Nap jackpot

[alison]

I feel guilty, because dd sleeps crazy amounts. There are days that I swear she's asleep more than she's awake.

I wonder if this is normal. The pediatrician said dd would go down from 3 to 2 naps, but didn't say what would happen in terms of the length of each nap.

Dd's morning starts at 8am. She plays for about 30 minutes, eats breakfast, and then we play again for about an hour until 9:30. She naps for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, and we finally get out of the house around noon! We do something and come home around 3, and then she sleeps again from about 3:30-5pm.

She goes to bed around 8:30pm and sleeps all the way through to 8am.

Is this normal for a 10-month old? I feel like I do nothing except wait for this girl to wake up. She's a ton of work when she's up, and she plays hard, but seriously, I feel guilty for all the down time.

[alison]

This is not meant to brag about my daughter. If you saw me chasing her around with a spoon to get her to eat, then you'd know that I sort of deserve a long break to recover from each attempt.

[ladymoreta]

I'm beginning to think babies just all have their quirks... DS will not sleep, but he'll eat anytime, anywhere! Maybe we can set up some kind of weekly child swap? Only kidding! (Kind of...)

[alison]

I would just love it if dd would let me feed her. She only lets me come close to her mouth with a spoon if I dance around for her. When she cracks a smile is when I shove the food in. It's so tiring!

I watched someone feed her baby, and the baby polished off two gerber jars, and drank an entire sippy up without any of the fussing that my daughter does. That's what dd eats over the course of 2 meals. If I'm lucky, she eats one jar of baby food and 4 oz of formula -- and that takes almost 30 minutes of poking, prodding, and dancing.

When do I drop dd off, Laurie?

[SuzySunshine]

alison, her schedule sounds a lot like A's was at her age. Each kid is different and some of them just like to sleep!

As for the eating, will she feed herself finger foods?

[spotty_dog]

Natalie didn't let me spoon feed her until...um, last month? Tonight though she handed the fork to daddy, said, "Pasta," (sounds like "Pah-post") and pointed to her plate. He speared a piece of penne, she opened wide.

I'd have to look in a reference book to see what's typical for baby sleep. I think at this age it's like 14-15 hours total? Maybe 16? As long as the sum of all naps and nighttime are coming in somewhat near the average, I wouldn't worry. If all milestones are being met, there's a range of normal (but kids who get more sleep tend to have better behavior I think!)

[ladymoreta]

Yeah, we're decidedly not average in the total sleep area. His average for June was 11.5 hours per day, and it's only that high because I've started holding him through some naps and several hours at night. (April was 9.5 hours and May was 10.5.)

I do worry that it will affect his behavior or milestones, but I just don't feel like he or I am ready to CIO at this point.

[JC76]

I would say thank your lucky stars. That sounds just wonderful to me!

[Pollyanna]

I do worry that it will affect his behavior or milestones, but I just don't feel like he or I am ready to CIO at this point.

Don't worry about it. Just like some babies sleep a ton, other babies need very little sleep. Our kiddos rarely ever slept more than the minimum. Naps were over by age two. All milestones have been reached and they do great in school.

Alison, that is so great! Don't worry, you will one day (probably ver soon) be wishing she slept just a little bit more.

[alison]

She finger feeds, and then gets really bored. She turns her head away when I try to hand her her food. She just has no interest in eating, other than for basic survival. She likes table food ONLY if she sees that we're sharing it.

She FINALLY seems to be outgrowing #2 diapers. I put on some #3s, and they just fall off of her. She's got a fair-sized rear end, but her waist is just the tiniest thing ever. The little velcro strips on the #3s are overlapping in a major way.

I noticed a new tooth today, so maybe all the sleeping has to do with that. I always thought babies didn't sleep well when they were teething, and not the other way around.

She really does throw me some curveballs!

[Vishenka69]

Seriously, want to trade? DD will also eat anything whenever and opens wide as soon as a bottle or a spoon is within view. She's already in size 3 diapers at 4.5 months. But she'll only have 2 half hour naps a day, 3 if I'm lucky and drive around for one of them. Her sleep average is probably close to 12, which our pediatrician said was ok. The only quite time around here is while she eats.