3 Month Old Who Catnaps the Day Away.....

My son catnapped his first 6 months, including night time!

Are you (and they) in a position to wear the baby in a carrier. That's where my first son got his best sleep. He would sleep for 1-2 hours on me, whereas if put down, he cat napped.

I don't believe in sleep training, I really believe all kiddos are different, as we are raising #2 exactly the same and he sleeps like a champ at night and for naps and doesn't need to be worn the way my first son did.

I think that the baby carrier is the way to go.

My son will do the same thing if I lay him down for his naps. If I wear him in a wrap instead he will sleep for hours. At 3 months she is still so little and craving the closeness of the womb. I would bed that if you and mommy started wearing her on a regular basis her nap schedule would work its self out very quickly.

You're describing my daughter! And it is just her personality. My son was raised the same way and would just drop off for a two hour nap if he was tired. At six, she is still a "go hard, sleep hard" kid. She's very intelligent and alert and energetic, and relaxing is the skill she had to work hardest on.

We kept a routine: I nursed her to sleep, naptime was a in very dark room, and I kept it quiet. I also made sure not to overtire her--the more tired she was, the less she slept. Eventually she learned, she just needed support.

I wish I'd had a better baby carrier at the time--I think she would done great in a wrap for naps.

Good luck!

Updated

You're describing my daughter! And it is just her personality. My son was raised the same way and would just drop off for a two hour nap if he was tired. At six, she is still a "go hard, sleep hard" kid. She's very intelligent and alert and energetic, and relaxing is the skill she had to work hardest on.

We kept a routine: I nursed her to sleep, naptime was a in very dark room, and I kept it quiet. I also made sure not to overtire her--the more tired she was, the less she slept. Eventually she learned, she just needed support.

I wish I'd had a better baby carrier at the time--I think she would done great in a wrap for naps.

Good luck!

Well I am just sitting here, shaking my head and wondering, does this child actually SLEEP through the night or, does she have sleep apnea where she has interrupted sleep off & on but doesn't completely wake up(?) it's just a thought...my oldest daughter used to occasionally not go to sleep in the evening as she should have, we purposely would go for a car ride and then she would go to sleep and remain that way through the night. I am thinking that about 15-30 mins. prior to what time she needs to nap, she gets something to eat, a diaper change and a comfy sleeper, onsie thing on and put her in the stroller to go for a daily walk, this way you exercise, she gets out in some fresh air and then falls asleep for her nap(?)...take a bottle or pacifier( if she uses one) maybe go to a local park where she & you could swing a little....is anyone using a rocking chair?...that's about it for me & my ideas! Good Luck!

A.

My youngest slept through the night from the day she was born. She was not cranky during the day. But when she would wake up in the morning I didn't put her back down like they do. I would give her a bath, play with her and then feed her. By the time I was done she was ready for a long nap. When she is awake play with her, sing to her, read to her. Reading is great and every child should be read to at least 30 minutes a day no matter what age. I think if you do things with her when she is awake she will rest better and longer when she naps. But my youngest usually napped after the morning routine, then again after lunch routine and that was about it. Every child is different and requires different sleep. During nap time wrap her in a blanket. Play some music and keep the lights off in the room she is in. That should help.

You're right, babies need naps during the day for optimal brain growth. JUst put her in the crib and she will find a way to soothe herself to sleep. I would consider 45 minutes a good nap but 2-3 hours later she should have another nap. My 2nd child was liek this and when she started walking it all changed to long naps! Give her lots of tummy time to increase her strength and endurance. This will tire her out big time!

This baby is ready for a routine/schedule! She's begging for one! Her night sleep is great, but she needs a schedule for the day. If you're her caregiver, than you could get this going for her ASAP. At this age, you're really looking at 2-3 hours tops of awake time between naps. She should be napping from around 9 until 11 ish and then again around 2 - 4 ish. Then she should be able to make it until bed time, around 7:30 - 8ish. Sounds like your instincts are right, that she needs to be trained and you're the person to do it since you're with her most during the day. Her parents will likely be very happy to have her on a schedule.

