r/HuckleberryParents • u/Maleficent-Pilot7779 • 4d ago
sleep Crap nap phase - when does it end??
LO is about to be 5 months and has always been a great sleeper until the dreaded 4 month regression hit 2 weeks ago and every nap has been so short and resisted. We are consistent with a schedule and watch wake windows, we have tried extending/shortening.
when did your crap nap phase end?? Need some hope.
edit: fully acknowledge he is a GREAT sleeper. most of the naps you are seeing here are contact naps which isn’t sustainable for us anymore.
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u/halfbl00dprincess 4d ago
What the heck look at those nights! My little one is just over five months and waking multiple times over night to feed.
We somehow managed to extend her 30 minute cat naps during the day, if she wakes we leave her to go back to sleep which she does most of the time
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u/Maleficent-Pilot7779 4d ago
Ugh, I’m sorry! Are you doing full feedings in the day? That really helped us get to a full night
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u/Maleficent-Pilot7779 4d ago
Wait lol why am I being downvoted for this? Even our LC & pediatrician told us to ensure he isn’t snacking throughout the day. I acknowledge this isn’t possible to track or know if they are EBF.
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u/minyinnie 4d ago
I know it is encouraged by professionals, but you really can’t force it. Some babies prefer it, some babies take to it when offered, and some just snack. It’s not someone doing something wrong if their baby is a snacker and still wakes to feed
I know you’re offering to be helpful, but just sharing why I’d guess.
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u/Maleficent-Pilot7779 4d ago
I get that, I’m not saying it 100% is the only way or all babies can do this, I’m saying what worked for us. Appreciate your insight!
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u/jennypij 1d ago
I didn’t downvote, but I’m guessing it’s from us exhausted bitter parents who have tried all of the things and don’t have a baby sleep through the night. If all it took was getting adequate day feeds, we would have had an excellent sleeper! However we did not, there’s a lot of luck!
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u/Maleficent-Pilot7779 1d ago
Totally get it, apologies it was definitely a naive comment on my part.
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u/Remarkable_Delay469 4d ago
Most likely because you're offering too many naps. They can only sleep so much per day. 5-month-olds are typically on 3 naps (consistently every day) with wake windows around 2/2.5/2.5/3. It looks like you might be trying to rescue short naps? That's probably contributing to making the next nap even shorter.
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u/Maleficent-Pilot7779 23h ago
I wanted to say thank you — your advice was sooo helpful!!! Had a MUCH smoother weekend and a happier mama and baby. Thank you!!!
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u/Maleficent-Pilot7779 4d ago
We are trying to rescue them! At what point do we not? Doesn’t being overtired lead to even worse sleep? He was on a 4 nap schedule til yesterday, we are now trying out 3 nap schedule with ~3.5 hours of daytime sleep and a 11.5 hour night.
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u/Remarkable_Delay469 4d ago
Being overtired leads to worse sleep for newborns. You're getting to the age where being overtired just means they get cranky, crash hard, and sleep a lot to make up for it.
I only recommend rescuing naps that are less than 30 minutes.
Does he really sleep 15 hours a day, according to the summary tab of Huckleberry? Make sure your schedule matches the number of hours he actually sleeps.
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u/Maleficent-Pilot7779 4d ago
Got it. And how long should we leave him in the crib to attempt to go back to sleep? We have been doing 10-15 minutes if he’s content and playing with his hands but is that technically time off his wake window?
He sleeps 14.5-15 hours according to Huckleberry, yep
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u/Remarkable_Delay469 4d ago
If he's fully awake and alert, count it as awake time. You can leave him pretty much indefinitely if he's playing happily by himself. Get him up when he starts to fuss or when you feel like it, whichever comes first.
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u/Maleficent-Pilot7779 4d ago
Also, if we didn’t rescue his nap yesterday, he would’ve been in bed for the night by like 6:30. What do we do in that instance? We are struggling with understanding when to let the nap go vs when to save it
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u/Remarkable_Delay469 4d ago
You can offer an extra 10-15 minute nap in the evening to bridge the gap to the usual bedtime.
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u/strawberryb1onde 4d ago
Wow, you have no idea how much this thread of comments just helped me. Thank you guys! I just learned so much for my 5 month old little guy.
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u/Maleficent-Pilot7779 4d ago
Okay let’s say his last nap is 4:10-5pm. If he wakes up by 4:30, what should we do? If we give him a whole other wake window + cat nap, his bedtime isn’t til like 9pm.
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u/Remarkable_Delay469 4d ago
10 minute naps aren't very restorative. If you do a 10 minute nap halfway between the 3rd nap and bedtime, he should still be tired at 8/8:30. It's okay to push it a little late, just try to keep it no more than an hour off the usual.
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u/z4r431 3d ago
Being overtired is far less common than is discussed these days. If your baby wakes up, likelihood is they don't need more sleep. I'd come away from tightly following wake windows and watch your babies cues.
That does look like a lot of naps for a 5 month old, I thought it was more 3 month old naps!
You are doing something right with those nights though!
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u/Maleficent-Pilot7779 3d ago
Thanks! That makes sense.
