Catnapping and tired all day....

**Kez2306** · 06-02-2012 14:09

Hi,

I have a beautiful 9wk old DD, who only seems to catnap through the day.My days are spent resettling and waiting for the next wake-up. I wouldn't mind if she was happy to be awake after her catnap but she just seems to be constantly tired.

She is on 4hr feeds and I have been trying to keep her up for 1.5-2hrs after waking but I can get her to just over an hour after waking before she gets grizzly and yawns every 2minutes, or falls asleep in my arms, or wherever she is layng. I put her in her cot, swaddled and awake and allow her to self settle to sleep, which usually only takes 5-10mins. She will sleep for a max of 45mins and then wakes up. I allow her time to settle herself back to sleep but usually have to go in and settle her. She will then wake and fall asleep every 5 minutes for the next 30mins and sometimes will fall asleep for another 20-40mins after that. She goes down great at 6.30pm every night and will sleep until roughly 6.30-7am (broken for feeds and she also suffers from a blocked nose and stomach aches, where I am settling for over an hour, up to 3hours at times).

It is driving me nuts. I have tried the "Save our sleep" and also "Secrets of the baby whisperer" routines to no avail.

Can anyone help with suggestions of how to get her to sleep for longer than 45mins during the day.

Thank you!!!

**Alimia** · 06-02-2012 18:41

Have you taken bub to dr's to see if there may be a medical problem?

**captainscaptain** · 07-02-2012 21:29

Mmmmm the fact that she is self settling and STILL has so much trouble sleeping definitely makes me think that something is bothering her (medically or whatever).

Or maybe she gets hungry more than every 4 hours?

**Juzz** · 07-02-2012 22:55

Originally Posted by Kez2306

She is on 4hr feeds and I have been trying to keep her up for 1.5-2hrs after waking but I can get her to just over an hour after waking before she gets grizzly

Congrats on your little girl! My only advice would be that perhaps she is overtired - i wouldn't be keeping a little one her age up that long, I'd be putting her back to sleep after 45 mins wake time max (prob les, but can't remember exactly...) That might help... She's still very little so I wouldn't be too concerned about the catnapping just yet, I'd be more inclined to think she's tired from too much awake time...

Good luck, hope you sort it out

**looloo711** · 15-02-2012 18:16

Hi OP. Just wondering if u have had any luck with ur DD? My DD is 8 weeks and only catnaps through the day aswell an I have to resettle pretty much every 10 mins.
Just wanna see if u have found anything that works?

**Kez2306** · 16-02-2012 12:16

Thanks for the replies. I get my DD health-checked every 2wks and on the health front she seems to be fine. I have tried to feed more regularly but she will only take small amounts, unless I space her feeds over 4hrs.

I have pretty much just accepted that my DD is a catnapper. I am now putting her down when she shows me her tired signs and then getting her up when she wakes and I can't settle her back easily and then go through the process all over again when she shows me her tired signs. On the up side though, she has started to sleep through the night. She goes down to sleep at approx 6.15pm, sleeps through until approx 3am for a feed and then wakes to start the day at around 6.30am, so that is making the catnapping through the day much more bearable.

The day that I accepted that she is a catnapper, my whole attitude changed and I started to really enjoy my little girl. I am hoping that as she gets older and more active, that her sleeping during the day will improve but I think that it is best to take each day as new and so whatever happened the previous day, just forget about it and start fresh the next day!!

**captainscaptain** · 17-02-2012 07:00

Originally Posted by Kez2306

The day that I accepted that she is a catnapper, my whole attitude changed and I started to really enjoy my little girl.

Exactly the same here! Except my DS never self settled like yours so it was easy for me to understand WHY he catnapped. But it just goes to show that you really cant stop a catnapper from catnapping aye

PS: DS stopped catnapping around 6 months I think. Still has one now and then but that's ok.

**lovesushi** · 20-02-2012 13:03

Not sure if this is helpful but my DS normally wakes up after 40mins nap if I don't help him to resettle. So I time when he goes to sleep, then go in a few mins before the 40min mark and wait. The moment he starts to stir and opens his eyes a little I put a firm hand on his chest or arm if he's on his side and the other hand on his thigh, I stay like that for 5 mins until he's back to sleep. Most of the time it works. Sometimes if it doesn't I quietly take him to bed and feed him side by side so we both fall back to sleep.

**stickytape** · 14-03-2012 23:22

Originally Posted by captainscaptain

Exactly the same here! Except my DS never self settled like yours so it was easy for me to understand WHY he catnapped. But it just goes to show that you really cant stop a catnapper from catnapping aye

PS: DS stopped catnapping around 6 months I think. Still has one now and then but that's ok.

I am going through exactly the same thing right now with my 16-week old DS. He only naps for 30 mins during the day on the dot and I've only ever managed to re-settle him successfully maybe 3-4 times in the last 2 months. Usually he wakes up happy but sometimes he wakes up grizzly but STILL refuses to go back to sleep. Sometimes I spend an hour just re-settling before I give up and then both of us end up being cranky by the end of the day..................

**MunchkinsMum1** · 15-03-2012 09:14

My 17 week DD has an awake time of 2 hrs maximum and generally only lasts 1-1 1/4 hrs before getting tired. This includes feeding.
One of her early tired signs is curled toes which is usually followed by thumb sucking or yawning, then it is off to bed. Sometimes she goes down beautifully. Other times, like this morning, she can't settle. But I've been persisting with it because she is clearly tired. Apparently the window to catch them at the right time is only 10 mins! And, I think I missed it this morning!

One way to look at it is to view their 'fighting' sleep as a call for help to get them in the state for sleep. It might mean rewrapping, patting, music, whatever works to help them settle. It doesn't work all the time and yes, you feel like you are spending your days focussing on sleep but in the end we are helping are lovely babies to settle and to learn those valuable skills.

And, you generally can't hear them grizzle from the toilet!