Listed below are lists of the average amount of daytime sleep in hours and number of naps for age**. Remember, if nothing is broken, don't try to fix it! If things are going smoothly, there is likely no need to change them! These are just here to guide you along the
way-- you need to always take into account your child's individual needs.
Ferber
1 week: varies
1 month: varies
3 months: 4.5 hours, 3-4 naps
6 months: 3.25 hours, 2-3 naps
9 months: 2.75 hours, 2 naps
12 months: 1.5-2.5 hours, 1-2 naps
18 months: 2 hours, 1 nap
2 years: 1.88 hours, 1 nap
3 years: 0-1.5 hours, 0-1 naps
4 years: 0-1 hour, 0-1 naps
5 years: 0 hours, 0 naps
*A child that still often naps during the day after the age of 5 may not be getting sufficient sleep at night or may have some kind of sleep disorder (Ferber).
Gina Ford
0-1 month: 5 hours
1-2 months: 4-4.5 hours
2-3 months: 3.5 hours
3-4 months: 3 hours
4-6 months: 3 hours
6-9 months: 2.5-3 hours
9-12 months: 2.5-3 hours
12-18 months: 2-2.5 hours
18-24 months: 1.5-2 hour
24-30 months: 1-2 hours
30-36 months: 0-1 hours
Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child**
4-11 months: 3.5 hours
1 year: 2 hours
2 years: 1.75 hours
3 years: 1.5 hours
4 years: 0.5 hours
No-Cry Sleep Solution
Newborn: varies
1 month: 6-7 hours, 3 naps
3 months: 5-6 hours, 3 naps
4 months: 4-6 hours, 3 naps
6 months: 3-4 hours, 2 naps
9 months: 2.5-4 hours, 2 naps
12 months: 2-3 hours, 1-2 naps
2 years: 1-2 hours, 1 nap
3 years: 1-1.5 hours, 1 nap
4 years: 0 hours
**In Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, the amount of sleep shown is the fiftieth percentile rather than the average. When averages are listed in this book, they are usually a bit higher than this percentile.
Related Posts:
Total Sleep - What's Average?
Night Time Sleep - What's Average?
way-- you need to always take into account your child's individual needs.
Daily Sleep and Naps
Age
|
Number
of naps
|
Total
Daily Sleep
|
Max
Daily Sleep (if you suspect it is a cause of night issues)
|
Birth - 6 weeks
|
4+
|
4-8
hours
|
Avoid
naps >2 hrs
|
2 months
|
4+
|
4-8
hours
|
Avoid
naps >2 hrs
|
3 months
|
4
|
4-7
|
Avoid
naps >2 hrs
|
4 months
|
3-4
|
3-7
|
4.5
hours
|
5 months
|
3
|
3-5
|
4
hours
|
6 months
|
2-3
|
3-5
|
3.5
hours
|
7 months
|
2-3
|
3-5
|
3.5
hours
|
8 months
|
2-3
|
3-5
|
3.25
hours
|
9 months
|
2
|
2.5-4
|
3
hours
|
10 months
|
2
|
2.5-4
|
3
hours
|
11 months
|
2
|
2.5-4
|
3
hours
|
12 months
|
2
|
2-4
|
3
hours
|
12-18 months
|
1-2
|
1.5-4
|
3
hours
|
18-24 months
|
1-2
|
1.5-3
hours
|
2
hours
|
2-3 years
|
0-1
|
1.5-3
hours
|
2
hours
|
3-4 years
|
0-1
|
0-2 hours
|
0-2
hours
|
Day sleep is quite variable.
I try to aim for naps that last at least 1.5 hours (not including the last nap
of the day if on more than 1 nap) but as most of you know, there are quite a
few cat nappers out there. Cat nappers often need more naps, more often and end
up with a bit less day sleep overall (early bedtime anyone?). I generally suggest keeping naps 2 hours and under after the newborn period unless it is the only nap of the day.