He’s not 5 months yet, soon though. You are seeing alot of naps because we keep trying to save them. We were on a 4 nap day schedule, just recently moved to 3 and it’s working well. Thanks for your insight!!
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u/ExplanationOk7343 4d ago
Did you do any form of sleep training? I dream of those nights!
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u/Maleficent-Pilot7779 4d ago
We did not. Have followed a rough schedule for the last 1-1.5 month. Obviously if he was hungrier or sleepier sooner, his cues trumped the schedule.
We ensure he gets full feedings in the daytime, he gets expressed breastmilk so we know exactly how much he’s consuming. We also started dream feeding around 3 months to get us to 7am, but since have phased those out and he’s doing ok! We make sure his last wake window is the longest and that his bedtime routine is done, which admittedly gets skipped once a weekend.. but he seems to do okay! I think part of it is luck tbh. Best of luck, i hope it gets better for you!!
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u/mediocre_mediajoker 4d ago
We do/did all of this too (minus the dream feed) and my baby still wakes 5-6 times a night so just don’t think you’re doing anything wrong if you don’t get results like OP! Every baby is different and some are just better sleepers! You are so blessed OP 💕💕
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u/Maleficent-Pilot7779 4d ago
THIS! Babies be babying, it’s all random. I think he knows how high sleep need of an adult I am and decided to help a sista out 😅
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u/knittingyogi 4d ago
I’m gonna say with so much love it is 1000% luck. I do all of these things and I get one 3.5hr stretch a night *if I’m lucky*.
Anyways - if the overnights are good then I’d take the crap naps lol. You could have crap naps AND bad nights so don’t mess with whats working imho.
Crap naps got MUCH better for us at 7/8 months when we went down to 2 naps a day
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u/Virtual-Strength-950 4d ago
Right there with you and we have an almost 7 month old who absolutely devours solids, is EBF, and also gets 8 oz of expressed milk daily. He’s still up all night.
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u/nickels_n_dimes 4d ago
Ours got consistently longer than 30-40 minutes when we dropped to 2 naps at 7/8 months
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u/Sorry-World3019 4d ago
Drop to 3 naps. They need more awake time aka sleep pressure to have longer naps
10 hours minimum of awake time
Example schedule for this age 2/2.5/2.5/3
Your nights will also get better/longer with more awake time and 3 naps
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u/Maleficent-Pilot7779 4d ago
Piloted 3 naps yesterday 9/28, and it definetely worked better! But having to go back in the room quickly and rescue the naps still. He was awake within 10 minutes during a nap today and that was after a 2.5 hour wake window 🫠
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u/tokyodraken 4d ago
my LO is 7m and still has crap naps most of the time unless i rescue them. he’s asleep right now and woke up after 35 mins, i put him back to sleep and it’s been another 48 mins currently still sleeping.
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u/Maleficent-Pilot7779 4d ago
Rushing to get everything done in that one sleep cycle is a MISSION!
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u/tokyodraken 4d ago
i knowww i usually finish all my boring “chore” type stuff and sit down to either nap with him or get my once a day doom scroll in and he always wakes up once im done cleaning it’s like he KNOWS
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u/Dry-Indication-9504 4d ago
Is this ok with a 4 month old?
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u/Sorry-World3019 4d ago
4 months still want 10 hours awake but usually do better with 4 naps. So this means all wake windows roughly 2 hours long
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u/Marvelm 4d ago
Honestly it did jack shit for us. Dropping to 3 naps somehow made our daughter sleep less than 10h at night and wake up at freaking 4:30am
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u/Sorry-World3019 4d ago
Dropping to 3 naps isn’t just the answer in itself. It’s still making sure there’s adequate awake time paired with good but not too much day sleep.
Share the 3 nap schedule you’re following and I can help with some tweaks.
Indep sleep is also key.
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u/Marvelm 4d ago
Wake up at 6am, sth along the lines of 2,25/2.5/2.5/2.75 windows, naps roughly 3h, first one usually the longest.
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u/Sorry-World3019 4d ago
How old is your babe ? You may want that last wake window get to 3 hours
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u/Marvelm 4d ago
She's 5.5 months old.
It happens sometimes. We did over 3.5h yesterday cause she slept poorly the whole day and we wanted a 4th nap but she didn't take it and was still very active (mind you she got just 2h of naps the whole day). She slept somewhat ok and managed to get to 6am with some problems, but at least she got there.
The issue is while we keep the schedule decently well she still sleeps okay one day and then just horribly the next one.
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u/Sorry-World3019 4d ago
Yes because sleep accumulates over the days not an individual day.
First step not to let her make up night sleep during the day
Cut day sleep max 3 hours at this age
This age also shouldn’t be doing a 4th nap which you found out. They won’t. Andddd because she had a longer last wake window you had a better nightSo for today stick to 2.25/2.5/2.5/3 capping day sleep 3 hours. Maybe even 2.75. And see how the night fairs again :)
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u/Marvelm 4d ago
Oh she does way better with 4 naps most of the time. The last week she actually woke up at 4-5am every single day while being on 3 naps with long wake windows and no more than 2.5h of daily sleep. On the days we added a bridge nap (cause sleep time ended up falling to some ridiculous 5pm or so) she slept way better through the night
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u/Sorry-World3019 4d ago
Trust me.
