Cutting back on sleeps

[Smurfette]

Just wondering.....Olivia is currently on 3 naps during the day and averaging about 3-4 hrs a day. I know every baby is different, but "experts" and I use the term loosely, suggest about 3 hours a day over 2 naps.
Do babies drop a nap on their own or do you wean them. Olivia struggles to go more than 2 hrs awake time, so at the moment needs 3 sleeps, I think. But I was thinking that maybe if she dropped back she may sleep better at night. Maybe she is getting too much sleep?

[squirtle81]

I believe your little one will drop the sleep if she doesn't need it. The CHN told me

if you cut the sleeps of during the day it wont help them sleep any better at night.

I'm sure Olivia will stop sleeping when she has had enough.

Good Luck !!

[kyeaj]

Hi there!

I've just cut my 8mth old ds down to two naps. At the moment he's doing great and sleeping 2 naps of around 1 1/2 to 2 hrs each. Before that he was a catnapper and sleeping an hr or so here and there - drove me crazy!

I tried it at around 6mths but soon found he wasn't ready as he was sooooo grumpy by the afternoon and would then fall asleep and not be tired at night. Now that he's a little older, I've tried again and so far so good! As you said, each baby is different and the "guides" that they give don't necessarily suit all bubs. He too, couldn't go anymore than 2hrs awake but is now okay for about 3-4. Each day is a little different but we just try and adapt without causing too much chaos! LOL!!!

Try it for a few days and see how she goes, you'll soon be able to tell. However, they do say that if a baby wakes during the night that sometimes it's because they aren't getting enough during the day??? Not sure how this works but apparently sleep promotes sleep. I think it's because this is how they learn how to self-settle.

Good luck!:D

[pegasus]

I agree with the other ladies. My son was (and still sometimes is) an awful sleeper. He would never sleep well during the day - usually only 45min at a time and I'd try resettling him, to no avail (sometimes up to an hour), he was waking at night everynight till he was about 18months and I still get some nights now that he wakes.

The nights that he sleeps best is when he's had a good day sleep. I figure that you're better to let your daughter sleep all she needs during the day and she might gradually start showing her tired signs later (after 2hours) when she's ready to move to 2 sleeps a day.

My son now gets one good sleep during the day (about 1&1/2hours), and mostly sleeps from about 8pm till 6.30am. If he's only had an hour or less during the day - watch out - he'll be up earlier and / or during the night! Take advantage if your daughter is sleeping well during the day now.

[Natasha Wells]

My DD has almost always been a great sleeper she was doing 2x2hrs and 1x45mins-1hr with awake time of 2 hours. Then at around 5 months she started fighting her naps/bedtime and her sleeps were getting shorter. SO i slowly extended her awake time and cut out the late afternoon nap and it worked a treat. She now has 2x1.5-2hrs sleep a day and sleeps 11.5-12hrs at night and goes down for naps/bedtime no worries (touch wood :) ) and is asleep within 5-15mins. I think your little one will let you know when she is ready to drop a nap. They say at this age babies should have approx 14hrs sleep in 24hrs however Catherine usually as on average 15hrs.

[Chickadee]

We dropped to 2 sleeps at around 7 months, and down to 1 sleep at around 13-14 months. I let myself be guided by DD. Each transition took a few weeks to a month, during which time our "routine" (I use the term very loosely) changed daily. Some days she'd have 3 naps, sometimes 2, and times for meals each day were adjusted to suit that days sleeping pattern. Sometimes her third nap would be fairly late in the day, 4:30 to 6 for example, so bedtime might be a bit later than normal. Flexibility worked for us.