Naps for a 3 Month Old

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Posted November 20, 2008

Dear Kitty,

Regarding my now 3 month old boy and his sleep habits He now sleep thru the night from 7pm to 6am. He usually wakes around 4 am and fusses for a short time then goes back to sleep. I've been putting him down for his first nap around 7:15am and leaving him for 1.5 hours. He has been sleeping for 45 minutes then waking and crying for the remainder. Because I have a 2.5 year old we have activites and outings scheduled so Evan gets his 2nd nap in his carseat where he sleeps for 1 - 2.5 hours long, most of the time in motion - his best nap. His 3rd nap he has been sleeping for 45 and crying for the remainder.

Do you suggest I start his 1.5 - 2 hour awake time when I get him out of bed or when he is tired? If he is crying for a large portion of his nap time he is tired soon after waking. How long does this process usually take? Are we talking months? I guess it is common to be dealing with an overtired baby all the time while his napping is getting sorted out, is that correct? And yes, I am again looking for some supportive words and wisdom. Any other thoughts you have would be appreciated as well. Thanks so much.

The fact that he sleeps for up to 2.5 hours during the "in motion" nap shows us how long his naps really should be for him to wake up refreshed. My concern is that the addictive quality of the "motion" nap is interfering with his ability to develop his skills of sleeping that well without motion. It's almost as if you are rocking him to sleep for one nap and rocking him for the whole nap, and then NOT rocking for the other two naps. Naturally, we would expect him to prefer to be rocked for every nap.

This is every parent's dilemma -- how to develop strong sleep skills while at the same time, lead a fairly active life. It was a lot easier before life got so busy and there were so many tempting places to take a two-year old.

Really, the only truthful advice I can give is to stay home for 5 straight days, having him nap each time in his crib for over 2 hours, whether he is crying or not. Then, after he has reestablished or established his ability to put himself to sleep and stay asleep for a full nap every day, you could begin to experiment with a day or so a week when he has a car nap and hope that doesn't disturb anything.

Raymond Parenting

Blog » Naps for a 3 Month Old