# Do some babies just need LESS sleep?



## TudoBem (Aug 30, 2004)

Ds is 4 months-old and none of the "baby sleep rules" seem to apply to him. The more he sleeps during the day, the more he's up at night (no sleep begets sleep in his case) and he also seems to need maybe 12 hours a day of sleep, not the 15 that the sleep experts say they need.
Does anyone else have a baby that needs less sleep?


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## pinky (Nov 21, 2001)

My oldest dd has never seemed to need as much sleep as the "experts" say. Kids are just different, and I think the important thing is just to watch your child and see if he/she seems like they're getting enough sleep, however much that might be.


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## Mama2Xander (Jul 3, 2004)

Oh, yeah. When ds was about 3 months old I saw something about the average amount of sleep a 3 month old needs (can't remember what is was now) and ds was sleeping approx. HALF of the average amount. He still doesn't sleep that much but it's a bit better now. He still goes to bed pretty late (usually around 11:30) but now he sleeps in until sometime b/w 8:45 and 10:30am. Um, no, I don't mean he sleeps that *whole* time, LOL! He's up every 2 hours or more to nurse during the night.

Naps: ha ha ha! Never really been much of a napper. Was going well for a while but lately not so much. Oh well.

Like pinky said, he seems happy and not over-tired or anything, so I guess he does just need less sleep than most!

Good luck


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## IncaMama (Jun 23, 2004)

this post came at the perfect time for me, as i sit here at 8am having been up for 3.5 hours. oy. rowan's never slept much...he gave up his second nap at around 18mos old, which i guess isn't that young but his ONE nap maxes out at 2 hours usually...none of this 3-4 hour nap stuff in this house. we've been messing around with his bedtime lately...he used to go to sleep at around 9 and wake up at around 7 or 7:30 but for the past week or so he's been going to bed at around midnight and waking up at around 9:30am. so we've been trying to get back to the old schedule.

so last night he went to sleep at 9pm and woke up at 4:30am!!! WIDE AWAKE!!! AAAAAGH!!!!

so i'm thinking i'm just one of those "lucky" moms whose kid doesn't need that much sleep. grrrrrrrrrrrreat. but he's also healthy and beautiful so who am i to complain, right??


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## APCDmama (Dec 22, 2004)

In answer to your question, YES! My DD's sleep requirements:

First three months: four 20-30 min naps, 13-14 hours total per day
3-7 months: three 20-30 min naps, 12 hours total
8-9 months: two 20-30 min naps, 11-12 hours total

This is only a rough idea. Many times, she would only nap for 15 minutes, and sometimes (oh how lucky I was, then!) she would nap for an hour or two. Very active and alert temperament!


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## TudoBem (Aug 30, 2004)

Active and alert describe ds, too! Something that hasn't been mentioned yet, but that most of you probably deal with, too, is the difficulty in getting them to sleep, whether it's nighttime or for naps. Dh and I keep asking ourselves, "So, when will this get better?"....


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## broodymama (May 3, 2004)

DS doesn't sleep as much as he "should", according to the ped.







He sleeps the right amount for him, which is fine by me. He rarely naps during the day, but will sometimes take LONG naps if I nap with him. Otherwise, maybe a 30 minute catnap in the afternoon. On the other hand he will sleep about 12 hours at night, one ~6 hours stretch before nursing then nursing every couple of house after that.


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## APCDmama (Dec 22, 2004)

Initially, we had one heck of a time getting DD to sleep. You wouldn't believe the "system" we had to devise! Settling her was truly an art! :LOL It got better around 5-6 months. I know how frustrating it can be, dmick. Hang in there!


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## Marsupialmom (Sep 28, 2003)

With my first child I would have saved myself a lot of worry and frustration if I would have thrown that 15 hour thing away. It was not until a few years ago did he started needing the average.


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## Nosy (Feb 23, 2004)

YES! My 10.5 month old has never slept as much as he is "supposed" to. My mother said she used to spend an hour rocking me to sleep only to have me bounce up again 5 minutes later because I didn't nap. She said if she'd known some babies don't sleep she would have worried a lot less. On a side note, I read that it can be a sign of intelligence because they are so interested in the world they don't sleep as much, so there's a bright side to the sleepless wonders!


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## allismom (Nov 28, 2004)

Yep! DD is now 2 (in another week







) and I have finally accepted the fact that she does not need sleep. Those charts? Throw them out!

Seriously, all during infancy she would take 2 40-minute naps a day and that was it. All the other kids were napping for hours on end! When she was really little she would wake in the wee hours of the night, wide awake, wanting to play!

Her nighttime sleep has always been 2-4 hours less of what is 'normal' for kids her age too. Even now she only sleeps about 9 hours at night, although has FINALLY gone to a two hour nap!

My advice? Don't count on long naps......then if you get one, it's a bonus!


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