How long should a 6month old sleep for during the day?

[Duds]

I have seen a simular post about this but does anyone know how long a baby should sleep for (books etc) during the day?
Im having big problems and have spent most the morning in tears
The house is a s*it hole & my mum really annoyed me by saying "she'll sleep when she sleeps" well she doesnt have to put up with the baby from hell if she hasnt slept!

Aimee has always been really bad at sleeping during the day but I stuck with it and eventually got into a routine of her sleeping for 30mins every 2 hours.
Now she is older she can obiously go longer without a nap so I thought i'd reduce it to 3 30mins a day (iv tried longer but she just wont have it)

Everything seems to have gone out the window, she isnt showing any signs of tiredness after 3hours & I put her down anyway and she goes mad for ages. Im back and forward like a yo yo & I refuse to give in.
She has finally gone to sleep now after 38mins of fighting! This has been the norm for the past week.

I just need to know what they should be sleeping at this age as maybe I shouldnt be making her sleep???

Help me !!!!

 

[Duds]

Great .... she's awake already !

 

[Lauz_1601]

Hi Hun. Ella doesnt sleep much in the daytime anymore, she sleeps for an hour around 12pm-1pm and about 30mins in the afternoon. I dont put her down to have a nap, unless he is really restless, she usually just falls asleep whereever she is then I take her up to her cot.
Have you tried taking her out in her pram to get her to sleep, this works a treat for ella. Or if she wont sleep and you have stuff to do, do you have a door bouncer to out her in for a while whilst you do some stuff around the house?

 

[Em78]

oh no you poor thing.

never read a suggested amount that they should sleep - i guess they are all so different.

i struggled to get alex into a routine with naps and like you are doing did controlled crying. i know its horrid but i kept at it and he just got better on his own. if he woke up after any less then ½hour i would do it all over again till he went again - any more than that and he was too refreshed from his power nap and there was no way he was sleeping again.

his routine now is:

up at 6/7 ish

back down for a nap about 9.30/10 ish (sometimes earlier but i never let him get past 10 if we are home.

sometimes he will only sleep for half an hour but usually its at least an hour - most he's gone is 2½

depending on how long he has on that first one determines how many other naps he 'll have. if he doesnt have long then he will usually go for a nap after lunch and someitmes another after his afternoon bottle. lucky to get more than 45 mins for those though. he is quite good at letting me know if he's tired, he gets all stressy and rubs his eyes loads.

so on a good day he'll have 3 hours max. on a bad day he has been known to only have 40 mins all day, but usually averages 1-2 hours a day.

how is she at night? i think alex doesnt have that much as he sleeps 11 hours at night.

i shall have stern words with her on Thursday for you!

xxxx

 

[Duds]

I do have a door bouncer but she doesnt do anything in it, just sits there for bout 10 mins then whinges ! I also dont like to leave her unattended in it as we have small door frames and she bashed her head once.

Maybe I should wait til she is really tired before i put her down, problem is is she isnt a baby that will just go off nicely. She'll get louder and louder and moody until she has worked herself right up.
I might try it though just to see if it works.

I dont know what the recommended amount of sleep is for their age.

Hey Iv just noticed Lauz Ella and Aimee were born on the same day and weighed excatly the same !!!

 

[Lauz_1601]

ow wow I never realised that before! and they both have loads of hair! How wierd is that!

 

[LouisecH]

Hi

I'm having the same problem. Zara always used to sleep for 2 hours in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. Thats gone completely out of the window over the last week or so. She now has an hour in the morning and sometimes half an hour at 1pm and then gets progressively miserable from 4pm until 5pm which is bathtime.

I can't put her down for a nap like I used to. Sometimes she'll drop off but othertimes she goes completely mad and will scream and scream until I take her out of her cot. Needless to say I don't try very often now

I'm not much help but I too am sitting in a messy house with an overtired baby so you have my sympathy.

Oh, and Zara is exactly the same in her baby bouncer. The best thing I find is lying her in the middle of the lounge with a selection of toys around her.

 

[Duds]

mmm Em maybe I should try a simular pattern to yours as I think I might be putting her down to early in the mornings... Iv told her your going to give her a talking too!
Once she is asleep at night she is usually fine and will sleep through from bedtime (7.30-6-6.30am) apart from a dream feed at 10.30pm.

I have just put her down for the night and had a problem getting her off again, the only way she would finally go is if I stayed with her when usually she would go off on her own. She has been a bit clingy the past few weeks & if anyone else holds her (inc my mum) apart from my DH she cries which she never used to do.
I read that they can go through an insecure stage ... I wonder if its that? My DH said that might be why she wont go down during the day cause she doesnt want me to leave her.....


Im having a BIG glass of wine now!

