Naps

I am still researching all about the holy grail of napping, and the other day, came across this site:

http://www.troublesometots.com/are-you-keeping-baby-awake-too-long/

It is a fantastic site, all about naps and found the most golden piece of information yet-

Put baby down for a nap before he gets fussy. If he is crying, you have left it too long.  It makes sense really, as one gives them food before they start crying (looking for signs of hunger instead), so why wouldn't one get them to sleep before they start crying about it too.

This article was all about keeping baby awake for too long. Which I was guilty of- as I always thought that he would let me know when he was tired. Most of the time, it was about 1 1/2- 2hrs when he would get fussy, and by the time he would go down there would be some tears involved. It would usually take a lot of effort too- walking round and round in the park (though, that did help me lose my baby weight). Though now it is officially summer- the ergo with the infant insert is wayyy to hot (even with the special cooling pack I bought from Babies R Us- see picture below)



So, after reading this article, I kept a watchful eye on him (not the clock) and as soon as he would start to go quiet (into that staring phase they get into, after the looking around and moving limbs phase) I would swaddle him and put him straight into his bouncer. After a little while of bouncing and sometimes sucking on my thumb, or using white noise- he would be off in dreamland. No tears involved (or rarely). The site said that if you get them to sleep before they get overtired- then they fall asleep faster, and sleep longer! Fan-freakin-tastic!

 (not him, by the way)

Now, I think he is getting used to falling asleep there, and it is taking a little less effort everyday. The good news is, I can also put on TV while I am bouncing, and when it gets really hot, I can also put on the air-conditioning.

Here is a rough guideline of naps:

Baby Age	Time between Naps	Nap Duration	Number of Naps per Day
Birth – 6 weeks	45 min – 1 hour	15 minutes – 4 hours	4-8
6 Weeks – 3 Months	1 hour – 1 hour 45 minutes	30 minutes – 2 hours	3-5
3 Months – 6 Months	~2 Hours	30 minutes – 2 hours	3-4
6 Months – 9 Months	2-3 hours	1-3 hours	3
9 Months – 12 Months	~3 hours	1-2 hours	2