Activity length for 6 months

[charlibabes]

My DD is 6 months old and I have struggled to get her into a routine of napping at al linthe day.  I have been putting her down 2 hours after she wakes on average, and she goes 3 hours between waking from her afternoon nap and nighttime sleep.

2 hours seems quite a short time, but it's so hard to spot her signs I am going by the clock.  When should this extend to 3 hours?  she fights sleep often so I am not sure if she is needing longer A time, or less!!! LOL

Any help appreciated.

[Erin M]

I would assume that since she's six months, she's going 4 hours (or so) between feedings?  Could you post her daily schedule so we could see what it looks like?  That would help sort it out. 

That not knowing if it's too much or too little sleep is quite a common thing, it's so hard to read their sleepy cues sometimes!  Is she napping well when she does nap for a decent amount of time?  If you think she needs less sleep you can try lenghtening her awake time in 15 minute intervals over the course of a few days to extend it a bit and see how she does.  If she gets even harder to put down, then she's probably overtired and needs less awake time.  You may also find that you awake time may vary depending on what part of the day it is.  Many LOs need shorter awake time first thing in the morning (that first nap is sometimes just considered an extension of their nighttime sleep). 

Hope this helps!

[charlibabes]

Her routine is something like this.. give or take 30 mins.

7am wake Breast
9 am sleep 45 mins
11am breast/solids
12 noon sleep 45 mins
2.30 Breast
3.30 sleep 45mins
5.30 breast/solids
6.30 wind down and breast
7.30 sleep

Wake for feed anywhere betweem 1 and 4am


Until a month ago she would not sleep in the day at all!  I started by swaddling and rocking her to force her to sleep - now I am easing back from that and rocking her until drowsy then pat/shush (pu/pd too stimulating).  She has had chronic wind at  night as well which is getting better, I found a dreamfeed would just make her wake earlier with wind.  Often she will wake at 5.30 and think that's time to get up.. 10 hours is the maximum she will do overnight, 7am is not that common.  The earliest I will let her get up is 6am, I still try and get her back to sleep at about 9 if she does that.

[~Angie~]

Hi, I just wanted to say that my LO is 5.5 months old and has just decided she wants a longer A time. When she starts to get fussy, I try to lay her down. If she fights me, then I get her up and play for 10 minutes and try again. I always start at the two hour mark. She usually goes down around 2 hrs. 15 min. or 2.5 hours. We still have two short naps and one long. I am hoping when we get closer to three hours A time, the frist two naps will become one.

[Sydney]

Hi there

I just asked a question about this in the EASY forum. Here is the link:

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=57618.0

Every baby is different but mine dd goes usually 1:30 to 1:45 for A time and then a nap. The most she can last is 2 hours, but this doesn't happen all the time. 

She may be overtired and that is why you are getting the 45 minute naps. I would try putting her down earlier, maybe at the 1:45 minute mark??

[charlibabes]

Thanks!

[Mom to M&M]

I actually disagree - at 6 months, I think your DD may well be able to handle even 2.5 hours A time in the morning. Maybe try 2 hrs 15 minutes first and see if that helps beat the 45 minute AM nap? IF you can get a good first nap out then 3 hours is long before second nap, but not unreasonable. But if only a short AM nap, you may need to do only 2.5 hours A time in afternoon.

[Sydney]

Every baby is different based off the feedback I got on my Activity post for a 6 month old (see hyperlink above).  I know my dd can not go 2 1/2 hours and if I keep her up more than 2hours, I struggle with 45 minute naps from her overtiredness.

Good luck