Ferber
1 week: varies
1 month: varies
3 months: 4.5 hours, 3-4 naps
6 months: 3.25 hours, 2-3 naps
9 months: 2.75 hours, 2 naps
12 months: 1.5-2.5 hours, 1-2 naps
18 months: 2 hours, 1 nap
2 years: 1.88 hours, 1 nap
3 years: 0-1.5 hours, 0-1 naps
4 years: 0-1 hour, 0-1 naps
5 years: 0 hours, 0 naps
*A child that still often naps during the day after the age of 5 may not be getting sufficient sleep at night or may have some kind of sleep disorder (Ferber).
Gina Ford
0-1 month: 5 hours
1-2 months: 4-4.5 hours
2-3 months: 3.5 hours
3-4 months: 3 hours
4-6 months: 3 hours
6-9 months: 2.5-3 hours
9-12 months: 2.5-3 hours
12-18 months: 2-2.5 hours
18-24 months: 1.5-2 hour
24-30 months: 1-2 hours
30-36 months: 0-1 hours
Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child**
4-11 months: 3.5 hours
1 year: 2 hours
2 years: 1.75 hours
3 years: 1.5 hours
4 years: 0.5 hours
No-Cry Sleep Solution
Newborn: varies
1 month: 6-7 hours, 3 naps
3 months: 5-6 hours, 3 naps
4 months: 4-6 hours, 3 naps
6 months: 3-4 hours, 2 naps
9 months: 2.5-4 hours, 2 naps
12 months: 2-3 hours, 1-2 naps
2 years: 1-2 hours, 1 nap
3 years: 1-1.5 hours, 1 nap
4 years: 0 hours
**In Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, the amount of sleep shown is the fiftieth percentile rather than the average. When averages are listed in this book, they are usually a bit higher than this percentile.
Related Posts:
Total Sleep - What's Average?
Night Time Sleep - What's Average?
Hello Rachel
ReplyDeleteMy baby boy has just turned 6 months and for the past week or so i've noticed a change in his napping. He used to take 2 long naps (one in the morning of 1.5- 2 hrs in the morning, the same in the afternoon and a short cat nap late afternoon)- very much a Baby Whisperer. So his napping was always at least 4 hrs in total. However, now his nap requirement seems to have decreased to about 3- 3.5 hrs, split over 3 naps per day. Does this sound right for a 6 month baby? Trying to stick with the 4 hr EASY routine with him taking shorter naps is proving to be hard, as often his next nap coincides with a feeding.
Mathew,
ReplyDelete6 months is a common time for total sleep to decrease a bit. Just keep a watchful eye to make sure he doesn't seem overtired. sometimes it can take several days for the overtiredness to catch up with him. It is possible that he might need longer waketime before the naps to give him longer naps.
As babies get older they fall out of the easy routine a bit. Sometimes you have to feed before a nap so much more than 4 hours doesn't go by without a feed (and so your baby doesn't wake up early from the nap hungry). At this age the easy routine isn't as critical as it is for young babies, in my opinion. They already know how to fall asleep by themselves and can do so without eating right before. Just do what fits in with your baby's routine, keeping the general principles of easy in place when possible.
Hope that helped!
Rachel
Hi Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI found your site while researching sleep training and nap issues. My son is a week shy of 7 months old. He is still generally taking 3 naps per day. He has always had trouble with short and inconsistent naps. He did go through a brief period where his naps started to increase. However, we are back at it again with maybe one nap of an hour, or 90 minutes at the most. Then the next two naps are only about 30 minutes. His wake time during the day has seemed to abruptly increase to about 3 hours from 2.5. His dad watches him during the day, and he wants to move him to two naps, hoping that they will extend. I'm very nervous about this, and just wondering if you have any words of advice. He goes to bed at 8pm now, and I just know that he is not able to go 5 hours or more from last nap until bedime. He still wakes up anywhere from 6am-7am, so he's all over the place. I stress about his sleep ALL the time, and his dad just doesn't get it. He gets about 10 hours of sleep per night on average. Can you offer any words of wisdom on what we should do? Thanks so much!
