8mo long naps and long A times...how to balance?

[Jann]

my lo is 8 months.  he stays wake 3hr and 30 min at a time and naps 2 plus hours at a time.  how do i manage his routine

6.35 awake
7 bottle
8.30 breakfast
10.00 nap
12 still napping
etc

do i wake him from his nap, his next nap will be around 3.30- 4 he will be up till 9pm if it continues like this.

thank for any advice

Jann

[Grace's Mom]

Yep, you just shorten one or both naps.
As they transition to 1 nap (getting longer A times), sleep does need to be cut here and there.
This didn't happen for us until much later but it got to a point where DD had to have 30 min. or less in the morning in order to take a good afternoon nap and be in bed at a decent hour.

I'd maybe cut off 30 min. of each nap....1.5 hours each and see if that helps any

With any routine change it does take a few days for their bodies to adjust so give it some time before looking for really great positive results.

[Jann]

i shortened the pm nap and put him to bed a bit earlier.  he still had a great 11 hour night.  today i will shorten the am nap to 1.5 and see what happens with the pm.  do you think he is already transitioning to 1 nap?

jann

[Purplecattypants]

Jann, he is far too young for one nap. Many people find they have to limit naps to 1.5 hours each. In fact, J is 8.5 months and we've just started limiting the morning nap to 1 hr, and the pm nap stays at1.5 hrs as is has been for a few months now. The afternoon nap is the most improtant with regrads to good night sleep. Otherwise he's getting too much daytime sleep if both naps are long. So you may find you need to do that soon. They drop to one nap between 12-18 months 

[Grace's Mom]

I agree that he's a bit too young for one nap.
They need to be able to handle 5 hours each A time for a one nap day.

I'd stick with two naps and just adjust accordingly to what works best for your lo.

-Melissa

[Jann]

thanks for the insight.  i shortened the pm nap to 45 min and he still gets a good nights sleep.  but i rush in the evening because we have to many things to do in a short period of time.  so tomorrow i will shorten the am nap to 1.5 and see what happens in the pm.  hopefully with this stragtegy we will have a more balanced day.

thanks again
Jann

[Jann]

He had a great night again, slept 12 hours.  his am nap was 1.5 hrs.  he woke on his own.  lets see how the pm goes.  maybe i won't have to change anything.

Jann

[Purplecattypants]

 

[Jann]

ok, so yesterday after a good night sleep, i put my lo down for his am nap maybe a bit undertired and he woke after 1hr thus giving us a great 2 hour nap in the pm.  everything fell into place nicely.  My question is do i let him do his max A time  and cut his nap short or do i put him to sleep undertired and let him wake up on his own?  today i woke him after 1.20 min or so.  i want to test the 1.30 min nap for a couple of days to see if i still get a good nap or not before cutting it to 1hr. 

thanks

[Grace's Mom]

Continually putting him down UT could eventually back fire as he may not nap at all or lay for a long time, then get OT and mess up the rest of your day.

It's best to put them down when they need to nap and then wake up if needed.
After a few times, your lay may even start waking on his own. 

Melissa

[Jann]

thanks, that is what i thought just needed to make sure.

Jann

[Grace's Mom]

Anytime 

BTW, I love you avatar!