Length of CatNap

[Mom to M&M]

How long, ideally, should my DD's catnap be? She is 9 weeks but on 4-hour easy since she has cereal in bottle due to reflux. She tends to take long naps earlier in the day - but how long would her catnap ideally be before dinner? And if she is upset when I wake her up do I get her up anyway so she doesn't sleep too much before bedtime or let her go a bit longer?

[Deb_in_oz]

how long is she currently sleeping at the catnap?  when you wake her and she is upset that is after how long a sleep?

what is her full day and night currently like?

without seeing any of that the guide is generally between 30min - 1 hr depending on the rest of the day and how it affects their bedtime.  for us olivia often made up for shorter middleof day naps with a nice long "catnap" which often was 1hr 30 for her with no adverse effects on bedtime or overnight. i think it is always best to do what works for your lo and their CURRENT needs (some days she naturally limited it and woke up after 45 min so i just trusted her)

[Mom to M&M]

Currently she is on a 3.5-4 hour (usually closer to 4) schedule. Her first nap is 2-2.5 hours, second nap about the same. Then, she either takes two catnaps (if we are cluster feeding her, which she doesn't always want and doesn't always work out depending on what time she woke up that morning) or just one. If two, the first one is about 1-1.5 hours and then she is awake again for an hour (including cluster feed) before we try to get her back to sleep. Sometimes that second catnap will be about 45 minutes. Sometimes she wakes up sooner and is tired and cranky but also hungry.

In general, I prefer days when she sleeps until 7 or 7:30 ideally. Then I could feed her at 7:30, 11:30 and 3:30 and then make the dinner bottle at 7 or 6:45 and just top her off right before going in... In that case, the catnap would ideally be from 5-6:15 or even 6:30 - but not sure if she'll sleep that long then - or if she should....

Sorry so confusing!

[Mom to M&M]

Also, that catnap is usually in her Papasan seat or stroller - not her crib. She is already excellent at putting herself to sleep for both naps and bedtime in her crib - and we want to continue to make sure she can also sleep in her car seat/stroller and elsewhere...

I should also point out that we don't DF as we found it was only disrupting her sleep and causing her to wake more in night. She currently goes from her bedtime until around 1 or 2am and then back to sleep after eating in one hour and will go about another 5 after that - sometimes with some stirring.

I'd ideally like her wake time to be 7:30 and her bedtime 8pm - if that is realistic...

[Deb_in_oz]

sorry i did getconfused - can you put those naps in perspective for me with a timeline of the day - without the times i am not sure of when the 3rd and 4th naps happen.

it looks fine though but cannot figure out the timings.

[Mom to M&M]

Hi there. Well today has started out ideally... Last night we gave her last bottle at 7pm - bedtime just before 8 and was asleep by 8:10. We don't DF and she slept until 2:45 (!) with just a brief waking (but right back to sleep) at 2. She ate a full bottle and was asleep by 3:45 or so and slept (albeit a bit restlessly) until 7:20 this morning.

So we fed her at 7:30, she was awake until a bit after 9 and I will wake her at 11:25 to feed her at 11:30. The rest of the day would ideally be:

11:30: Eat
Activity until 12:30/12:45
Nap from 1-3:15

3:30: Eat
Activity until 4:30/4:45
Nap from 5-6:30

6:30: Bath
7pm: Eat
7:45/8: Bedtime

This way I don't have to cluster feed and she gets 3 naps, not 4 - which I think is ideal. But it only works this way if she sleeps until at least 7. Otherwise I have to fit in a cluster feed and fourth nap to hold her over till dinner! And that's when things can get hairy...

