Why is my 9 month-old still taking 4 naps a day??

I'm so frustrated.

I have a lot of friends with babies this age, and all I hear is, "Well, we can meet you at 1:00 because DS sleeps 2 hours in the morning, and another 2 hours in the afternoon". I've tried to get DD on a schedule for awhile now, and she just isn't having it.

Here was DD's sleep schedule today:

6:45: Wake up
8:15: Nap
9:00: Wake up from nap #1
11:45: Nap #2
12:30: Wake up from nap #2
1:45: Nap #3
2:35: Wake up from nap #3
5:20: Nap #4
6:00: Wake up from nap #4

It's now 7:00 and DD is BESIDE herself because she is so tired. She normally goes to bed at 8:30 but there's no way she's making it for another 1 1/2 hours


Looking at the schedule, I know exactly what the problem is--she's not sleeping NEARLY long enough. And I don't know how to fix that. When she wakes up after 1/2 hour, I don't know if I should just let her cry until she falls back asleep, or what.

All I know is, we got basically nothing accomplished today because of these ridiculous cat-naps. We finally had to take her food shopping, even though we were waiting to go until AFTER her afternoon nap. But that nap never materialized, and she was a completely nightmare the entire time we were out. I didn't even bother putting her in the shopping cart, even though she usually enjoys it--she would have been absolutely miserable.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Re: Why is my 9 month-old still taking 4 naps a day??

Have you tried letting her CIO a bit? Both my DDs will fuss/cry sometimes but will then fall back to sleep.

Re: Why is my 9 month-old still taking 4 naps a day??

Also- I'd wait to put her down for her morning nap a little later. Try 15 minutes later at a time over the course of 2 weeks until you get her to 9:15-9:30. That might extend the morning nap a bit.

Re: Why is my 9 month-old still taking 4 naps a day??

My DD was like that..she is outgrowing it a bit..she is 13 months and if her naps are short she still takes 3 of them

Re: Why is my 9 month-old still taking 4 naps a day??

Re: Why is my 9 month-old still taking 4 naps a day??

Is she napping in her crib??? Chels would always take no more than 40-45 min naps if she were in her stroller or in the car...Well,I started putting her in the crib for her naps and her naps are now 90mins plus It's def a PITA to be at home when she needs to nap, but it makes her such a happier baby...I at the least get her to nap her first morning nap in her crib, and then if we're out and she only takes a 40 minute nap at 12-1230ish I'll get another nap out of her in her crib again at 3 330ish and she's good for the rest of the night....

Re: Why is my 9 month-old still taking 4 naps a day??

I had major issues with DD and hired a sleep trainer out of manhattan, well, here is my sleep schedule
7-7 bed- i never go in before 630am
nap number 1-9am

nap number 2 -130(was 1 but my DD wont sleep the full 2 hours even with CIO and you want to get them as close to 3pm)

never give bottle before sleep, only after sleeping etc...

takes about 2 weeks to really get em in the routine and i wont kid you and say it is easy, naps were the hardest for me and some days she will just be stubborn but i put her down at 9 and she can get up at 10 but not before and she has a bonus 30 min she can go and the after noon she is up at 315 latest...

when i tell you DD was a mess, she never took to a schedule etc...well, she is a new baby and i never thought that would happen:)

Also, CIO can last 60 min before you pull DD out...i am not kidding , my DD would cry almost 60 straight minutes for about a week or so and i was dying..but now, it was the best thing i could have done

Message edited 9/13/2009 8:05:53 PM.

Re: Why is my 9 month-old still taking 4 naps a day??

Re: Why is my 9 month-old still taking 4 naps a day??

The only advice that I have which of course, may not work for your DD is to try to put her down for a nap about 2 hours after waking and to put her to bed early at night.

Re: Why is my 9 month-old still taking 4 naps a day??

I would try putting her down later for the AM nap - around 9.
I would also put her to sleep for the night earlier.

My DC are 8.5 months and our schedule is like this:

wake up around 7.
nap #1 - 9am
they will sleep for 1-2 hours.

nap #2 - 1pm
will sleep 1-2 hours

bedtime 7pm. (this is IN bed at 7pm)

Re: Why is my 9 month-old still taking 4 naps a day??

Re: Why is my 9 month-old still taking 4 naps a day??

One of my DD's problems was associating sleep with the bottle, she would wake multiple times for it(same as a binky for some ppl) so they told me never to feed her before bed with bottle, i do feed her one at 645 but never before naps...i guess i should clarify that it prob depends on the child as any type of schedule would...i just got rid of everything cold turkey...and it really worked for me...plus my DD was 9 months almost and still wanted bottles at night!!! It got out of control and i was up for hours...so, in my case, that is why they told me not to do bottles before...

I had prob an extreme case and DD was miserable from the lack of sleep. While i envy how much your DD sleeps naturally, that is wonderful:) as it sucks to go through the days with a cranky baby...

Message edited 9/13/2009 8:21:48 PM.

Re: Why is my 9 month-old still taking 4 naps a day??

IMO, I don't think she's sleeping nearly enough at night. At that age DD was sleeping 12-13 hours a night.

I would try pushing her naps back a little, eliminating her 4th nap, and putting her to bed no later than 7.

Re: Why is my 9 month-old still taking 4 naps a day??

Re: Why is my 9 month-old still taking 4 naps a day??

