He rarely sleeps longer than 40 minutes through the day

[Sterla]

My DS is a great night sleeper - usually doing 6-7 hours, has a feed, then sleeps for another 2-3 hours. But during the day his sleeps rarely last longer than 40 minutes. Is there a way to get him to sleep for longer? I'm used to it now, but was just wondering if it's normal?

[Sterla]

Just want to clarify: I mean 40 minutes at a time, not for the whole day (thank goodness!)

[Rach75]

jack was same around 12 mths he went to 2 1.5hr sleeps

[butterfly_warrior]

Sterla, we went through a similar thing with Sam from about that age up until now. Sam's not quite ready to drop to two naps per day, but he does want more awake time. I've found that if I keep him up half an hour to an hour longer I can usually get two hours from him in his cot instead of a 40 minute catnap in my arms.

I'm getting two good sleeps and a catnap most days now... I don't think it will be too long before he drops the catnap and goes to two sleeps. Might be worth a shot.

BW

[Sterla]

Thanks BW - might try that.

[mustangsachy]

hi sterla .... from what i heard babies have a 40min sleep cycle but if you can rock them in their basinettes/ cribs - put dummy in or shh shh them to sleep they'll sleep for 1.5 hours total. it DOESN'T work for me. lach is the same- max 40 mins. and if i try to rock him, put dummy in he grins and wants to play.

[amberj]

Its very normal- its the length of one sleep cycle for a baby and they often wake up after it. Its only a problem if they are still tired, really. DS was the same and I pulled my hair out for months trying everything under the sun to get him to nap longer. Nothing worked for any length of time, he would always going back to 45 minute naps. Eventually I went with the flow and we were all much happier.

Having said that, around 11 months or so, he went down to two naps and they got longer- one to two hours each. Its brilliant!! Most people say around 1 year old their naps naturally increase in length, and it was true for us. Hang out for it, its worth it!

[littleberlin]

That sounds like my daughter! Aurelia has been doing three or four naps of exactly forty minutes each since she was ten weeks old. Recently we've begun swinging her in her hammock after about thirty minutes (when she comes into shallow sleep), and if we persist through this restless phase she makes it through to 1hr 40m. We have been trying to encourage this longer sleep at the middle of the day as she finds it so difficult to stay up in the early evenings, although she wants to. It's working well so far - hopefully she will get to the stage where she just knows to nap for that long. So, I can recommend any kind of movement. Good luck!

[Sterla]

Thanks for your replies . So, seems to be pretty normal then. I find it difficult to get much done through the day, but apart from that I'm okay with the short naps. He really does seem to only need 40 mins, cause when he wakes up he's all smiles and babbling... Still, I'll look forward to those longer naps when he's older .

[Salad]

Hi Sterla I agree with amberJ Georgia is the same she used to have big day sleeps but them got to about 4 months and will only have 2-3 30 min sleeps during the day. I would be frustrated thinking man how can I get her to sleep longer because things I read would say "just because they wake after 30 mins doesnt mean that is all they need" (I need to stop reading lol) but now I also just go with the flow because she is happy when she wakes and is not grumpy etc.

[Pandora]

DS2 only sleeps 40 mins, for the whole day sometimes
It should get longer as he gets older, like other have said.

[onthefly]

I have found over time that DS' day sleeps have gotten longer, generally.
One thing you can try is to go in about 5 minutes before the usual wakeup time and stand poised to resettle. if you do it right away you might get another 40 minutes (it doesn't always work). If you do it regularly for 1-2 weeks, then you may find he starts to sleep longer on his own.

[Rumpleteaser]

My DS was like this, he only started sleeping longer after about 6 months. He use to have 4x 45 min naps, which then dropped down to 3x 45 naps, then that dropped to 1x 1.5hr and 1x 45min, which is where we are at now.

[Shanti]

DD has been doing this too.... it's pretty common from what i've heard talking to other Mum's!
DD has been asleep for 2hrs and is still sleeping.... she NEVER sleeps this long!!! Yay! Must be a growth spurt or something!!

Most days DD will only have 3 day naps and only about 30-45mins long.

[MrsB26]

If you wanted to get a longer sleep out of him, try to resettle. It may take many attempts but it worked for us. I found also though that 45 mins for some sleeps was enough - for eg, when we were on 3 sleeps, one would be 1.5-2 hours then the lunch one would be 45 mins then the afternoon would be 1.5-2 hours. We are on 2 sleeps now and they are both longer -atleast 2 hours each but definatley more awake time between them and lots of activity to wear him out.

[DaintreeDream]

jack was same around 12 mths he went to 2 1.5hr sleeps

Yep same here. DD has always been a good night sleeper but during the day she would have 2 or 3 naps of 30-45mins. When she hit about 11 months she started having longer sleeps of about an hour and a half to 2 hours, but still sleeps well at night.

[RazRock]

Got another cat-napper here too!

Great night sleeper and has been since he was little - champion. During the day he sleeps 40mins at a time and is really hard to get him to do another cycle so I don't bother anymore... sometimes he might go another cycle but that is quite rare, I just let him do what he wants... I am surprised he is not more tired though, sometimes he even fights his sleep!

Nice to know other bubs are the same!