Melissa,
ReplyDeleteMy first word of advice would be to do an early bedtime, even super early(>12 hours prior to waketime). That might fix some of the issues going on. This is what you do instead of a very long waketime before bed and it really works.
If naps are all short you will likely need more naps for longer. If you don't, you will get to little day sleep and overtiredness will set in. If you have to drop a nap to get appropriate waketimes prior to naps or a good early bedtime hour then that is fine, but just dropping one to drop one isn't often going to do tons unless you adjust things to fit around this.
I would keep a log of waketimes and naps and watch for trends. Also try to keep the rest of the day somewhat consistent while you do this (eating and activity). If a long morning nap results in short naps the rest of the day, try controlling the length of this first nap. Can you remember how is routine was when he started to sleep longer naps? Was there anything different then? He may simply need more time to developmentally sleep longer naps.
Good luck. Try not to worry too much (easier said than done, I know!). It is good to try to work towards good sleep, but don't let the joys of motherhood be overwhelmed by worry over stuff like this. Just do the best you can and try to accept things for what they are :)
Rachel
I have just found your blog and I am so excited to read more.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter is almost 8 months old and has always been a cat napper. Some days she will take 2 wonderful 2 hour naps, then most days it's 30 mins here, 20 mins there.
I haven't done any sleep training with her but I would like to learn. I see that she is overtired.
She sleeps a good 12 hour stretch most nights (if teething isn't an issue) but I would really love to get her naps more under control for her sake.
What do you suggest?
Miss oven mitts,
ReplyDeleteI would start off by keeping a sleep log. See when she normally sleeps, how her behavior is, etc, so you can determine when she should normally be leaping. Take note of her tired signs. You want to ideally be able to get her to sleep longer without having to do anything stressful for the two of you. Hopefully by getting good timing you'll be able o increase nap length. Also check the short nap post, and if needed, move to the sleep training posts (see log)
Rachel
Hi Rachel!
ReplyDeleteI have a few questions for you. I have a 5 month old boy, who had been taking short naps, did some sleep training with him, his naps got longer (1 long nap per day, a one hour nap, and a short afternoon nap). He had been falling asleep on his own in his crib after soothing. I keep a sleep log, and see really no pattern, which is hard for me (I very much like routines!). However. He has always had an early bedtime (5:30-6), but he started waking up around 5am. I thought he might be overtired so I put him to bed at 5 a few nights. Though he fell asleep without difficulty, he woke up at least once during the night playing, woke up early again (I am not sure what time as he typically doesn't cry when he wakes up) and then was REALLY difficult to get down for naps/bed today. We had been doing well with him falling asleep easily and by himself, but needed to be rocked to sleep. Was he overtired? He hen took 3 40 minute naps today. Just not sure how we got about getting him on a "schedule", and getting him to be well-rested. Also, how do you know when a good bedtime is? For a while he had been going to sleep at 6:30 and waking around 7, but then he started getting tired earlier and earlier in the day due to poor naps. Thanks!
Karyn,
DeleteSome kids will wake early if they are put to bed too early. So I would look and see if there seems to be a pattern there. You could always give an extra nap in the evening with a later bedtime if that seemed to work better for him.
If he doesn't seem to have any routine and you want one, I would try to put him into a routine yourself following his lead--if he has any sort of lead :) Doing a eat/activity/play routine works pretty well although the order may be changed a bit for you to fit around the shorter naps.
It is hard to say if he was overtired or sick or was teething or just had an off day. You can't go by too much with just one day. But I wouldn't be surprised if he was overtired since it sounds like he has been sleeping less lately.
If he wakes early, I would put him down for his morning nap so he doesn't get too tired.
An average bedtime at that age is going to be around 7. Sometimes as early as 6, (possibly earlier if you are doing a super early bedtime for a short time) and sometimes as late as 8. It is probably going to be about 12 hours before he normally wakes in the morning.
