My 9 Month Old and Her Naps

Hi, my little boy was born Feb. 28th and he only sleeps like that long sometimes. There really isn't much you can do, I don't think. Their naps change so frequently, so it may change again soon. She may start to get tired after days of short naps. Some days, my baby is up ALL day long, taking two 10 minute naps all day, from 7 AM to 10 PM. it is crazy. He co sleeps, so sometimes it helps if I am napping with him, he may sleep longer than if he is napping alone. Don't stress about it. I know you would probably like a little more alone time, but sometimes, they are just ready to wake up and play! Enjoy this time...it is precious, as it goes so quickly! I can't believe we are already at nine months!

Hi N.,
Wellll, she could be a high spirited little thing and be going through a cognitive growth spurt and sleep is just not on her to do list:)..sigh, I know :) I have a little girl very similar who dropped naps much earlier than her brother but by age 2 was dressing in jammies,, brushing her teeth, and crawling into big girl bed independently..so it may go that with your sweet pea.. Still for now, and long term for habit, she needs that precious sleep and the routine. Try a warm lavender bath, cuddly time, unwinding quiet time, music, white noise, a few soft or board books so she can stretch her time to rest and relax her wake time before you get her..I know there is debate about whether to let children cry it out and for some, they may need to let off steam or need to settle back down but t I will share that crying only amplified my daughter and for her and I, some cooto ing and love went much farther and she is very well adjusted. She is very independent but when she needs me, it is real and I encourage you to trust your understanding of your daughter and decide what works for you two. It will strenthen your bond in that she will know you are paying attention to her true self, not what works for others. Enjoy her! She sounds like a very fun little girl.

Hi N.,
I have a 9 month old girl and 2 and 1/2 year old boy. I definitely have opinions on the matter of sleep.. I am all about sleep training when (and if) you feel ready. My daughter's sleep was disorganized until we did sleep training at 6 months. I did the Ferber Method with both kids and it worked for us. my girl takes a nap at 9ish (for 1 to 1/2 hours) and another when my son takes one at 1ish (also 1 to 2 hours).

good luck!

J.

be thankful for time . Don,t woory how long naps are she may not need that much sleep in the day time . hope she sleeps at night. enjoy S.

At 7 months old my son has now started doing the same. However prior to this change he was sleeping roughly 1/1.5 hr each nap time (3x a day). He did sleep through the night with no problem.

Up until recently his entire sleep schedule changed. He gave us issues going down for bed time, then would wake up an hour later, then around 12-1a and 3-4a he'd wake up. EVERY NIGHT!

We found his issue was his bed (he was sleeping in a extra padded play pen (at grandma's temporarily with no crib). As soon as we purchased a new crib for him, he started sleeping better and now goes down with ease. As far as his naps, he still takes 30/45min 3-4x a day. Apparently, his mind and body only needs that, other wise, he'd sleep more if needed.

As long as your child is getting much needed rest (cat naps), I wouldn't worry. Also, less naps, generally means longer sleep at night. My son wakes up every morning now by 8a! Sometimes 9a. With maybe one minor interuption of sleep, cause he lost his pacifier and woke up.

Feel blessed that I even have a child who sleeps through the night at this age. More or less, sleeps at all during the day. I'd go stir crazy if he only slept one time during the day. Haaaa lol

As I stated before, I would not worry about it. Her body is changing just like his eating habits. She is just growing uP!

This is how my oldest was and we tried everything to get her to sleep and keep her sleeping. She gave up naps all together before she was two. I really wonder if this is just how most first born children are. I've had 2 more children and they were the best sleepers. Now I have a new baby again who is my oldest daughters twin born 11 years later. It's yet to be determined if she'll take after her sleep habits. So far so good ,she's a sleeper. But my oldest to this day dosn't sleep much. The only difference I can figure is the volume of noise and activitey. When there is only one baby the house can be pretty quite. No such thing in our house now. I can't believe the noise this baby can sleep in the middle of. Just hang in there and hopefully your future babies will be sleepers.

I don't have any tips that will get her to sleep longer. Sorry. Wish I did! However, when my girls ever did that I just didn't ever get into the habit of rushing into their room. I figured nap time should be a certain amount of time and if they woke up early then they could sit in their cribs for a little more rest. Sometimes they would go back to sleep. Other times they would just be awake, but they never flipped their lids if I didn't go running in there. I'd walk in sometimes and check their pants, keeping the room dark and with a soft voice. Maybe clean them up if they needed it and put them back in their cribs until the time was up. Sometimes they grouched around about it, but mostly they'd just either fall back to sleep or play quietly.

I know not all kids have that kind of personality. Some want Mommy as soon as they wake up. I just never got into the habit of running in there when they hollered. Actually, I sometimes waited for them to calm down before I went in... I just didn't want them to learn to scream their heads off for me. As a result, I was able to let them sit in their cribs a little longer during nap times if they woke up too soon.

Good luck!

My son had the same sleep pattern as your daughter, he never took long naps. Once he started consolidating naps, he went from 3 naps a day to 1 nap before he was 1 yr, then he slept longer - averaging 2 hours a day. The morning nap and the late afternoon nap went away naturally, I put him in his crib and after 45 minutes of playing he didn't sleep, even though he appeared tired. Overtime your daughter will probably sleep longer as she gives up her other naps, and then you'll miss all those breaks in the day:-) Enjoy!

My daughter was like that too. It sounds like she's sleeping one "sleep cycle" and then waking up. Once her brain lets her sleep longer, she'll have two longer naps and then go down to one even longer nap. Patience is the best way to deal with it.