Author Topic: How long should I let baby nap for?  (Read 655 times)

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Offline scraggles

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How long should I let baby nap for?
« on: August 27, 2009, 14:47:22 pm »
My LO is unfortunately taking short naps now, but every once in a while (usually after a rough night) she will take really long naps.
How long is it ok to let her nap for before waking her up?
She is 3.5 months old.

Offline anna*

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Re: How long should I let baby nap for?
« Reply #1 on: August 27, 2009, 19:21:49 pm »
The official advice is to wake her when her next feed time comes around, ie 3 hrs after her last feed. But when that used to happen for me, I would usually let my LO sleep an extra 30 mins to catch up, especially when we were deailing with OT.





Offline lpperry

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Re: How long should I let baby nap for?
« Reply #2 on: August 28, 2009, 18:27:24 pm »
My baby is 4 1/2 months and since we started EASY he has been a good napper. It took 3 weeks of hard work (when he was 5 weeks old) of doing shhpat, but now he can fall asleep and stay asleep.

After we got in a good routine, I now do not worry about him sleeping too long.  He is up for 1 1/2 to 2 hours and I put him down when he shows tired signs or at 2 hours if he is not showing any (but he usually is).  He always sleeps for at least 1 1/2 to 2 hours--usually 2 hours. Frequently he even sleeps 2 1/2 hours.  It is more common for him to sleep the 2 1/2 hours than 1 1/2 hours.  Sleeping the extra 30 minutes does not cause problems with the rest of the day.  My thinking is that he needs the sleep, so there is no reason to wake him.

If the longer nap started causing issues with bedtime or night wakings, then I would definitely try waking him if he slept over 2 hours. However, he goes to bed between 7 and 8 and wakes between 7 and 8. 

You didn't say how long your baby was sleeping. If your baby is sleeping 3 1/2-4 hour stretches during the day and it is affecting her night sleep and her feeding schedule, then it would be a good idea to wake her after 2 hours. If she has a rough night, then maybe she needs to catch up on her sleep during the day. If this does not effect the next night, I wouldn't worry about it and let her get the sleep.