30 min afternoon nap wakes crying

[Chloevalentine]

My 10 month lo has been taking a 30 min afternoon naps for months now and he wakes up crying and then is cranky and fussy and cries for at least an hour or more. He's not getting any needed rest from the 30 mins and then is miserable the rest of the afternoon. Any suggestions. I think something needs to change. Is he too young for 1 long nap? His morning nap is 1 hour and his A time is 3.5 hrs. Thanks

[Donna_stirling]

I had this with my 8 month old (although my awake time is not as long but similar situation) I began by reducing the morning nap by 5 mins every few days and now i am back at hr and half + afternoon nap.  Obviously, by a year u will want to lose morning nap anyway so could start reducing?? I'm no expert- new to this motherhood and learning the ropes! But it worked for my LO!

[jessmum46]

Have you tried the afternoon nap earlier?  Waking up crying after 30 mins suggests OT to me.....

[Chloevalentine]

I can't cut the morning nap as it's only a 1 hour nap. I've tried to shorten A time before second nap to 3 hrs but then I just get a 30 min nap that ends even earlier leaving 4+ hours before bedtime. Today I was going to try a longer. A time before his first nap which is usually 3.5 hrs but he only made it about 3 hrs 10 mins so there went that plan! Lol. I'm at a loss as to what to do 

[jessmum46]

Not quite sure what you mean that you can't cut the morning nap You could wake him at 45 mins, 30 mins, even 20 mins.  That's what many mums do as part of the 2-1 nap transition and aim for a longer pm nap. 

If you've tried a shorter second A time to rule out OT for a good few days without success (and I would probably try as short as 2.5h) then you could either go the route of pushing out the first A time hoping for a longer first nap, or as pp suggested go for a shorter am nap and see if that helps

[Chloevalentine]

Ok I'll give those suggestions a try thank you! This morning I put him down at 3 hrs 10 min A time and he's been asleep for 1.5 already !! Msybe he's catching up on sleep being he's been ot with those 30 min short naps every afternoon. Being that he's taking such a good nap this morning should I not try to shorten his A time before adteenoon nap for fear of an ut nap or should I give it a whirl?  I was just afraid to cut his morning nap being that it's only an hour and the only good nap I get. But I'm open to trying to push the morning A time tomorrow and shortening the second A time. Is it normal for lo to have such a long first A time and short second A time? If I did morning A time of 3 hrs 45 mins and second A time of 2.5 hours what will the A time before bed look like? Thanks so much everyone for your help!

[Kellyjs]

Hi chloevalentine, me again!! I seem to be stalking your posts 

Just thought I'd answer your question about the first long A... Mine does 4.5hr for the first one (any less and we get a 45-minute nap), 3.5 for the second (to get an UT nap and preserve BT) then 2.75 before bed.

It suits me tbh, she can have her first long nap at home, then we can go out and about and I'm not stressed about getting her home for the short cat nap. She can have it in the car or in the pushchair. My LO is 10mo in a few days.

Hth xx

[Chloevalentine]

Hi there that sounds like good routine! How long is los first nap? Wow 4.5 hours! I'm gonna do some tweaking tomorrow since today he went down early this morning only 3 he's A time and slept 2 hrs!! Go figure

[Chloevalentine]

Kelly what does your easy look like... Wake up time bedtime etc? Thanks

[Chloevalentine]

I put him find for afternoon. So at 315 and he slept until 420!! 3.5 a time. He hasn't slept this much in over a month. Now I'm not sure what time for bed. Maybe he might actually sleep past 630 tomorrow morning too!! I wonder if I should still mess with his A times tonirrow or msybe he caught up on skeep and is rested and wil nap well again tomorrow.

[Kellyjs]

Hiya,

Ours is:
Wu around 6.15am
Get up 6.30
E 6-7oz bottle 6.45am
E breakfast 8.30
E 8oz bottle (always drains this one?!) 10.30
A = 4.5hrs
S 10.45 1.5-2hrs (have been waking at 1.5hrs as it messes with cat nap later on in the day)
E lunch 12.30
E bottle 3-4oz (this is the one I'm looking to phase out if you remember from our other conversation)
A = 3.5hrs
S 3.45pm 45mins
E tea 4.30
A = 2.75hrs
Bath 6.45
Bottle 6-7oz
Bed 7.15pm

Let me know how your LO does in the morning! Was it a later wu? Personally I'd keep the A you did yesterday and see if you get the same nap wise. If not, then bump it up. I moved too much too quickly when I was playing around with my LO's routine and messed everything up again.

Good luck! 

Xx

[Chloevalentine]

Kelly. Thank you for sharing your easy. He's fell asleep around 745 last night so 3 hrs A time from last nap of 1 hr 5-10 mins and is awake at 645 so it's actually less night sleep as he's usually 12 hours and tiday is 11. Going go see how today goes without bumping any A times ti see what I get.  In just hopeful that he caught up on sleep yesteday and that I will at least get 2 decent naps and not that awful 30 min catnap in the afternoon that always leaves him cranky and ot. Thanks so much!

[Kellyjs]

Anytime hun...

I do the last nap as UT as she wakes up happy after 45 mins... I simply can't fit in 2 long naps in a day due to the  long A's needed to get longer than 45 mins! 11hrs NS is good for you too, especially if he did two great naps, must be more sleep overall??   

Xx

[Chloevalentine]

Today he woke at 645 and went down for his first nap at 1030-1130 then 3 hrs A time which I usually do 3.5 hours and I got a 40 min nap from 230-308. I just don't now what else to do. When he went down for second nap he didbt seem tired and it took him a little while to fall asleep. What time should I put him to bed tonight? Last night was 745 and I think tonight he will only make it to 630!!

[Kellyjs]

Hiya,

40mins sounds better than 30mins though? Means it is an UT nap. Did he wake up happy this time instead of grumpy? What time did you put him in bed?

Personally I'd work backwards to what you want BT to be... 6.45pm BT isn't unreasonable, so maybe stretch the second A another 15mins? You'd probably get an UT nap but at least BT will be 15 mins later? He'll probably fall asleep around 6.55-7.

What do you think? Xx