Outgrowing 45 minute nap

[newmama12]

Did anyone's LO just outgrow the 45 minute nap and start sleeping longer? My dd has been taking 45 minute naps for 3.5 weeks now. Her pediatrician said this was pretty normal for babies her age and that she would eventually start napping longer. Just wondering if that's true or if it was just something the dr said to stop me from complaining about her short naps.

[debo620]

hi there, you DR is right. most babes outgrow them by the age of 6months or so. That being said, sometimes they are due to overtired or undertired, and your routine might need tweaking. Also some mothers are able to extend the naps with quite a bit of effort. If you would like, post your rouitne and maybe I can make any suggestions

[jmoffitt]

I posted this last week, and titled it hope for short nappers.  I hope this gives you hope!!

Hi.  My daughter never napped well.  Her first nap was usually 45 min. and second nap 1hr. and 15 min.  and 10 to 11 hours at night always waking up at a different time.  Finally at 1year 3 months she has started taking longer naps and getting the rest she has always needed.  Her first nap is usually 1 1/2 to 2 hours and second is the same. She is still sleeping the same at night and wakes up between 7:30 and 8:30.  At 6 months old I put her on a later schedule after experiencing 5AM wake ups!!!!  I hope this give you something to look forward too.  I was pulling my hair out worrying about her naps and trying everything (W2S, pu/pd) the first 9 months because she was always tired, fortunately she has always been a happy baby even though she was always a bit tired.

[MomToMatthew]

I just posted this in another thread, but I'll pass it on to  you too. Yes!!! Mine did three or four 45 minute naps each day. When he finally started crawling around 7 months old he started sleeping at least an hour twice a day. I have a friend whose insurance provided home visits from a developmental specialist, and the specialist told her is is very common and some babies just need the extra physical fatigue before they can nap longer. Hang in there!

[tylersmommy]

I really do believe there's a HUGE developmental component to short naps. Like Deborah said, sometimes tweaking the routine or putting in lots of effort can lengthen naps, but I still believe that a baby has to be developmentally ready to nap longer in order for those to work. Problem is, how are we supposed to know when they're ready?

I wish I'd had that perspective when my older kiddo was a baby...would have saved myself a lot of stress and worrying. This time around, I did tweak her routine and would put in a good faith effort to extend her naps, but I wouldn't spend all day doing it. She started army crawling around 8 mo and magically started napping longer. When her naps lengthened, I hadn't done anything to try and extend them for at least a few weeks, so it seems to me that she really did just outgrow them.

[vadensmommy]

DD was a HORRIBLE 45 min napper, until we moved to a 4 hr EASY.  I think our problem all along was A time.  Once we increased the A time, they disappeared.  I know not everyone is that lucky, but I felt truly grateful to have more than 45 minutes of Y time - even if it took 4 months to get it!!  If I were you, I'd start pushing the A time 5min longer each day, and see what happens.  Some babies it is biological and they have to grow out of it, but I always always always tell moms to play with the A time first - even if it means ignoring your lo's cues for a while.  Obviously if they are miserable sleepy, put them down, but if it is just a little yawning or rubbing eyes, I'd test the limits, but that is me!!  The worst that will happen is that they have a day of really bad - 30 min naps, and maybe some night wakings, and at the time, I would have taken that as an alternative on the off chance that longer A time would have worked, and we had gotten better naps out of her!!  I was so desperate for Y time though - and a good nap MYSELF!!  HAHA.  Might be a bit drastic for others though   Good luck to you, and I hope they get better!!

[Schwalby]

At 14 weeks, my baby was up after 45 minute naps and not very happy. 

At 15 weeks, she took a two hour nap, so I knew she could do it, and she was much happier.  After that first two hour nap, it occurred to me that she was waking at 45 minutes, but needed to soothe herself back to sleep for at least another hour.  I listened with the monitor for the next week, and sure enough, she was waking at 45 minutes on the nose, but I think all of a sudden she was just mature enough to find her thumb and go back to sleep.  She is definitely a happier baby.  Also, since sleep begets sleep, she is even sleeping a little longer at night and during her last catnap of the day.  Her total at 18 weeks is 17 1/2 to 18 hours a day (12 1/2 at night, 2 - 2 hour naps, 1 - 1 hour nap).

I think you should give her a little more time, but also, don't rush in the room when you hear her at 45 minutes.  Give her a little time to put herself back.  I think, and I have read, you know your baby had enough restorative sleep when they wake up smiling, not crying.

Hope that helps.