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Catnapper

For some babies naps are short-lived. Here are tips for encouraging longer sleeps and making the most of the shorter ones

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Originally published in Today's Parent April 2010

My daughter, Annie, was just a week old when it became clear she wasn’t going to give me the long nap times I’d enjoyed with her older brother. In those early days, she often slept only 20 minutes or so before waking again.

Gradually she began to sleep for 45 minutes at a time, but it wasn’t until Annie was three months old that she slept for more than an hour.

The amount of sleep babies up to six months of age need varies, but according to the Canadian Paediatric Society, the average is 16 hours a day, typically in three- to four-hour stretches.

As parents quickly discover, when it comes to eating and sleeping patterns in infancy, the range of normal is wide, according to Diane Wiessinger, a lactation consultant in Ithaca, NY. In fact, the catnapper’s rhythm of short sleeps and frequent nursings is actually physiologically appropriate for young babies. Nevertheless, it can be frustrating for parents, who can’t get anything done. Or parents worry that the baby isn’t getting enough milk or enough sleep. Is there anything we can do to encourage longer sleeps?

Yes and no, says Wiessinger. She’s cautious about pushing a young baby to sleep longer or spacing out feedings. Part of what drives a catnapper to seek frequent feedings may be her instinctive need to be on mom’s body — the safest place for her, Wiessinger says. “We accept hunger as a need, but not necessarily physical closeness.” She’s a big fan of slings and front carriers, which give you mobility, and your baby the comfort of your body — which may encourage her to sleep a bit longer.

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