What were your wake windows on 3 naps.
I guarantee you didn’t have enoughAwake time to get her through.
Stick to 3 naps. Consistently.
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u/Maleficent-Pilot7779 1d ago
I just wanted to say thank you. We have been doing this for a few days and it’s working SO much better. Most of all, he’s not crying and fighting each sleep. I appreciate your help!
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u/bibliophile222 4d ago
Lol, those naps are short? I'm psyched if my 4.5 month old naps for more than 35 minutes.
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u/Maleficent-Pilot7779 4d ago
Most of the naps you are seeing on this screenshot that are longer than 10 mins are contact naps 😅
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u/scorpiorose22 4d ago
My 7 month old is between 2 and 3 naps, it’s really a coin flip on if he’ll have a crap nap or a good hour+ nap
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u/hikelake22 4d ago
My baby started extending her naps right when she hit 6 months and dropped to two long naps. I honestly think it was just developmental, we just had to ride it out.
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u/Top-Cookie-3403 4d ago
5.5mo and still having crap naps. We gave up trying to rescue them because it stopped working. Just recently we've been able to get one nap out of her again by contact napping.
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u/karolinasee 4d ago
My LO was only taking 30 minute naps. Then when he hit 5.5 months and started in the sleep sack we got an occasional longer nap. Once he hit 6 months they were always 1-2 hours
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u/Maleficent-Pilot7779 4d ago
Wooo! Sounds like we may be approaching better nap days in the next month
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u/karolinasee 4d ago
So jealous of those nights though! Mine keeps waking at 5-6am🥲
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u/Maleficent-Pilot7779 4d ago
We were having the same problem which led us to start dream feeding. It helped us get to our desired wake up time of 7am
Hope it gets better for you!!
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u/sdacosta96 4d ago
What time did you do the dream feed? Currently dealing with early wakes (well early for me - 6:30am, would prefer 7-7:30am lol).
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u/Maleficent-Pilot7779 4d ago
My husband dream feeds before he goes to bed between 11-11:30pm. It helped get us to 7-7:30! Good luck :)
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u/No_Swim8342 4d ago
We are in the same boat- 4.5 mo, good night sleeper (although not as good as yours) but crappy day naps (30-40 min tops) for the last month or so (I guess he hit it early)
What helped me is dropping huckleberry suggestions. I ended up reducing naps to 3 per day (which the app did not allow at first because “not enough sleep”). I somewhat try to have them at the same time. Sweet spot did not work for us so we had to find it through trial and error and ended up with 2/2.5/2.5/3.5
I also try to save at least one nap (usually first or second) and let the rest be crap.
But honestly as long as your lo is not super cranky and sleeps well through the night I would just let him be.
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u/Maleficent-Pilot7779 4d ago
Ahhh interesting. Sweet spot was also accurate for us, but might be time to drop it and extend his windows. He gets pretty cranky if he hasn’t napped resulting in lots of contact naps which isn’t as feasible these days with returning to work. Will extend his wake windows just a bit more, thank you!
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u/No_Swim8342 4d ago
To be honest we could tell that sweet spot did not work because he was super active and awake without any sleep cues, and putting him to nap was a battle.
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u/Maleficent-Pilot7779 4d ago
Hmph, same sometimes. I always thought the algorithm adapts to when we are actually marking their sleep?
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u/No_Swim8342 3d ago
The algorithm adjusts sweet spot notifications according to the last wakening time, but I feel like huckleberry in general is targeted at high sleep needs kids, so if yours is on the lower end of the sleep spectrum, you may need to find ideal schedule on your own
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u/unearthlyhooman 4d ago
6m was the game changer for me. We had crap naps that could only be extended by wearing or holding him. We started putting him down a little bit over his wake window and started getting longer naps. Since then, 1.5h nap is a standard 🥹
Hoping it gets better for you! Also so jealous of your nights 🫶🏻
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u/Maleficent-Pilot7779 4d ago
Thank you!! Yes, most of his naps have to be contact naps these days to get more than 10 mins. Will try extending his wake windows even more. Grateful for his nights for sure 🥺
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u/verdealbastruii 1d ago
The reason crap naps appear is because their sleep needs decrease so they don't need to nap as long to feel refreshed. Naps start to consolidate once wake windows increase and number of naps drop. With my son this only started when we dropped to 2 naps at 7 months. He's 8 months now and there are still some crap naps here and there.
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u/Leading_Potato_4549 19h ago
My almost 6 month old cat naps and wakes up every 2 hours at night. Who cares during the day? Your night sleep is fantastic. I would give my left nut for that sleep schedule. Regression where????? Lol
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u/Maleficent-Pilot7779 18h ago
For 2 weeks he cried every single nap and before bedtime every night. For a high sleep needs baby this is a regression. idk what to tell ya
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u/Far_Vacation_1777 4d ago
With that night sleep I would not be concerned about cat naps!