Short Naps

My second was the same way. I did what "Dawn S" did. I put her in my bed and took a nap (or atleast laid down) with her. She is 16 months now and takes an hour nap in the morning and a 2 to 3 hour in the afternoon. She sleeps from 8 to 7 at night. Good luck!!

I was in the same boat - my daughter took 3 thirty minute naps a day until she was almost 1. It was very difficult for me, because I felt like I couldn't get anything done. One thing that did help was putting her to bed earlier. I know it sounds like the opposite might help - but the earlier I put her to bed, the better she slept at night, and the better she slept at night the better she napped. I also used a sound machine to drown out noise from the rest of the house, and getting her attached to a "lovey" helped. Good luck to you!

hi L..
I have a friend going through this too. it's a toughy.
is she on a good schedule as far as feeding? the book Babywise, helps so much with that. she should be on a sleep, eat, wake cycle. don't put her down for a nap after she eats. for example: if she eats every 3 hours. feed her (30 min.), let her stay up and play (30min. to 1hr), then put her down for a nap. if she wakes up after only 30 minutes, let her cry for 10 minutes or so, go back and calm her. then put her down again. If you are consistent with this and let her cry for a little while just to learn that this is nap time and YOU choose when it's time for her to wake up, it will only take 3 days to get her used to a new schedule. It's worked for me and many of my friends. i hope this helps for you too! Good luck!

Hi L.. I understand about sleep issues with your baby. We had lots of issues with our daugther. I'm not sure what you are doing when she wakes up, but for a long time, I would go in as soon as my daughter would wake up and get her up. Then I read that babies sleep cycles are about 45 minutes long and that's when she was waking up. If I left her in her bed for a few minutes, she would often fall back asleep. There is a book that really helped us called "The No Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley. Even if you don't mind letting her cry it out, it's a great book for ideas on how to get them to sleep better.
Hope this helps.
- P.
www.tinytottowels.com

I have a baby the same age. It should get better within a month, she'll start taking a longer nap at least once a day. She'll still nap a few times a day until about a year, most likely, when she'll be napping in the mid morning and mid afternoon. That's just an average, though, every kid is different. Some things to consider, though: Is there a TV on in her room? My kids could never stay asleep with the flickering lights. Is the room dark and temperature comfortable? Is she getting enough skin to skin contact with you when she's awake? Sometimes babies will rearrange their sleep schedules to get more contact. That's great that she's sleeping so well during the day. My boy just started sleeping better in the day but a recent illness got him used to being up every two hours at night. Where did the expression "sleeping like a baby" come from anyway? Good luck!

My firstborn was the same way and I was really tired at the time. I began to take his afternoon nap with him for a few weeks and after that he began to take 2 hour naps. I also got him on a routine like Elizabeth Pantley suggests in her book. He's 4 1/2 now and still thrives on his bedtime routine.