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My 5 month old no longer has long sleeps during the day. Maximum he would sleep would be 30 minutes a couple times. Some days he would not sleep at all. Kinda fustrating as he is so clingy and i get no time during the day to do any work.
is this normal or not?
I would say he still needs to sleep!
How is he sleeping at night? If he likes to be held have you tried putting him in a sling?
He would still need sleep but at this age, 30-45 min sleeps are very normal and common with this age group. You could try to re-settle him after he wakes from a 30 min sleep but I never could get DD to and we dealt with 45 mins sleeps for many many months. Just try and make sure that you get him bcak down again at the first signs of tiredness as an overtired child is very hard to get to sleep. You may need to revisit your expectations of what you can get done during the day and I found I was just getting frustrated with DD as I expected her to sleep (which she wouldn't) and I could get work done (which I couldn't). Once I gave up on the idea of 'getting stuff done' the frustration went away!
My DD usually doesnt sleep longer than 1hr at a time and this has always been the case. She on average sleeps 45mins. Sometimes I'm lucky if she sleeps 1.5-2hrs at a time then thats awesome!!! I used to try to get her back to sleep but it would just end in tears with her and frustration from me so I gave up. From when she was about 4mths I started to pick her up if she woke happy and let her play etc but if she was cranky and upset when she woke then i'd try and re-settle her.
I stopped focusing so much on her sleeps throughout the day and soon they just fell into place. She now has 3 sleeps a day..... and all up about just over 2hrs a day of sleep. She sleeps really well 'most' nights so I don't stress about her day sleeps. She is just a bit of a catnapper I think like many babies are.
It is difficult when you need to get stuff done and they are clingy, i agree. But I also then think Oh well she won't be little for too long and i'll miss it so I don't really worry anymore - if that makes sense!! LOL
:hug:
DD2 is also a catnapper, 30-45mins. Like above mentioed if she wakes cranky I try resettle otherwise I get her up. In between naps she prolly is up for about 2 hours before I put her down again so she has 3 sleeps day sometimes may fit 4th in depending on the others.
I learnt at my Mothers group that a babies sleep cycle is only 45 minutes (so yes your beautiful bub is completely normal) - so often if they are sleeping longer they are 'joining' a few sleep cycles together. If you know when your baby is likely to wake or if you can hear them stiring maybe try sneaking in and patting/stroking them through the waking stage so they join a few cycles? This may not work but might be worth a try.
My 4 month old only really sleeps 45-60 mins tops during the day, but naps every 1.5-2.5 hours so I have just learnt to deal with it (same as KatieRabbit) LOL. The only other suggestion I have is that if your baby lets you wrap them, try that as then flailing arms etc are unlikely to wake them :)
Also, sometimes its easy to miss your babies cues (I was always misreading them at first) but if you google 'Baby cues' you might find some signs of tiredness you might be able to see in your baby to take advantage of tired times so you can get them down for a nap more often. I know alot of Mums pop their bubs in a sling and just continue on with any chores they may have to get done too :)
Good luck hun! :)
Palmer is exactly the same- I am SO glad I am not the only one!
She will have about a 15min-30min nap during the day and fight off sleep so hard. Just refuses to sleep during the day.It's driving me insane because when she is so tired she's so clingly I literally can't leave the room...and there's no way I can put her down in her cot. She goes mental.
I can't get anything done becuase she just wants to be conststantly kept entertained/played with/held and etc.
She also is hardly eating during the day...maybe 160ml at most. Just totally refuses the bottle. As a result she's not getting enough fluids and is getting constipated. Aaaarrrggghhh...I'm insane!
Could the two - not sleeping and not eating - be related?
Hun, your bub is only so little. She'll calm down soon and won't need to be picked up as much and she'll start to enjoy more play time on her mat etc with her toys. Those first 3mths were difficult in terms of clingyness i remember DD wanting to be held ALOT.:
Try and enjoy it though as all too soon they will be running around and won't wanna stop!! :hug:
Have you spoken to your MCHN about your DD's lack of appetite? thats not much at all she's drinking. I would speak to your MCHN about it. Probably if she's overtired alot (which my DD was in those early weeks too) it will affect her feeding for sure. I know when I'm tired I don't feel like eating/drinking much either.