Happy 30 minute napper?

[Shaunie]

DS is 4 months old and is a 30 minute napper.  He goes to bed at 7.30pm; always awake & falls asleep himself.  He wakes for feeds at 2 & 5am then is wide awake around 7am.  He has around 4 / 5 30 mins naps a day.  I have never tried to get him to nap, he gets a little grumpy then falls asleep on his own - should I be trying to extend his naps or leave him be?  He is generally happy & content and we have no problems getting him to sleep at night but I keep reading that he should nap for longer periods.  He has long active periods during the day, playing in his activity gym or chair.

[*Natasha*]

Could you please post your routine?

[dtrias]

If your lo is happy generally, I wouldnt bother extending.  I think trying to extend before the magic 6 month window doesnt work.  I know it didnt work for me or any of my friends.  I started trying to extend when lo was 4 months and spend two very frustrating months at it with no improvement.  Infact i think i made it worse as she got used to waking after 30 mins and having mommmy either shush pat or pu/pd, it became a game I think and now at 7 months I am battling a real problem as she is too old for shush pat, she'll just wait out pu/pd for up to 1 30 min and W2S works only 50% of the time.  Thats just my opinion though. 
Good luck

[Sharondp]

I was going to post a smilar thread when I read yours.
Leo hardly naps at all during the day - but it's not a problem for me - he'll happily sit in his bouncy chair playing with a toy or watching his big brother. SOmetimes he'll lie on his activity mat and fall asleep there. If he gets a bit grumpy, i'll give him a dummy / paci and he'll fall asleep - he's just started sucking his fingers to do this as well.
He'll nap longer if we're out in the car or buggy, but this doesn't affect his night time sleep.
he's just started sleeping from 7pm - 9pm, then wakes for a feed, then straight back to sleep until 6am. Before 7pm he has a feed around 6pm, then a bath and wind down time.
he's a very happy baby and I can get things done if he's not asleep, so I'm not fretting!
we'll see if things change after 6 months!

[Shaunie]

Hi sharondp,

I too can get things done during the day, being as DS is content playing with his toys although this wasn't always the case!  He will also nap longer if in the car or buggy and again, does not affect his night time sleep.  Jonah goes to bed at 7.30pm, wakes for 2 feeds & is then wide awake by 7am.  When he gets grumpy, I give him a dummy and he'll then nod off....they sound so alike!

[Shaunie]

Natasha,

Here's our routine which varies slightly from day to day.
7am - wake & play in cot
7.30 - b/f
9.30 - b/f
9.45 - naps for 30 mins
12pm - b/f
12.30 - naps for 30 mins
2pm - 1 spoon or baby rice (mixed with formula) & b/feed
3pm - naps for 30 mins
5pm - b/f
5.30 - naps for 30 mins
6.15 - b/feed
7.15 - b/f & up to 150 ml expressed milk
7.30 - bed time
1.30 / 2am - wakes for b/f
5am - wakes for b/f
7am - starts all over again!

For the last couple of days, he seems to be extending his own naps!  His first nap in the morning has been around 45 mins to an hour for the last few days & some of his other naps have been 40mins..........this seems to have happended when his bed time was brought forward from 8.30pm to 7.30pm....wonder if there is any connection?

[Shaunie]

Hi dtrias - thanks for your post.  I was not sure if I should extend being as he's happy but after reading your post, maybe I should leave him be.....sounds exhausting trying to get your LO to nap longer, thus creating another problem!  I have never tried w2s but maybe I'll give it a go one day.

[Sharondp]

Hi Shaunie
They do sound alike don't they!
My theory is, 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' so I'm not going to get stressed about extending nap times for the time being - just enjoy my time with him!!
Best
Sharon

[Shaunie]

Hi Sharon - my thoughts exactly!