Baby that won't nap

  • Thread starter Thread starter Allegra
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
A

Allegra

Guest
My eleven month old sleeps soundly through the night (about ten hours) but frequently won’t nap during the day. She just sits in the bed and plays with her toes, but won’t fall asleep. Even when she does nap, it’s typically for less than 45 minutes. My two older kids were napping hours a way at this point. Is it really important for a child at this age to nap, if they seem happy and cheerful and are getting good sleep at night? Should I do something to encourage napping other than putting her down for quiet time, or should I just let her be?
 
I wouldn’t worry about it if she is sleeping through the night. If she was tired, she would sleep. Does she fall asleep during the day if she is in the car on a drive?
 
Last edited:
I’d say, just let her be. My son was a great napper clear until kindergarten. He really needed those naps, too. Along comes my daughter and she gave up napping quite early…at about seven months. She slept through the night quite early, too…scared me to death the first I’ve she slept thought the night as I thought she’d died! Nope, just a great sound sleeper.

I’d place her in her crib in the afternoon and she’d play with stuffed animal or her toes or her clothes…often removing them! But she didn’t sleep! She was fine, I still had some quiet time and because she slept so well at night, she was getting the sleep she needed…she just had a different rhythm than my son. It’s all normal! Rest easy!
 
Last edited:
She will doze off on car rides, but typically wakes up immediately upon arrival. Some days she does get tired enough and take a substantial nap, but I’d see 3 out of 4 day she doesn’t nap more than a 30 minute doze.
 
She is probably okay if she isn’t crying or being irritable, because that would be a sign she is tired.
 
If she is growing well, is healthy and happy then I would not worry too much. This is coming from a mum of a child who did not nap well during the day and would be Tigger during the night! until the age of 10. All those sleepless nights!

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

Keep her in the routine of placing her down for her regular naps. She will sleep if tired. Give her plenty of mental and physical stimulation in her waking hours with the plan to tire her out.

Normal child development indicates that a child between 9-12 months have two naps lasting 2 hours. A child 12-18 Months have 1-2 naps lasting one to two hours. It may be that her night time sleep is enough for her most days.

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 
If she’s hitting her growth landmarks, and is healthy, I wouldn’t stress. Like other posters said - if she was tired, she’d sleep. I’d bring it up to her pediatrician next time you go, because better safe than sorry? But any conclusions should depend on the baby’s Doc.
 
I had two daughters.

The older daughter napped for 2 hours every day, and slept from around 9 p.m. until 6:00 a.m.

The younger daughter didn’t hap, but slept from 10:00 p.m. until 10:00 a.m.

Even at a very young age, my younger daughter knew (because I taught her) that she couldn’t disturb her sister during her nap. So everyday for almost 2 years, my younger daughter would sit down in front of the TV and watch Dumbo. Every single day.

She wasn’t sleeping, but she was mesmerized by Dumbo, and perfectly quiet.

I personally think Dumbo (the old version) is a delightful story that imparts a lot of simple goodness to children.

Interestingly, my younger daughter loves animals, and when she was in college, she would often take her homework and reading to the local zoo and sit in front of the elephant enclosure to watch the new baby elephant while she was studying!

And interestingly, my older daughter never really stopped taking naps. In kindergarten while the other children fussed during their “quiet time”, she would fall asleep. And at 36 years old, she still takes a daily nap!
 
I actually disagree with previous posters.

Unlike adults, babies typically don’t just sleep when needed. Sleep begets sleep is important to note here. An overtired baby is notorious for not sleeping well and not sleeping past the first sleep cycle (45 mins).

I wonder if you putting LO down too late in the day? Perhaps two smaller naps will work? It does take some time to get them into a new routine so give it a few days.

Good luck. Sleep is tricky with little ones!
 
Nope. Some kids are different. My oldest quit naps at about 1. If the kid’s fine in other respects, then quiet time is just peachy.
 
Hahahahaha, I love those charts; they’re so quaint. Children just don’t always follow them, and unless you’re prepared to club the kid over the head or drug the kid you can’t enforce set sleep times. If the kid is overall getting lots of sleep and seems to be growing well, not having behavioral problems, etc, then there really is no one-size-fits-all for sleep patterns. One kid napped until 4; one kid napped until age 2 and 1/2; and the oldest, as I said in my above post, stopped napping at 1 year. The only one who had bona fide sleep issues was the one who napped until he was 4–he had sleep apnea that we fixed with a tonsillectomy.
 
You can try to nap with her, even several times a say to see if one time she will fall asleep. But you cannot do more.

Nursing napping usually works quiet well, even if they are not always regular. When the baby sleep really you can leave her.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top