why doesnt our 3 month old baby girl take naps during the day?

Question

she's awake from 8 am til whenever we go to sleep. we have a nearly 4 year old son as well, and he didnt have any sort of sleeping issues. we try to put her to nap, and she closes her eyes and everything, but then they are wide open again within 2 min. is she overly hyper to where she cannot sleep is what i'm wondering.

***her being wide eyed after 2 min is an exaggeration, the point being that she wakes up and we hear her cry out like shes up, all alone, waiting for us to get her, or when we check on her again, shes up. momma is getting zero rest during the day, no relief time or down time to rest up.

Answer 1

Since your daughter can sleep through the night, it stands to reason she can successfully take naps during the day - you just have to teach her how. Believe it or not, good sleep habits are a skill that must be learned, not an instinct that every baby comes with (if it WAS an instinct, thousands of "get-your-baby-to-sleep" authors would be out of work).

Start by organizing her daily routine. As soon as she gets up at 8am, feed her. Then spend some "wake time" with her and put her down for a nap. At three months of age, she should be getting 4-6 feedings per day, sleeping about 10-12 hours at night and getting three daytime naps, about 1.5-2 hours long. This leaves her "wake times" to be about 2-3 hours long.

If she's not sleeping in her crib, now is the time to start. Now is also the time for her to learn to self-soothe. If she gets up at 8am, try putting her down for her first nap at 10am. Do whatever routine you do at night (read a book? sing songs? etc.), give her a kiss, put her in the crib and close the door.

At this point, she will probably start to cry. (Or she may do what my son did - sleep for a half-hour, then wake up and cry) Some babies simply cry as they drift off to sleep, some cry as they wake up and some cry upon sleeping AND waking. This is NORMAL. You are not a bad parent for letting her cry; you are a good parent for gently but firmly insisting that your daughter get the rest she needs to grow up healthy.

Here's a technique to help you deal with the crying: Babies her age can cry for up to an hour without suffering any negative physical or mental effects. Decide how long you are going to leave her cry on Day One. Is it 15 minutes? Ok, let her go for 15 minutes. If she's still crying, go in, pat her back, sing to her, soothe her (just don't pick her up!!) and walk back out of the room. Do this until she falls asleep.

If she doesn't fall asleep after an hour, don't be discouraged. Just take her out of the crib and start the feeding/waketime/naptime routine over.

On Day Two, increase the amount of time she's going to cry by five minutes. So now you'll let her try to self-soothe for, say, 20 minutes. Your five minute increments keep going up on each successive day. You should expect to see marked improvements in her sleep (and her self-soothing) within 2-3 days, definitely by the end of one week.

My son was just like your daughter: he slept 10 hours at night (except for the 4-5 times his binky fell out - GROAN), took a 2 hour nap in the morning and then, if I was lucky, he took one more nap for just a 1/2 hour. I was about to go certifiably bonkers until someone told me to read "On Becoming Baby Wise," by Gary Ezzo & Robert Bucknam, M.D. Seriously, that book has the best practical advice I have ever read. You will do yourself and your wife a huge favor by picking up a copy. (You may have to read it for the both of you - it sounds like your wife doesn't get a whole lot of free time for reading books!)

Tell your wife to hang in there! If you start tomorrow, your daughter could be taking regular naps by the end of the month. And then your wife can't imagine how dramatically her life will change - and her mood improve.

Answer 2

When my daughter was younger she did the same thing, she naped for about ten minutes that was it. It made it quite difficult to get anything done. Your child is not hyper. She is busy and a high energy baby. As she gets older it might change, but probably not. My daughter is a year old now and she sleeps between 4-6 hours and then she naps about an hour at noon time and that is it. After the 4-6 hours at night after a bottle she will go to sleep for about 2-3 more hours and that is it. But to me this is heaven. When she was 4 months she would wake up every 2 hours and this was torture. I am thrilled for the break. Enjoy the baby they grow up so fast.

Answer 3

My daughter has a bath around 6:45, and is in bed by 7:30 or 8. I'd like to keep her up a little later so she'd sleep later, but she's absolutely exhausted by that time. She sleeps until 7 or 8 in the morning, but still wakes up 3 or 4 times a night.

Answer 4

I think you are not giving her the opportunity. When she's not asleep in two minutes, do you assume she doesn't want to nap, and get her up? Decide when a good nap time would be, put her down at that time, and LEAVE her until she falls asleep. Period. Even if she cries. Do this every day at the same time till she is napping at that time on her own.

Answer 5

How would you know her eyes are open again in 2 minutes, unless you were constantly checking in on her? Leave her alone! Even if she doesn't fall asleep, allow her the quiet time without going in to check her. If you think she really needs a nap because she gets cranky, try rocking her while humming.

Answer 6

does she sleep at night is my question...?
I have a 5 month old and she's not much of a day sleeper, but that's okay with me because she sleeps all night.
Maybe she is having a growth spurt and needs to eat more?

Answer 7

If she sleeps through the night, I wouldn't worry about it. Most babies fall asleep on their own if they get tired during the day from not sleeping at night.

Answer 8

It's not about being hyper. Some babies do not nap. If she is quiet, let her rest. My kids were all good sleepers, but my niece and nephew rarely napped.

Answer 9

Some babies just aren't nappers. They simply aren't tired. Just let her stay awake but if she looks tired then lay her down. Maybe put her to bed an hour earlier each night on the days she doesn't nap.

Answer 10

the child is enjoyinng your company and does not want to miss out on life sleeping during the day.