Such a thing as napping too long

[AngelaF]

I know this is an anomaly and tomorrow we'll probably be back to normal 45 min. torture, but is there such a thing as a too long nap? This morning they (I have twins) slept for 2 1/2 hours and I had to go in a wake them up. We had a dr appt. yesterday and he said just let them sleep as long as they need to, but every book I've read says wake them up so they don't sleep through a feeding. They're 4 mos. old and on a 3 1/2 hour EASY now, getting ready to transition to a 4 hour EASY any day now. Now they did get shots yesterday, so I'm thinking maybe that has something to do with it.

I'm enjoying it while it lasts! Off to take a nap for myself.

[malialeanne]

Hey there,

Allowing a long nap once in a while isn't a huge deal. They may have been extra tired from the stress of their shots--we often get loooong naps after shots too. However, allowing too many long naps may cut into night sleep. The biggest problem is often that it will push bedtime too late, making the night too short, leaving the babe tired the next day and needing more long naps, leading to another late bedtime, etc. So as long as the naps don't affect bedtime too much (so that they are actually making up sleep rather than replacing night sleep with day sleep) then I think it's fine once in awhile!

[Mrs C]

Can I jump onto your post? 
This is my problem for the last week or so, too! Maybe this should be on the EASY board but maybe someone could help...

My DS#2 is 3 months old and I was/am struggling with EASY so I started letting him sleep as long as he wants to and we've had 2,3, and 4 hr naps and it hasn't affected his nightime sleep at all. OK, sometimes his bedtime is later.  He has been great at night, started sleeping thru at 6 weeks when he found his thumb( Praise God!)
and sometimes doesn't wake up until 9 or 9:30am. One day he slept until 11am! What should I do?

This week he has woken up, eaten, and then goes down for a nap with some fussing sometimes and then sleeps from 11am 'til 2 or 3pm but then I have trouble for the rest of the day.   
We had a couple of great days where he slept 2 hrs in the morning, 2 hrs afternoon, and catnapped in the swing during dinnertime. But I haven't been able to get back to that somehow.   
I'm not complaining about him sleeping so much as I'm worried that he's not getting enough to eat and that on the days I have to wake him the rest of his naps are a battle. He usually goes down easy for the am nap if I catch him pretty quickly but the afternoons have been hard.

Am I making any sense?  No, I didn't think so...
This was supposed to be a quick question not a long rant. Sorry!!
It's been a loooong week....

[malialeanne]

Hey there,

Many babies are sleepyheads in the a.m. and then don't want to sleep in the afternoon. If we let them set their own schedules they would be little night owls, but that's not good for anyone. He's probably sleeping longer in the a.m. because his bedtime is much too late. This then pushes his wake time later and the cycle repeats.

You don't need to stick to a rigid schedule--that's not the point of EASY. But it is vital that your baby get enough food and enough sleep, at the appropriate times. The most important thing is starting his day at a regular time. This will encourage regular naps and make sure he gets enough feeds in a day. I would pick a morning start time, no later than 8 a.m., and try to stick to that, even if you have to wake him. If you wake him in the a.m. and limit his a.m. nap to no longer than 2 hours, you should be able to get an afternoon nap without too much trouble and keep the day on schedule. Bedtime should be around 12 - 12.5 hours after his wake time.

Every baby has days when they need more sleep and this is something you just have to be the judge of. If they have a really rough night or are teething or making up for lost sleep from a trip, they may need longer naps to avoid having an overtired mess and lots of night wakings. But it's not something you want to encourage regularly. More than 4-5 hours of daytime sleep is a lot.  If you let him sleep all day and miss feeds, sooner or later it will start to impact his night sleep.

HTH!
Malia

[Mrs C]

Thanks, Malia!

I guess I have been lazy to get him up in the AM A: because he's been an awful napper for the most part, B: because it's easier to get my DD#1 up, dressed, fed and then go get him,
and C: we've sleeping in a little later because of DD#1 has been having sleep issues due to a 12 day vacation with my in-laws-different time zone, lots of people, getting used to her room again, etc. ( my DH and I didn't go and of course DS)    OK , there's all my excuses!!!

I will get him back on a 3 hr schedule. I am worried about him getting enough to eat. Thanks for the help! 

Things were so nice while DD#1 was gone. OK, there's my wistful moment.  I had time to settle him if he'd been up too long, etc. Even with no 3 year old running around only wants to be up for maybe an hour total so I feel like I'm always watching for overstimulation. Which is hard with relatives, church nursery, etc. I feel like the baby Nazi sometimes! I remember being like that with DD# 1 some, too.
I love her so much but it's been a real challenge trying to get their routines to merge. So far the poor guy's just been doing what he can to cope and my DD is doing her best, too.

Thanks again! Here goes... 

Cindy

[Brandonsmom]

I have found that when Brandon was going through growth spurts and eating more that he napped longer and slept better at night. This only happens once a month or so. Speaking of which, yesterday he slept 3 hours! I've also found, for him, that he does much better when I just let him sleep rather than wake him up from a long nap.