How do I get 12 week old to nap?

[spekulatius]

Our DD is 12 weeks old, since birth never has had a nap although she has many opportunities to. Since she was 6 weeks old she has been sleeping through the night (most nights) 8-10 hours. During the day she falls asleep for 5-20 minutes whilst breastfeeding but that is the only time she will sleep, even when she was just days old. She is happy and content during the daytime, very alert and wants me to do something with her all the time.

I know all babies are different and thus might be enough sleep for her but deep down I feel that she should have at least 1-2 hours during the day cos she's so small. I also worry about when I have to go back to work and she is with childminder in about 7 month.

Because she's sleeping well at night I haven't done much to 'teach' her to sleep. And she doesn't week to mind. Sometimes during the day she doesn't drink all that well and I think its due to being tired so I put her in a sling and she sleeps for maybe 30 minutes max or take her for a walk in pram if it doesn't rain. That's the only way I can get her to sleep.

What I would like to know is, should I try finding a way for her to have at least one nap a day or leave it as it is? Should I wait until she is I'm solids and crawling and hopefully naturally more tired?

[quoteunquote]

have a nap with her.

[notnagging]

7 months. Is a long time in a baby's world. Don't worry & enjoy your baby.

[Bouncey]

Don't worry. Babies change unbelievably in a few months. My little girl wasn't great at napping when she was 12 weeks, except in the pram or sling. Now, at just over a year, she will easily sleep 3 hours during the day and 10-12 at night.

[cleoteacher]

I am also struggling with this a little and have put a previous thread, Am I being too impatient? on MN. My boy is 8 weeks and I have been trying to get him to have naps during the day for the last few weeks. Very hard to start with and lots of crying on both sides but perserve as it will come. My thread on MN also reminded me to relax and if he doesn't nap or doesn't nap for long not to get anxious about it and spend three hours trying to get him to sleep as I was before but go with the flow and this has also helped.

I have found timing to be a huge factor in getting him to nap and even now he will only really nap in his moses in the morning even though I try late afternoon too. I feed then do activity, making sure I am doing enough to tire him out and turn lights on to wake him up, but watch him carefully to see when he is yawning. I was keeping him up for two hours after he woke up which was too long, now I try and get him off after an hour to an hour and a half. Leaving it for longer meant he got over-tired and so was crying lots and unable to go to sleep then, not tired enough also means the same, so it is a fine line.

I established sleep cues, so mine is to cuddle him, wrap in blanket and white noise in the ear. I am rocking him too but I stop as soon as he starts to go quite. I am hoping to not have to do this at all soon. I continue with the whitenoise for a while and then try and put him down in his moses without waking him, continuing with the whitenoise and wrapped in his blanket-this is difficult as usually he seems to have some sick sense and as soon as his bum hits the matress his eys flick open! I am working on getting this right still.

I've also found keeping it dark and going into a dark room, mine's the bathroom as it has no windows! also signals sleep time.

Good luck!

[cleoowen]

Grr. Now managed to get him to nap on the morning but not in the afternoon. I do all the things described above and,have experimented with the length of activity time before putting him down, amount of yawns etc. he just wakes up when I put him down or wakes up 5 minutes later. I ve watched,him and cannot see anything waking him up.

Anyone else help us?

[GingerLemonTea]

Try putting baby back down for morning nap 80-90mins after they wake in the morning. I had a cat napper (10, 20mins) but she now regularly has a 90min morning nap.

[ChristmasJubilee]

I went back to work, doing nightshift, when ds1 was 14 weeks. I didn't have any childcare so it was essential that he had a long nap during the day. I used to go out every morning baby groups, swimming, etc, feed him at lunch time and take him into bed with me. When he fell asleep I put him into his cot and he used to sleep for 3+ hours. Eventually I would just put him straight into his cot.

When ds2 was born (22 months later) I started this straight away. Ds1 to cot and ds2 with me then into Moses basket. By the time I went back to work when ds2 was 14 weeks they would both nap from about 1-4/4.30.

I did exactly the same with ds3. Ds's 1&2 were at school by this time and I took 10 months mat leave and went back doing day shift. The childminder put him to nap in his pushchair so I just had to collect him and push him home.