[Deb_in_oz]

well that looks greeat to me for a 9 week old! what does a "hairy" day look like? maybe we can come up with a plan to make it less hairy for you and still feed her every 4 hrs -

[Mom to M&M]

It's not exactly "hairy" but I need to figure out how to plan day if she wakes at 6:30 or 6:45 or even 7 and is hungry then. I really want her bedtime to be between 7:30 and 8 (and I prefer closer to . She seems to easily be able to make it four hours early on - and takes long naps then. However, in the evening, she doesn't nap well, even catnap all that well really and she usually wants to eat and go to bed after 3 hours or so. Since she doesn't catnap well in the evening she often gets cranky, fussy and overtired - which is no fun for anyone!

I don't love the cluster feed since her feeds are filling with the cereal blended in but can do that if is the only way. Any ideas?

[Mom to M&M]

Hi again - were you able to come up with a good way to schedule it out if she gets up at 6:45 am and wants to eat right away - like today? Thx much.

[Deb_in_oz]

i think for a 9 week old she is doing great and you have to be realistic about what you are looking for. it is normal for babies to wake to start their day between 6-8am depending on what they need.  for some babies (or on some days) it does not matter what time you put them down etc they will not sleep later than they need so i think if she wakes at 6:30 or 7 it is normal and as she gets older and had less naps and more awake time you can try to get her to have the later bedtime, but if she wakes at 6:30 or 7 you just go through the same routine (same intervals just different times on the clock) and get her to bed around 7pm instead of 8pm rather than keeping her awake longer (she already has pretty long A time for a 9 week old)


so based on the times you gave previously it would just change to :
6:30 Eat
8 or so Sleep
10:30 wake up


10:30: Eat
Activity until 11:30/11:45
Nap from 12-2:15

2:30: Eat
Activity until 3:30/3:45
Nap from 4-5:30

5:30: Bath
6pm: Eat
6:45/7: Bedtime

you can then do a dream feed around 10:30 if you like.

i hope  this helps -

[Mom to M&M]

Hi Debra. Actually, she's 10 weeks today! And I certainly didn't mean to imply that I wasn't thrilled with her schedule and I certainly do want to be realistic. with her schedule.

A few things... Is there a way to do it so her bedtime is not before 7:30? Even if I have to cluster feed? If not, that is OK, but would prefer bedtime between 7:30-8 if possible.

Also, we haven't been doing the DF - as it seemed to just be disrupting her sleep and making her wake more often. So instead, after her dinner bottle and bedtime, we let her go until she wakes us up - usually between 12:30-3:30.

[Deb_in_oz]

i think you can see how each day pans out and then you can determine bedtime based on how her naps went and what time she does her last nap - and then you can just decide if you want to try to keep her up longer - many babies can handle a longer A time in that last cycle so if it is a matter of that extra half hour or so then you know your daughter best.  if you keep her up 2 - 2 1/2+ hours until bedtime of 7:30-8 and she goes down without a hassle, then you know she can handle it...

that is why it is so hard to answer your question ( i hope i did not sound rude in my previous post by saying about having realistic expectations...) what i mean at the core of all of this is that you know your daughter and each day will vary a bit so i can answer what "ideal" scenarios are like or how to adapt to situations, but as long as you are working with what she can handle then i say you are doing fine. so me saying about bedtime of 7 on those nights is based on your previous timeline so i am thinking that is what she can handle, but you as her mom know how much leeway you have in that schedule    it is trial and eror - so if she wakes early and you try to get to the same end bedtime you can tweak a bit in each cycle to add 10-15 min or you can add it at the end of the day if that works for her and you, etc

i think she is doing fantastic for a 10 week old and you are doing really well.  things change every week at this age so the key to sanity is to change with her IMO.

[Mom to M&M]

Thx Debra. You didn't sound rude at all and I very much appreciate your help. I am just feeling extra sensitive and sad today because her reflux has been acting up again and we may have to stop the cereal in bottle - even though it seemed to be helping the reflux, it was causing other issues. I hate feeling like I'm torturing my DD to get her to eat.

I'll just see how the day goes and play it from there.

Question - why is it so hard for many babies to take a restful catnap before the dinner bottle or activity before if there is? Just too wound up from whole day?