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FionaO 
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 Topic: Coping with a serial cat napper
Posted: 22 January 2009 at 9:09am |
Hi
After trying what feels like everything to get my wee man to nap for more than 45 minutes in the day, i am going to except that this is who he is right now, he rarely wakes up grumpy and just starts cooing and chatting and it seems pointless trying.
So he gets fed every 3 hours, which means feed/play/sleep goes out the window, just interested to hear how others manage with the catnapper. Luckily he is happy playing by himself so i can get things done, and i am hoping he will get out of this phase eventually.
He sleeps so well at night i'm sure he can self settle, i put him down at 7pm, dreamfeed at 10ish, which he never wakes for and he stays in bed until nearly 7am, sometimes i hear him chatter away at random times but he doesn't get up, so I know he can sleep when he needs/wants.
So for those with catnappers, can you follow any routine in the day or how often do you get them to try and nap?
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Zebra7
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Joined: 27 November 2007
Location: Wellington
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Posted: 22 January 2009 at 9:19am |
Just relating with you 100% fifi 
My wee girl is a bit older than Finley but her "routine" sounds exactly the same ... sleeps from 7pm - 7am with a dreamfeed at 10.30pm. I'm lucky if I can get her to go 3 hours between feeds during the day and she'll only ever sleep for 45 minutes at the moment.
Unfortunately Amy does get tired quite quickly during the day so i'm sure she's not getting enough sleep but what can you do?! I'm just going with it at the moment, feeding her as often as possible and trying to get her down for 3 sleeps during the day.
It is hard work though and pretty tiring for me, especially seeing as for the last week she's been very grumpy during the day and can't seem to occupy herself for longer than 5 minutes any more 
So i'm sypathising 
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FionaO
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Posted: 22 January 2009 at 9:30am |
Sympathy helps and i'm sorry you are going through the same thing - rough isn't it. not sure my dh understand why I am more tired now than when he wasn't sleeping at night, but I have tried explaining that a whole day with him can be very full on without a break really.
We are going out a bit more cos he does nap in the car, normally only the usual 45 mins, but I can get it to happen to and from a destination - doing lots of scenic routes. 
i am wondering if it will help when he's on solids, he just can't make 3 hours right now, its been 2.45 right now and he is not happy.
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blondy
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Posted: 22 January 2009 at 9:48am |
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fifi - as soon as i accepted that Natalie only sleeps for 30mins at a time during the day, i've been way happier! we are now getting an hour sleep in the morning which is great, but the other sleeps are still short.
it's ok now that she's awake for 2 hours, but that still puts us on a 2.5 hour routine (and this is on solids too).
at finley's age, i just stopped trying to stick to a 3 hourly routine, and simply put her to bed when she was tired (normally 60-90 mins), and fed her when she woke. that did mean she was being fed every 2 hours, but i figured if she was sleeping 12 hours at night (no dreamfeed either), she needed all the calories during the day. IF she had been happy to wake/play/sleep without a feed, we could have sometimes gone through 2 'cycles' between feeding, but she wouldn't go to sleep without having been fed.
For me, it was like a revelation that i didn't HAVE to stick to what the books and everyone was telling me to do - we just had to figure out something that suited Natalie, and both of us have been much happier since.
Also, on the solids thing - I know it has improved the sleep of some July 08 babies, but Natalie is still on her 30min sleeps. I wouldn't start solids early solely for the sleep issue.
good luck - I figure having a catnapping baby has set me up better for the next baby - I'm already used to having next to no time to myself anyway, so a second child won't be so much of a difference, and (touch wood), the next baby will be a better sleeper too!
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pepsi
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Posted: 22 January 2009 at 10:40am |
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Alyssa was a catnapper too and I always envied my friends who could do stuff while their child slept for hours during the day. She also dropped her day naps completely well before her peers...I guess some kids just don't need the sleep!
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Redbedrock
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Posted: 22 January 2009 at 12:21pm |
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Fay was a catnapper too, and still fed 3-4 hourly through the night at this stage, a sling and backpack were the only way I got things done. I was also envied because she would have these catnaps anywhere, i could sit with her asleep in my arms and have a coffee while my firends were rushing and running off saying got to get her to bed or she'll fall asleep in the car. Just go with it, it's much better if you don't fight it
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SarahP08
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Posted: 22 January 2009 at 12:59pm |
Fifi, my boy has the same routine! He wakes up around 6.30, breakfast at 7, feed at 10.30, lunch at 2, dinner at 6 and then bath, story and bed by 7 with a dream feed at 10.
He never sleeps for more than an hour and rarely sleeps that long, he'll only sleep in his cot or on our bed coz he's far too busy nosey-parkering at everything else when we're out.
I figure at his age he should be having about 14 hours sleep a day, he has 12 at night and three half hour (ish) naps during the day so thats ok. I used to stress out and try and get him to go back to sleep but that just ended in tears every time. Now we are all good 
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JessDub
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Posted: 22 January 2009 at 1:26pm |
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Oh hi! I'm happy I'm not alone.
I have a 45 min cat napper too! He has three sleeps during the day, and feeds between 2 and 3 hourly. My plunket nurse said we should be trying for 3.5 hourly feeding - hahahaha! I figure as long as he sleeps well - i.e. for 12 hours at night (with one feed in the middle) then he can do what he wants during the day.
It's so easy to get stressed, worrying about what 'he should be doing' though.
What is frustrating with the catnaps though is that by the end of the day he needs a lot of attention and has textbook tired signs but will NOT nap again - he'll just wait for his proper bed time
Regarding routine, I don't feed/play/sleep - my main priority is to hold off his feeds as long as possible (3 hours max) otherwise we'll be adding snacking to the catnapping. So it's more like play/feed/play/sleep. They don't write this stuff in the books!
Edited by JessDub
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FionaO
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Posted: 22 January 2009 at 2:58pm |
Yay, right thats it let go of what I think i should be doing and go with it and just cope with the fact you can't get much done - ah well never liked house work anyway. 
Today has been good, 3 naps already about 40 minutes each and I will be able to convince him of one more before bed.
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Coping with a serial cat napper