I would look over the short nap posts, the night waking post and the early morning nap post. You can find these in the index. Just control/command F and type in those words.
Rachel
Hi Rachel,
ReplyDeleteThank you for creating this blog...i visit this site almost every day, mainly because my daughter's sleep habits are driving me crazy. Just when you think you have it figured out...
My daughter is currently napping about 5 hours a day. She is about 15 weeks old. The last couple of nights have been horrible, taking about 1-2 hours to get her to fall asleep. I'm not sure if it's due to her naps or because she's hit a few milestones (rolling over, laughing out loud).
Her bedtime is 7-7:30pm. The last few nights her naps ended about an hour before her bedtime. The reason i tried to push the nap longer is because she previously used to wake up cranky and tired from her last nap. We had to rush through her nighttime routine because she was so overtired within an hour of waking up, putting her to bed at 6-6:30pm.
She's able to fall asleep within 15 minutes of soothing, but she wakes up crying 5 minutes later. This goes on for 1-2 hours. Could it be that she's now capable of having a longer waketime before bed, and i should be limiting her last nap? Or is this just part of the wonder weeks?
J,
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to say if a wonder week is an issue (or developmental leaps) or not, but i wouldn't be surprised if she needs a bit more waketime before bed. Some kids go from needing very little to needing a bit more than the average daily waketime right before bed. You can always try it and see what happens.
Rachel
I have not read the No-Cry Sleep Solution, but I find it interesting that it says that a baby 1-3 months only needs three naps a day. I am trying to follow Baby Wise with my 7 week old daughter, and naps have been hard for her. She's in a pretty consistent loop of having one great nap (1 1/2 - 2 hours), and then one really bad one (30 minutes or less). She eats every 2 1/2 to 3 hours. I've been trying really hard to get the waketime right, but she doesn't have many nap cues (other than yawning), and no matter what amount of time I try, it seems to be the wrong amount. If she's really sleepy, she does down without any trouble, otherwise it's a long process (I'm not into cry it out, so I help her soothe by patting, shushing, or holding her briefly). She sleeps pretty well at night (usually does a 5-6 hour stretch, wakes to eat, and goes back to sleep pretty easily). Is there a schedule included with the No-Cry book? I'm wondering if she would do better with three longer naps rather than 6 or 7 erratic naps that have been happening with the BW schedule. Any insight you have would be appreciated!
ReplyDeleteDiana,
DeleteI don't remember there being any specific schedule in the book. I think she isn't really for that. But, if you think she may do better with three longer rather than shorter naps, then go ahead and try it. Sometimes, due to waketimes, it isn't possible and makes so baby doesn't have enough total waketime during the day so just keep this in mind when experimenting.
Rachel
Hi Rachel - I have a 5 week old. He usually just has one hour naps and somtimes even less. I don't know how to lengthen his sleep. I always put him down when he is drowsy and not overtire him. At night, he usually sleeps 1.5-2 hours at a time but it would total to 8 hours overall. Not sure if this is normal. Do you have any tips or know why my baby sleeps
ReplyDeleteLess than average? Thanks!
Samantha fong,
DeleteTake a look at the top sleep post and the corresponding links. There's a little too much to go over to put here.
http://www.mybabysleepguide.com/2010/02/top-sleep-tips-for-children.html
Rachel
Rachel
ReplyDeleteYesterday we started trying to develop a routine with our 3month old son. Yesterday and today he slept a total of 90min divided in to 30-40min naps x 2-3 both days. Yesterday was a struggle getting him to nap but Today was much easier but he keeps waking up after 40minutes and wakes miserable and crying. It is always too soon for another feed (he is on similac alimentum) so I am unsure what to do but soothe him the best i can or try to lay him down again which isn't working. That being said before we started this routine (baby wise) he wasn't napping at all and waking at night every 2-3hrs. Last night he slept form 9:30pm-4:15 then 4:40-7:30 so I am not complaining one bit because that is the longest he has ever slept in a row!! I just wondered how to get him to take a longer nap and/or wake up happier after nap time!! Thank you!
