Short Napper - Need Advice

My son did the same sort of thing for ages. I consdered myself lucky to be getting a good night sleep and didn't worry about it too much. You may find that her sleep patterns change again when she starts walking

Wow! 12 hours a night at 5 months?! You are lucky!
As far as napping goes, if she doesn't seem tired, than you are probably fine. How quickly do you respond when she wakes up after 30 minutes? My daughter will always wake up once in the middle of her nap and cry, but she'll fall back asleep after 3 or 4 minutes (at most). I realized this one day when I was going to the bathroom and couldn't respond as quickly as normal. She went right back to sleep, and now she naps for 2 to 3 hours at a time. When she was on 2 naps a day, the longest she would be down for was an hour and a half. Here's what I found. Looks like your daughter is ahead of the game. Don't worry :)

-3 months to 6 months. During this stage, nighttime sleep increases and daytime sleep decreases. Your baby will probably sleep for about 10 hours at night, and need between 3 and 5 hours during the day.

- 6 months to 9 months. Babies at this age will sleep even more at night. Nighttime sleep will be around 11 hours. Daytime sleep will drop down to between 2 and 3 1/2 hours.

Unfortunately some children just aren't nappers. My daughter is now almost 11 months old and she has never napped well. She would sleep for 30-40 min 3 times a day at that age. She now unfortunately sleeps for the same length of time but only naps twice. If you daughter is waking up happy then she probably doesn't need any more sleep than that at one given time.

I would say that as long as your little one is content and happy during her awake hours then for now these naps must be sufficient for her little body. My son is now 15 months and he has always slept 11-12 hours at night and also took at least 2 1-hour naps and still does.

As she grows and moves about more, I would guess that she will sleep longer for you since she will be exhausted from her new milestones and exploration.

You are very fortunate indeed!

Enjoy her!

My daughter did the same thing at that age. She would only nap for 15-20 minutes during the day, but she slept through the night 11 hours. Then at around 10 months, she began taking a 1 hour nap in the afternoon - I think because she more active with standing and cruising. But that came with a different problem of her being tired and cranky before the nap. So, for now, thank your lucky stars that you are getting sleep at night and she will probably change her nap pattern as she gains mobility.

That actually sounds about right for a 5 month old. My kids never napped longer than 45 min (if I was lucky!) until they were at least 8 or 9 mos old. They would, however, often nap for 2+ hours if I held then and/or napped WITH them! Then we BOTH got to get a nice, long, well-deserved nap! :-)

My 5 month old daughter wakes up 45-50 minutes into every nap (except when I put her down at night). I thought she was hungry, I would feed her and then she would fuss like crazy & SHE IS NOT USUALLY FUSSY. I reread Babywise (something my husband and I used on our first & thought we were implementing with this one & found out that it is a common waking cycle - she is still tired, so I started dletting her go for 5 minutes & she wENT BACK TO sleep for more then an hour each time (usually closer to two). Hope that helps (sorry about the caps =O}). Good luck!

My daughter is 5 1/2 months she sleeps great at night but in the day she does not like to nap on her own, when i try she only sleeps 2-10 mins some days i get lucky and i get 30-45 min. As long as she doesn't seem too crabby its ok In the afternoon when my son naps i sometimes will sit down with her and hold her while she naps that way she gets a good long afternoon nap in and that helps to keep the crabbies away.

Does she seem crabby & tired during the day with her 2 short naps? If not, she's probably getting enough. The fact that she sleep 12 hrs at night is awesome!
It can be frustrating with short naps (or no naps!) b/c it's hard to get anything done around the house during those brief times. I would concentrate on your to-do lists when she goes to bed and before she gets up. If you get a bonus of 40 minutes here or there--try to relax & pamper yourself a bit! :)

Babies are people, and we all are different. I need 8-9 hours of sleep as a grown up, and my mom was always been happy with 5-6. I envy her!!! Therefore everyone's kid is a little different. Doctor's always seem to say kids need at least 10 hours every night. Well your daughter is getting 12, and also some cat naps so I wouldn't worry. I'm raising 5 kids right now(all under eight) and one slept all the time and another wanted to skip naps by one and a half. I think the key is to watch the mood of your child. If she is happy, not whinny or cranky, then don't worry and enjoy all the evening hours you have to enjoy or catch up on things. None of my children sleep through the night at all until about eight months old. I would love your problem.

Hi P.,
My son did the same exact thing around 5 months. It seemed he would wake up a 1/2 hour after falling asleep for naps like clockwork. I also consulted Babywise and read that babies go through a period like this because they are more aware of their surroundings and may wake up because of environmental noises that they used to sleep through. I personally think he didn't want to miss out on anything! I think I eventually let him cry himself back to sleep. Sometimes it worked, sometimes I just let him get up. Eventually he got out of this stage! I also told myself that at least he was sleeping so good at night when it really counted! My best to you and your baby girl!

Hi P.,

My son was a short napper too. He took 2-3 15-30 minutes per day but slept 10 hours at night. I wouldn't worry. As your baby gets older she will likely start to nap longer. My son didn't nap longer until he gave up his 2nd nap and went down to only 1 nap per day.

J.

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Wow! 12 hours a night! My 4, 6, 8, and 10 year olds don't sleep that long now, let alone when they were babies. That's awesome at that age, truly!! :-)

I think since she is sleeping so much during the night, she doesn't need as much sleep during the day as other children who don't sleep very long.

My kids always napped at 10AM and then again around 2 or 3 until they were a year old, when they went to one nap a day. But, since my kids were not good sleepers, I had to limit them at a year old to 1 one-hour nap. If not, they wouldn't go to sleep until very late at night.

So, I guess my bottom line is that every child is different and you have to see what works for them. If your daughter isn't cranky or showing other problems from lack of sleep in the morning/afternoon, I think she is doing just fine and what she needs at this point.

Good luck!