Restorative Nap lengths

[lynners]

Hi there,

I know that as a general rule anything over 1 1/2 hours is considered a full restorative nap and you would then keep your LO up for their full A time.  However my LO's sleep cycles are more like 40 minutes rather than 45 minutes so we sometimes get wake ups at the 1h 20m mark - not sure if this is considered a full nap because if I get his A times right a 2 hour nap is normally possible.  Am I right in assuming that the figure of at least a 1h 30m nap is based on two sleep cycles of 45 minutes?

[anna*]

I think so, yes. With Audrey I used to call anything over an hour an 'ok' nap with a full (or v. close to full) A time after.

[Papaya]

Yes, I think that'd be right too. If the nap length starts to consistently creep back closer to 1hr though, it might indicate an UT nap and that you need a slight A increase As far as the next A time goes, like Anna I would have done close to a full A after any nap over 1hr.

[creations]

Hi
My LO had a 40 min sleep cycle.  When his nap went down to 2 cycles (ie 1hr 20) I upped his A time.  This might sound odd as mostly people reduce slightly after a short nap to avoid OT but with an increase I could usually get it back to a 3 cycle nap (2 hrs) after a few days.  If I didn't do this his UT nap would turn OT after some days because he wasn't getting that full 2hr sleep.  I only did it for the first A and nap of the day because our afternoons were non-standard.

[lynners]

Thanks ladies.  That's really helpful.