Jaime
Jaime Dean,
DeleteThat's amazing you've had so much progress with night sleep in such a little time. Yeah! For longer naps, take a look at the short nap post and extending nap post. I would also look over the top sleep tips since this gives you tips to set your baby up for good sleep. Good luck!
http://www.mybabysleepguide.com/2009/02/waking-early-from-naps.html
http://www.mybabysleepguide.com/2009/02/how-to-extend-short-nap.html
http://www.mybabysleepguide.com/2009/02/waking-up-happy.html
http://www.mybabysleepguide.com/2010/02/top-sleep-tips-for-children.html
HI Rachel, first I love your blog :)
ReplyDeleteI have a 8 months old boy...
This routine is what NORMALLY I use to do... of corse that are some days he wakes up early, or simply doenst want to sleep in certain times...
I figure since he was waking up every night around 2:45am and staying up for 2 hours that was something wrong..
He wakes up at 6:30/7am
nap 1- 9ish (for one hour)
then goes back to bed at 12:30/1pm and sleeps one hour and half..
then thats the problem... sometimes he doesnt want to take the third nap, other days he sleeps to late.. what makes his bed time later then 6:30/7pm (thats the normal time he goes to bed). But he can stay up from 2:30pm to 6:30pm he gets overtired... wakes up in 30 minuts and doesnt want to go back to sleep.
I need some word of advice... should I put bed time later and keep three naps? How about waking up at the same time every night? Should I try "wake to sleep"?
I did not sleep trainned him...I dont think I have the heart... and he use a paci... what makes me crazy.. bc of corse everytime it falls out he wants it back.
Help please :)))
thanks a lot!!!!
Michelle
Michelle Maalouli,
DeleteSounds like you are at the transition time, baby needs that third nap, but doesn't at the same time. First off, are you limiting the first two naps? If so, extend them out a bit (particularly the second one as the first one extended out could hurt the second one, especially if you don't add a touch more waketime) and then you should make it to bedtime ok. If you can't extend them out at all, then you can also try a 6 pm bedtime and slowly move this later. The other option is of course to keep that third nap. Sounds like you have struggled getting the little guy to take this though. If you can get it to happen without moving it too late (maybe you need to add a tough of waketime before this nap?) and bedtime not too late, then you might want to keep it for a touch longer. You'll likely have to limit how long this nap is though otherwise you'll get a late bedtime and lots of inconsistency each day.
Wake to sleep is worth a shot. I think it is so easy that it's often what I do first after I make sure other stuff isn't going on. It's possible that developmental changes are causing this waking. It happens to many babies for a while. Is he learning any new skills? Also, at this age, some babies will wake up at night if they are getting too much day sleep. So you have to cut back on day sleep a bit. Sounds like this night waking is happening regardless of bedtime hour, third nap etc, correct? If so, then look over that developmental stuff first, try the wake to sleep and if you still have issues, cut back on day time sleep even more by increasing waketimes a little bit and having just those two naps. The main thing is to keep a log of what is happening with sleep. One day won't help, but if you look over days, you'll see patterns and get a better idea of what is happening with what.
HI Rachel, thanks for you answer!! I did the wake to sleep and it is working..! he is sleeping trhough the night.
DeleteI cut off the third nap, and extended nap time as you said, it worked really well for a couple of days until it became another problem, he wakes up after 30 min I put him to bed for the night crying and doenst want to settle down. I fell like I pushed the 3rd nap to 7pm what is driving me nuts!!!
thats how it is his schedule right now...
he is 8 1/2 months old
wakes up at 7:20
nap 9:30 (sleeps for 1h30)
nap 2:30pm (for 1h30 to 2hrs)
so by 4pm he is usually awake...
crancky around 6:30, so I put him in bed at 7-7:30pm
he falls asleep quickly, but wakes up after 30 min and just doesnt want go back to sleep until 9:30/10pm with lots of fussing.
what should i do???
