternoon, so generally she'll be up until 3/3:30 when I'll feed her and put her down for a nap of about an hour or so.  I make sure she's up before 5 (she's usually up on her own before then) to preserve our 7 PMish bedtime.  Not exactly EASY, but it's what works for us right now.

[nona]

jaci
i usually don't do a BF before sleep but maybe i should consider!  cade's cues are definitely not clear these days as well.

thanks for posting your schedule. i think if i did BF before nap cade would be confused if i went straight to solids after nap and not bf, but maybe i should try one day and see what happens esp if it works for you (and erin  )

also, does anyone wake their LOs from a nap at the 1.5 or 2 hr mark?

[Tanners Mom]

Erin - we don't do a typical EASY now either but with longer A-times, it's not possible. Like you, I just do what works! I'm impressed that Allie sleeps from 7pm to 8am! Nice!!

Nona - Yes...I wake Tanner to preserve bedtime. And I would wake from the first nap to preserve 2nd nap. Eventually, we'll have to wake them to preserve their night sleep. It feels so weird b/c I spent SO long helping him lengthen his naps and now I'm waking him! 

The bf before the nap works like a charm to get him calmed down from play to nap. He typically goes down like a dream after that. If Tanner takes a long nap at that point - like 2 or 2.5 hours - sometimes I top him off with a bit more milk and then solids an hour after. Kinda depends on the day and his mood.

Millie2 - sorry for hijacking your post  hopefully you found some of this helpful! 

[nona]

(sorry millie2)-

the book healthy habits also recommends waking to preserve the PM nap and for bedtime. should've paid closer attention....normally his naps don't go past 2 hrs but sometimes they do. anyway, right now i think cade is about to do something developmentally BIG like crawl or something. he is doing a lot of (modified  )downward facing dog poses and kept me up last night trying to do them  .

most of our problems are w/ the second nap so i will try to bf before and see what happens.

thanks for sharing your experience!

millie - does your LO seem content when he wakes after a short nap?

[Millie2]

Hi everyone

Don't worry about hijacking!  Its great to read what some other babies are doing.

My boy isn't often content after his short naps.  He'll be okay for about half an hour and then he gets cranky and miserable.  Sometimes I put him back down to bed again and occasionally he'll go back to sleep for another 30 minutes or so but often he just cries until I pick him up again.  Its so heartbreaking knowing that he's tired.  I have tried everything (and stuck with each thing for at least a week) but nothing is working for us.  He always wakes a lot at night (2-5 times) to feed - I know I shouldn't feed him every time but its the only thing that gets him back to sleep in a short period of time (30 minutes as opposed to 2-5 hours!) so we all get back to sleep a bit quicker.  I guess I've put my head in the sand for a while and now I'm trying to figure out exactly what is "normal" so I can decide on an action plan and stick with it.

[KathrynK]

Hi Millie
I am wondering if the short napping and night wakings might be connected. You see if when he wakes at night, he always gets fed and then goes back to sleep, he will associate feeding with going to sleep. So if he wakes early from a nap, he can't get back to sleep without a feed, as that is how he has "learnt" to go to sleep.
It's really easy to do that at night as you are so desperate for sleep you'll do the thing which you know will mean you all get back to sleep quicker! But sometimes that doesn't help in the long run as eventually you'll need to teach him how to get back to sleep on his own or forever be doing night feeds. Does this make sense? It's just a guess but I think this may be what's behind it all.
Can I suggest you visit the props board as well? There are loads of posts there where people are stopping feeding to sleep which you might find useful.
Hope this helps- hope you don't think I've completely got the wrong end of the stick (apologies if you think I'm waaaay off the mark  )