Hi,
At the last visit to our pediatrician, when our son was 6 months old, she said that he was sleeping too much during the day with 2 or 2 1/2 hours of napping. Now, though, when I go to form playgroups with other moms who have 9 month olds, I find that they're sleeping as much as 3 hours (2 naps of 1 1/2 hours or so) during the day, and my son is only sleeping 2 hours because the doctor said so. I'm not a stickler about "dr. said so stuff," and our son is sleeping really well at night (12 hours straight!), but he's also tired out during the day, and we always have to wake him up from his naps. What's normal? Was it good advice I got from my Ped? Thanks for any advice you can give.
We're now looking for a new Ped because the waiting room and offices were dirty and we sat in the waiting room for 4 hours, so I'm starting to rethink what she told me, the things that seem a bit weird. She also said not to do any finger foods before 9 months....
Thanks everybody, I've decided to let him sleep during the day, and then see how he does at night. We've already decided to switch Peds, and are lined up to get him checked at Town and Country, which people say is good. Hope so!
Just follow his lead, as long as he is sleeping good at night, some kids need more/less sleep then others. We don't do much food before a year in case of allergies.
Hi,
From what I've read and experienced babies need more sleep at different developmental periods, trust your gut on the sleep thing, especially if he's sleeping good at night.
I have a great recommendation for a pediatrician for you. Lakeview Pediatrics on Belmont,just east of Ashland, I see
Dr. Newport there, but all of the 5 female pediatricians there are top notch, Dr. Audrey Chang is there and she is fantastic too. Here's the phone # ###-###-####.
Doctors are not always right. I have never heard of a baby sleeping too much. My 11 month old still gets 13-15 hours of sleep a day. Some days, perfect ones :), he sleeps from 6AM-6PM and has taken two-two hour naps. My advice would be to not wake him up. His body knows how much sleep he needs. I am sure by now he is crawling and maybe cruising and that burns a lot of calories and wears baby out. Go with your instinct and maybe even look for a new Ped??
I think you are smart to shop around for a new pediatrician! My kids all slept at least 3 hours during the day -- sometimes more -- and also slept 12 hours at night. They were all happy, well-rested babies, and are now smart, well-adjusted 9 and 7 yr olds. I can't believe that any respectable pediatrician would advise waking up a healthy baby from a normal nap!
Also, the dirty waiting room and the unacceptable wait time (4 hours??) would seem to indicate that this place is very poorly managed and not at all hygenic. Time to find a better doctor! (And, I depending upon how dirty the place really was, I would consider reporting them to the Health Dept...)
You should let your child sleep as much as they want to during the day and at night. Sleep is so good for babies. I never heard of a pediatrician saying something like that before. And you wondering if it is correct is your motherly intuition, follow what you think. If you think something is wrong then go with it. You are probably right. If you live in the Chicago area I have a great pediatrician. My son is fourteen I have been going to this doctor since he was a baby. I had a bad experience with his first pediatrician and if I didn't follow my intuition my son would have probably died. Let him have a good nap once or twice a day, they are so much more fun to be around when they are happy:) Good Luck!
You know your kid better than the ped. does. My 10 month old only takes one nap but it's at least 2 hours long and sometimes a second one for an hour. Every baby is different and everyone needs a different amount of sleep.
Good luck.
Hi M., I think you have great instincts about switching to a new ped. I can't speak for others, but from my own experience, our pediatricians have advised us to let our son sleep/nap when he's tired. He's 22 months now and takes one 2-3 hour nap every day. When he was 9 months, he probably had 2 1-hour naps and slept 10-12 hours through the night. Every child is different and will need more or less sleep. My best friend's son just turned 1 yr and he takes 2 2-hour naps every day! I wish I were so lucky :-). I've also found that waking my son from naps usually produces a very cranky child, so I let him wake on his own. If you're concerned that he naps too long, then it wouldn't hurt to ask a (new) ped about it, but otherwise, his body probably just needs the rest.
