Timing of day sleeps

Ok, I need some tips on timing DD's day sleeps better.

At the moment she is up at 7am and then seems tired by 8am, so I put her to bed and she generally sleeps for 2 hours. Then its catnapville the rest of the day, with up to 4 x 40 min naps until bedtime at 7pm.

The problem is, that by 6pm she is soooo overtired because the catnaps just seem to take the edge off. At the moment she can only really be awake for about 1 hr and a half, before needing another sleep. She self settles and can resettle well, so I am assuming I am putting her to nap too early? Like she is not tired enough to have a proper sleep?

It is awfully tedious to be constantly getting her to sleep in the day, so how do I try and consolidate the catnaps into a better afternoon sleep?

have you tried to resettle in the arvo during one of the sleeps? i know a few girls have had success with going in at aroound the 30-35 min mark and patting bubs before they wake at the magic 40 mins mark, this seems to get them through another sleep cycle! i know DD1 slept like your DD,lots of little sleeps through the day, at taht age she was going to bed for the night at 5.45pm! i couldnt get her to last any longer, she slept through til morning.
HTH sounds like your doing a great job, most kids just seem to like sleeping for one cycle :wall:

My DD does that too. And yet yesterday she had a 2 hour afternoon sleep :dunno:

With DS and now DD I follow their lead and their sleeping patterns change as they get older. With DS he had settled into a 3 nap routine by 6 months. Roughly he slept for 1-2 hours after being up for an hour or so in the morning. Next nap was around 11am and the third around 3pm. By 1yo he was into two naps per day and now at almost 2 he is sleeping once a day around lunchtime.

Some people have success with resettling just as they start to stir from their first sleep cycle but if you aren't having any luck with that I find you spend more time trying to get them to sleep than actually sleeping which is usually more stressful for both of you.

Tick another box here for Sam, too! I wonder if it's just the age?

Usually up at 7am, back down around 8am - I can't stretch that one any longer at all most days. Often he'll sleep through until 10 or 11, and then the rest of the day can be catnaps until he goes down for the night anywhere from 7pm to 8pm.

We cope by only allowing "play time" for about an hour to an hour and half after a feed. Then it's sleep time, and if he's in the mood to catnap rather than have a proper sleep I keep him sitting with me and calm and quiet. Some days I can pop in his chair and he'll just watch, but it's very definitely quiet time until the next feed. We're lucky here - Sam feeds 4 hourly during the day and doesn't often get hungry outside those hours, you can almost set your clock by him! Often I find that cuddles with mummy, particularly in the afternoon (Sam's worst time) are enough to make sure he has a good sleep.

It sometimes means I have to sacrifice doing what I want to do, but my health isn't the best so resting isn't that bad of an idea for myself either... and who wouldn't rather sit and cuddle their baby while catching up with BB or watching TV instead of doing housework?

In hot weather I found that offering Sam some water would send him back to sleep, but that doesn't work in the cold.

BW

Thanks for the responses everyone. I know she can resettle herself (I hear her do it) so I just get her up once she's awake and calling for me. I tried feeding her back to sleep this arvo after one sleep cycle, but she just stayed awake. Oh well...maybe she likes catnaps?

BW, it sounds like we have a pretty similar routine to you. I LOOOVE her long morning sleep, but the day deteriorates from there. By 6pm she is soooo grumpy, so we also do lots of "quiet time" with her attached to me, such as watching tv, walking, or just doing some chores (with one hand...I have to get a ring sling to hold her on the hip).

The hour and a half turn around between sleeps is so tiring...when will she stay awake longer? (I have to laugh at the sound of that, because I am sure I will be missing these days when she cuts back on day sleeps!)

Anna, from memory, it was at about the 6 or 7 month mark that my boys transitioned from two sleeps to one. So it could be that it's time to try and keep her awake longer. I'd still put her down at 8am - both my boys used to be down again within an hour of waking up, but then try to keep her up for a couple of hours or more after her first day sleep and see what happens. GL.

Thanks so much MR...she went down a treat this morning at 8am, so I will definitely keep that sleep the same! I will try to keep her awake a bit longer after that and see what happens!

Thanks again!