 

[Kim]

Hi Duds. Is this what you needed? http://www.babycentre.co.uk/baby/sleep/sleepneeded/

When Rubie was about 2 months old she used to have 4 hours over lunchtime, then a couple of half hour naps in an afternoon. From 3 months she used to sleep til 5am then have a feed and go back down til 8:30. She never slept in the day at all (maybe 10 mins here and there) until this week. she is now waking at 7am so we both get up. She then has 1/2 an hour at around 9am then anything from 1 - 3.5 hours around 12/1pm. Then another half hour at 6ish. This suits me so much better, and she did this herself. I don't put her in her cot for naps, I just put her in her bouncy chair.

Sorry for rambling, what I am trying to say is, they can change from week to week. Maybe it's just a stage she is going through. She may sleep like an angel next week, I hope so

 

[michelle82]

kim matthew is like Ruby it varies daily but generally the same apart from sunday when he spent most of the day in and out of bed!! lazy tike, he used to argue about everynap but i think timing is crucial like when he starts to grizzle but i know its not food or a nappy change needed i take him straight up shh shhing him all the way i then put on his scratch mitts (more out of habit now but seems to help) and dummy in and very rarely do i have to go up and down i think its timing and perserverance(sp?) good luck in getting more sleep !

 

[Rosebay]

Hi,

I've had Mel on a Gina Ford routine since he was about 8 weeks but he rarely does what she says! Still for what it's worth she seems to think that at 6 months they should have about 2- 2 1/2 hours during the day then sleep from 7-7am (ha ha on the 7am bit!). I do find that he sleeps at about 9am for anything between 30 mins and an hour and a quarter but if he sleeps longer sometimes he won't go down later. At lunch time I don't think he's ever gone down for the 2 hours she suggests, it's more like 45 minutes at any time between 12 and 3pm. Sometime he then goes off again in the afternoon, sometimes not. Today he had 30 mins at 9am in his cot, 45 mins in his buggy at 12 and then another 45mins at 3pm . Basically I just try not to let him sleep after 5pm in case it messes with bedtime but other than that I take whatever sleep he gives me! The trouble is that I should use that time to clean up etc but more often than not I have a cup of tea and come on here or just faff around! I think it's a bit random these days as they're so much more aware...? Good luck anyway- you're not alone! Our house is a dump permenantly!

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[kellie80]

At the minute Aimee is getting up around 7.30, she has around three 30 to 40 minute naps during the day. One around 10, one about 1 and one about 4 then to bed a 8. Happy with this but it probaly won't last.

 

[Duds]

Thanks for your replies guys
Cheers for the link Kim that brilliant. Well, she certainly doesnt fall into that category.....Think i'd be dreaming to get a 2hour break in the day!

Im glad im not the only one who lives in a pig sty ! I feel so bad sometimes as I just cant get anything done & if I do get 5mins I pop on here (when I should be cleaning!)

Im going to try waiting tomorrow to see when she is tired and letting her sleep when she shows real signs of it..... watch this space!

 

[Rosebay]

The thing is that even if you do clean up it's all back out again within half a day! It's all very well putting toys away but they'll just come out again within the hour! I usually sort the kitchen tops out before I go to bed and do the washing up but other than that it looks like a bomb hit it. My OH works from home and people sometimes come over to talk to him and so we might have a quick go at just the room they'll be in and the bathroom but even then there is washing everywhere, door bouncers, toys, empty bottles, muslin cloths everywhere and probably a buggy or car seat somewhere in the way- it's impossible! And we only have the one baby too- I can't imagine what the mess will be like with more!

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[fayebalina]

Ashtyn is and always has been fantastic on a night, at the moment hes going from 7pm till 6-7am has about 9oz then falls back to sleep till about 9am. Hes terrible at sleeping during the day, unless I lay with him which is fine if i have time for a nap but as my house is also a tip its rare i find time to nap with him. Its wierd that he will only sleep with me or OH during the day as hes fine going down on his own at night?????????

 

[Em78]

he he your houses are allowed to get messy? my dh is a clean and tidy nutter! thankfully he is happy to do stuff if i havent had the time. i am really lucky though as alex is very happy to be left playing while i get on. he loves his door bouncer.

duds have you tried proppinG a mirror opposite the bouncer - al loves watching himself while he bounces. someone on here suggested it - cant remember who though vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv uu . c

SORRY ALEX ATTACK!

V V NNN

X

 

[Duds]

Just put a post on routine&family life section. Day started well & thought was going to have a good day but got progressively worse. She has just gone to sleep through pure exhaustion.

The only time she has been happy today is if I am holding her or playing with her.

Im off to drown my sorrows ! (I might be a little hungover tomorrow EM!)