Regarding finger foods...my ped told us we could introduce certain finger foods at 6 months, even 4 months! Of course as a first-time mom I was paranoid about choking and waited til about 6 months, but again, every child is different and some may want to experiment with finger foods earlier than others.
I hope my ramblings made some sense! Best of luck.
Dear M.,
You've gotten plenty of good advice. I just want to add that sleep researchers have determined that an infant up to one year will need approximately 14-15 hours of sleep, total, during a 24 hour period. So if yours is sleeping 12 hours at night, he could use another three hours. My little guy never slept that much, but I wish he did! Good luck with finding a more knowing pediatrician.
Best,
Barbara
M., please don't worry, a 9 month old can sleep up to 3or even four hours depending on his or her needs, you even need to consider growth spurts. I am a daycare provider and all babies are different but only two one hour naps? Nope doesn't sound right! Ok time for a new ped!!!
My second child slept for 3 hours or more in naps at that age. Enjoy it! I can't even imagine what the pediatrician was thinking.
You are the best judge of how much sleep your baby needs. At nine months my son took a 1 1/2 hour nap in the morning and a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. He also was a good sleeper in the night. If your intuition is telling you that this doctor was wrong, then they probably were. Babies need a great deal of sleep, even older children take a 1-2 hour nap; some children need naps until they are 5 years old.
Also, I started giving my son finger foods (cheerios, pieces of soft fruit) when he was about 8 months old. He loved fishing around on his try trying to pick up the little pieces. I never had any trouble from it at all.
Those were my experiences and I hope it helps you feel better about making choices for your child. :)
As long as your baby is sleeping enough during the night, I would let him sleep as much as he wants during the day. Maybe this is what your Ped was talking about? Our 8-month old sleeps about 12 hours during the night and has another 2-3 40 minute naps during the day. Obviously if your son sleeps less during the night he'll want to sleep more during the day. Either way, I wouldn't wake him up from his naps unless it's late in the day (after 4 or 5) and it might keep him from gonig to bed at a normal time.
we just had our 9 month checkup.... our little lady sleeps 12 hours at night, usually uninterrupted. she fights some nights, others not at all. she fights tooth and nail about naps though, and we are lucky to get 2 45min-1hr naps from her. the doctor said not to worry, and not to fight her about it. 2 1hr naps will not hurt your baby, but don't wake him up...
My philosophy is to let a child sleep as long as they need to sleep. My daughter used to take 2 2 hour naps and sometimes even 2 1/2 hours.
I say let him sleep as much as he wants, as long as he's sleeping at night. When he gets the 2-2 1/2 naps does he seem less tired? Does he wake up happy with naps and night time? If so, don't adjust. When he sleeps more w/ naps, does he wake up at night?
FOR SURE i agree w/ changing peds. I think at 6 months that wasn't enough.
I'm confused though, 2 1/2 hours total? or each nap? If i rememer correctly 14-15 hours of sleep at that time is good. For 9 month 14 hrs. My dd didn't give up 3rd nap until after 1 yrs old. I agree with the two 1 1/2 hr naps that other mom's kids are doing.
Every child is different. You know your child better than anyone else does, even your doctor. I would try letting him sleep longer. If when he sleeps longer he has a hard time sleeping at night, maybe there is some truth to what your doctor was saying, but if he seems to do well with it, let the child sleep! Some kids need more and some need less. Go with your gut!
Granted, our Ped said my daughter is on the long end of napping for kids her age, but she sleeps 11 hrs at night (8 P - 7 A) and takes a 3 - 3.5 hr nap everyday. She's 26 months old. My mom said that my brother and I both did the same thing until we were 4. If your child is tired, let him sleep. I've definitely found waking my daughter up when she's not ready (if we have to go somewhere or whatever) just makes for a miserable rest of the day because she's still tired. She's a really really active kid when she's up, so I think she just wears herself out.
As for the finger foods thing, 9 months doesn't seem all that uncommon to start them. I've heard that before. I think my daughter started with cheerios at 7.5 months, when she didn't choke on them (took a couple of tries before she was ready - she had the pincer grasp down, but wouldn't chew). I don't think she had anything else until around 8.5 or 9 months.
