Just to be sure I'm doing the right thing here....

[Julie2008]

Hi,

Just wanted to double check that I have the right ideas for napping?! I have a 12 week old on a 4hr easy schedule and although I'm willing to be flexible with morning naps due to older daughter (distraction, errands, playgroup etc..) I would like to work on the afternoon nap so that baby knows to take naps in her bed and Mommy can catch her breath!

Problem is the 30-40 minute napper unless in car seat or bouncy seat. In the afternoon, I bring both girls upstairs, change diapers, get into sleep sacks, read books and put to bed, most often baby falls asleep with pacifier and then wakes 30-40 minutes later.

My options are...

-wake to sleep...didn't really work
-shh.pat....I put paci back in, shhhhh, until sleepy then leave. Today I've been doing this for almost 30 minutes and she wakes every 2-5 minutes

- pick/up put/down - havent tried this yet


So really I just keep doing this until she actually falls asleep or nap time is over (at least 1 hr 30 minutes?? And hopefully her naps get longer eventually?


Thanks for the support and any ideas on what I may be missing?

[*Jo*]

Hi there, if your LO is only 12 weeks then I would say shes not ready for a 4 hour routine just yet, a nap of 30mins is most likely to be an overtired nap, depending on how long her A time I would probably bring it back a little. at 12 weeks old the average A time is 1 hour 30mins (thats eyes open to eyes closed, includes feeding and nappy changes etc)

just wondering if she has any medical conditions like reflux to consider?

[Julie2008]

I'm pretty sure theres no reflux, just the standard spit up from bottle fed babies. I felt it was early for the 4 hour too but she feeds so much better every 4 hours and takes more than if I forced the 3 hour schedule and really its a 3.5 -4 hour schedule if I really put it to the clock.

She very well could be overtired so I'll try to put her down earlier, I find it so difficult to do this in the morning when my older one is running around and causing distractions for both baby and me.

Thanks for the response, always interested if something else comes to mind.

Julie