My daugher did almost exactly that - but didn't act tired during the day. However, I thought she needed a bit more sleep. I would put her in her swing and vaccuum - and she was out! Also, I agree w/ the poster below, don't get her right away from her waking from the nap - she may go back to bed. The music worked for us too - always had it on at night and during naps as she was older. Some just don't sleep as much....

I think some babies just do that. My son who will be 3 did that when he was a baby. He didn't get on a nap scheduale till closer to 6 months. Just took little cat naps during the day. My daughter who is 15 weeks does the same thing. Some day's she will take a couple good naps but most days she just cat naps it seems, and she is not sleeping through the night either. I think it is somewhat normal at that age yet. You can definatly try and get her on a scheduale while you are caring for her and see if the parents will follow it also, but it may take a couple more months. Good luck!

My daughter has a bit of the same pattern. She is now almost 6 months old. What I did is create a nap rutine, put her in her sack (at this age she moves to much to be in the swadle), play soft instrumental music, lower the lights (not too dark so she knows it is nap time, not good night), gave her a little teether ring to hold on her hand (she needs to hold onto something) and use always the same sound or words to indicate is time to sleep before I left the room ( is say shhhh....shhhh...) Look at the baby and make sure you put her/him in bed before very obvious sings of tiredness. When he is very quiet or just at the first yawn. If the baby is too tired it will be difficult to fall sleep and it will not last. I read in a very good book (baby wise) how the baby falls sleep. First 3 yawns, then 7 miles stear (lost eyes fixed nowere) and then they start closing eyes. this can last 20minutes! which surprised me. Anyway, if she wakes up at 30 min. I wait a bit to see if she catch back the sleep if after 10 min or so she is very awake I pick her up and put her back in bed 1hr to max 2hr after she woke up. She sleeps 30min naps for a couple of days and long 2 hrs the third and back to 30 min for a coupe of days. I know is odd but she is a very happy baby and she is never cranky which tells me that is what she needs. Good luck!

I have a 15 week old who does nearly the same thing. Sleeps great all thru the night but only 3 1-hour naps during the day. Mine doesn't seem cranky or sleep deprived though and her naps are all scheduled and meant to last 1.5-2 hours but she wakes up consistently an hour into them. I've noticed if she's swaddled she sleeps longer but I'm trying to transition her into a sleep sack right now since I know she'll be rolling over soon and will need to be out of the swaddler at that time. I think in my case she may just be a child who requires less sleep. In your case though, I'd make sure the temp. is comfortable, she's warm/cool enough, maybe she's gassy and it's waking her, hungry because she didn't finish her feeding, etc. Sometimes it's the simplest thing that we don't always think of. Best of luck trying to figure it out, babies are such a mystery at this stage!
P.S. I should also add that there have been times when I've heard her wake up but didn't rush in to get her up and she ended up going back to sleep for 30 minutes +. You may want to give it a try and see what happens. ??

If the baby sleeps 8 PM to 6 AM, then why are the parents exhausted?

Also wondering how normal this kind of schedule is (i.e. 12 hours of sleep followed by 12 hours awake). With our two girls they would wake and nap intermittently day and night at 3 months. They'd have 3-4 naps a day and many wakings overnight. Nothing was really consolidated that early on.

Sorry I don't have other advice... I don't have any experience with sleep/nap training.

It looks like baby needs a little routine training. Put her on a schedule. If she does 30-45min. naps several times a day is ok. If it is just one nap.....that's no good. An infant's sleep pattern runs in 45min. cycles. She may be getting up wanting to roll over or to fall back asleep. The nap is not done. These 45min. cycles mean it is a "break" and they should fall back asleep. Try letting her cry a little to fall back asleep, pat her back a while or let her lay in the crib for a while longer.......even if it is with a stuffed toy or blanket to cuddle with. Adults have similar sleep cycles where we sort of wake up but just turn in bed and fall right back asleep, the nature of REM sleep.
I recommend a great book, The Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg. It helps in so many ways and talks extensively about sleep and naps!