Michelle Maaloull,
DeleteTry putting him to bed earlier at night--sounds like he might have gotten progressively overtired with the new changes. See if you can do some sort of soothing even before he wakes at night to help him not completely wake up. Whatever you do, keep it a night situation and do not get him up and do not play with him.
Addendum
ReplyDeleteyou said in one of your posts that sleep trainning at 8 months old its NOT SO GOOD. He is turning 8 months in two days, should I not do it?
In fact Ive been leaving him crying for a while, and when I come back to the room I put the paci he calms down but he keeps checking on me until he sleeps, if when I give the paci he still doesnt want to sleep I leave the room again.
Is that a good way to do it, or should I leave when he stops crying??
thanks again... sorry for so many questions.
Michelle
Michelle Maalouli,
DeleteBedtiming says 8 months isn't ideal, but I know of a lot of parents who have success at this time so I wouldn't rule it out unless you have zero progress after several days.
Think about what you are teaching him as you do various sleep training stuff. If you stay with him until he falls asleep then you are teaching him call out to you when he wakes not only for his pacifier, but also for your presence. Staying with him when he is falling asleep but leaving when he's awake can be a touch confusing for him--I'm not even sure what the message would be here, but I'm a tough tired myself and not thinking my best! With an older child you could tell them (if you were ok with being by their side) that you would stay if they settled and try to fall asleep and leave if they played around but with a younger child they won't get this I don't think. My point is to think over what results you want, what kind of techniques you want to use to get there and what message they send your child. THen go from there. Good luck!
I am SO confused by these day time sleep averages. For example, our baby is on a 3 hour routine and eats for about 30 mins and has another 30-40 mins of wake time, she generally sleeps for the other 2 hours, right? That totals for her, generally, 6-8 hours of total daytime sleep. This seems like entirely too much! how do we change this without making her too tired during the day? if we move to 1.5 hr naps, what do we do with the extra wake time? We are thinking it's starting to effect her nighttime sleep. She was sleeping about 10.5 hours a night, and now she is starting to wake. Now she's popping up earlier and earlier :(
ReplyDeleteNicolewynne,
DeleteYour little one is only about 6 weeks adjusted, so don't worry too much. It is normal for babies this age to sleep 16, even 20 hours per 24 hours. If you're at around 1 hour waketime, you are probably fine. I doubt it is hurting her night sleep just yet. At this age, as long as baby isn't napping too long during the day and is having waketimes with feeds, it usually isn't an issue. If she's having issues at night, look over the night sleep post, remember that it is a peak fussy time and that issues like this for several days are normal at this age. Try to keep those early morning wakings like night time. Give a quick feed in the dark and put her right back down. Use the swing if it helps then.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteJust found this and am happy to see I'm not the only one with short nap problems! My daughter is almost 12 weeks, and she is sleeping great at night! Goes to bed at 7, gets a dream feed at 10, and wakes up at about 2:30 and 6:30. She will sleep until 8 or 9 a.m., but then takes 4 30-40 minute naps after being awake for an hour and a half. She wakes happy, and is a great baby. Should I be waking her earlier, around 7 or 7:30 to try and get her to nap longer? My son did the same thing until 6 months, but he had colic and woke angry.