Message edited 9/13/2009 8:31:24 PM.

Re: Why is my 9 month-old still taking 4 naps a day??

Yeah, i was actually embarassed to admitt i had to get a sleep trainer but it was so bad with DD i couldnt take it anymore... there is something about a baby that doesnt nap that makes for misery!!!! My daughter will still fight some days but i stick to my guns as much as i can stand...she has been tough since day 1, colic, gerd, milk allergy...nothing easy...lol...:)

Re: Why is my 9 month-old still taking 4 naps a day??

Thanks everybody. There have been a lot of questions, so let me try to answer most of them.

1. I have tried putting DD down for the night much earlier. For awhile, she was going down for the night between 6:30 and 7. The problem was that she was getting up for the day around 4.

2. We have tried letting her CIO, especially in the morning. We've let her cry up to 20 minutes, and she doesn't let up.

3. She always naps in her crib. At daycare, she naps in the port-a-crib. Every once in awhile, if we are taking a long drive, she'll nap in the car. She sleeps very well in her carseat.

4. We have also tried keeping her awake longer between naps, in the hopes that we can "push off" some of those naps and eventually condense them. What results is pretty scary--she will hit herself, pull her hair, arch her back, clap her hands, or basically do ANYTHING to keep herself awake.

I always put her down for a nap at those first signs that she's tired--rubbing the eyes, yawning, etc. Most of the time, that's about 2 hours after waking from her last nap. I'm fine with that, but she never takes a significant nap. The other day, she just happened to sleep 1 hr. 15 minutes, and that was a miracle.

I am thinking of hiring a sleep trainer. DD has been in daycare for over a month now, and she has no semblance of a sleep routine whatsoever. The teachers have even asked me about it, because all of the other infants seem to want to go to sleep at the same time. It's extremely frustrating, because she's very consistent in the time she wakes up in the morning, but sometimes her first nap comes at 9, and sometimes the sheet will say that she didn't nap until noon

Maybe a sleep trainer wouldn't be a bad idea

Re: Why is my 9 month-old still taking 4 naps a day??

Re: Why is my 9 month-old still taking 4 naps a day??

Posted by MrsRivera

I am thinking of hiring a sleep trainer. DD has been in daycare for over a month now, and she has no semblance of a sleep routine whatsoever. The teachers have even asked me about it, because all of the other infants seem to want to go to sleep at the same time. It's extremely frustrating, because she's very consistent in the time she wakes up in the morning, but sometimes her first nap comes at 9, and sometimes the sheet will say that she didn't nap until noon

Maybe a sleep trainer wouldn't be a bad idea

Re: Why is my 9 month-old still taking 4 naps a day??

Re: Why is my 9 month-old still taking 4 naps a day??

What if you BF her at 6:45 and then put her back in her crib to sleep. It seems like she is not getting enough sleep at night maybe, making her overtired and shortening her naps. Our schedule is this:

Wake up 8-8:30
Bottle
9:30 breakfast
10-10:30 nap(sleep for 2 hrs)

12:30
Bottle
1:30 lunch
2:30-3 Nap(1.5 hr)

4-4:30 Bottle
5:30 dinner
6:30-7:15)BED depending on how late they sleep for afternoon nap

If they wake up at 6-6:30 I feed them and then keep them in their cribs-they fall back asleep. Actually I do not get them if it is earlier than 7 but I know that wouldn't work for everyone as I work from home

ETA forgot that I usually give them a small bottle before bed or eliminate that 4PM bottle and give them a large bottle around 6:30-still working on that one

Message edited 9/14/2009 8:42:02 AM.

Re: Why is my 9 month-old still taking 4 naps a day??

I agree with Melissa. Have you tried putting her back down after that 6:45 nurse? Sometimes Eliza will wake up at 5:30 (mormal wake-up is about 7) but she'll go right back to sleep if I nurse her. Try it, you never know!

As for moving the nap later- do it a few minutes at a time. Start at 5 minutes later for 3-4 days, then move 5 more minutes. This was what we did for Madelyn.

Most babies lose the morning nap, but for some reason Mads eliminated her afternoon nap. Until a few months ago she would wake at 5:00 (ugh!!!) and be down for a nap by 10am. She'd sleep 2 hours, but then be up until her bedtime at 6. She'd be a disaster by dinnertime. The ladies on here were very helpful about how I should move her nap to later.

We got her going down at noon within 2 weeks. Now, she wakes at about 6-6:30, down for a nap at 12 (sleeps 2-2.5 hours), then down for the night by 7:30.

I also agree that bedtime should be MUCH earlier. Both my babies were down for the night by 6pm at 9 months old. Now, I breed kids who don't like to STTN until their at least 10 months old, but I attribute that to me being a pushover rather than bedtime schedule.

It's ridiculous how something like SLEEP should be something taught to a baby, huh?

Re: Why is my 9 month-old still taking 4 naps a day??

I agree with Melissa too - but I would put her down to sleep earlier - and then when she wakes up at 4, feed her and put her back down.
I do this with Jonah - he'll wake up 4:30-5. I used to get up then, wake up Madelyn, and we had the same issue with a million naps a day.
Then I decided to try putting J back to sleep - and it worked. Now I feed him when he wakes up early, put him back down in the crib, and he sleeps until 7-7:30.

Re: Why is my 9 month-old still taking 4 naps a day??