Thanks,
Anne B.
anne Barsness,
DeleteI'd definitely try to get a morning waketime that's around 7 (or 12 hours after bed if she'll sleep that long) and go from there. You can't get your child into a consistent routine if she doesn't wake up around the same time each day.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Rachel -
ReplyDeleteI just stumbled on this site, and i am desperate. My son turns 6 months old next week, but he was 6 weeks premature. He has never slept through the night, wakes randomly every night, and takes a fair amount of rocking and shushing to get back to sleep. sometimes i just give up and nurse him, he gulps for about 5 mins then passes out so I know he isn't hungry. lately my poor SO has been sacrificing his nights to rock him back to sleep so that maybe he wont be tempted to nurse if he doesnt smell me, but usually he still gets fed 2,3 or 4 times a night cause he just won't quit. because he was premature, i have no idea if this is normal cause of the whole "adjusted age" thing - he kindof goes down for his naps semi awake. This week he has been fighting me though whenever I put him down. He just doesnt stay asleep! his naps are only 45 minutes, every 1.5 hours (4 naps a day). it's hard to get him on EASY because he sleeps so often but so little, so he's basically eating every 2.5 hours. But at night it seems more often. I also don't know if he should be eating every 3 hours or 4 because of his adjusted and actual age ( I too have The Baby Whisperer and the Ferber book) - I'm just so confused on what we should be doing for him. I feel like he is too young to CIO or controlled crying, but this kid can't seem to get himself back to sleep without a prop (me, SO, nursing, binky). We have a sleep ritual (massage, jammies, lullaby) so he knows when it's time for sleep. I feel like I'm doing everything semi right and semi wrong and am confused about what to do about his constant night wakings (he cosleeps in our room, since I no longer sleep in our room to try and break the night nursing I guess he just sleeps in his crib near my SO) - any tips? anything i haven't tried? am I just being impatient because he is too young? am I feeding him too often during the day so he's used to just snacking? HELP!!!
Hi Rachel -
ReplyDeleteI just stumbled on this site, and i am desperate. My son turns 6 months old next week, but he was 6 weeks premature. He has never slept through the night, wakes randomly every night, and takes a fair amount of rocking and shushing to get back to sleep. sometimes i just give up and nurse him, he gulps for about 5 mins then passes out so I know he isn't hungry. lately my poor SO has been sacrificing his nights to rock him back to sleep so that maybe he wont be tempted to nurse if he doesnt smell me, but usually he still gets fed 2,3 or 4 times a night cause he just won't quit. because he was premature, i have no idea if this is normal cause of the whole "adjusted age" thing - he kindof goes down for his naps semi awake. This week he has been fighting me though whenever I put him down. He just doesnt stay asleep! his naps are only 45 minutes, every 1.5 hours (4 naps a day). it's hard to get him on EASY because he sleeps so often but so little, so he's basically eating every 2.5 hours. But at night it seems more often. I also don't know if he should be eating every 3 hours or 4 because of his adjusted and actual age ( I too have The Baby Whisperer and the Ferber book) - I'm just so confused on what we should be doing for him. I feel like he is too young to CIO or controlled crying, but this kid can't seem to get himself back to sleep without a prop (me, SO, nursing, binky). We have a sleep ritual (massage, jammies, lullaby) so he knows when it's time for sleep. I feel like I'm doing everything semi right and semi wrong and am confused about what to do about his constant night wakings (he cosleeps in our room, since I no longer sleep in our room to try and break the night nursing I guess he just sleeps in his crib near my SO) - any tips? anything i haven't tried? am I just being impatient because he is too young? am I feeding him too often during the day so he's used to just snacking? HELP!!!
My daughter is 9 months old and has always been a good sleeper (feeding once at night since six weeks). She has been sleep trained since 4 months and has no sleep associations. She has always gone to bed between 6:30/7:00 and was sleeping until anywhere between 6:30 and 7:30 (she has never a creature of habit who woke at exact same time until now!) About three weeks ago we weaned the night feed because she was not hungry at all in the mornings and played in her crib for a good forty minutes after night feeding. It went well but now she wakes sometime around five, starving. I try to leave her as close as I can to six but hasn't worked to help problem. I've tried pushing bedtime up to six with marginal improvement for a few days. She naps twice a day for 1.5-2 hrs each nap. Can this be solved or should I resign to five am waking? I don't expect her to sleep late but a wake time in the sixes would just be soooooo much better. I'll take 6:01! Any advice?
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