Hi there: Just looking for some help! My 9mth old just recently went from bf to sleep at naps and bedtime to falling asleep on her own (with a rub pat from me for a few seconds). She generally will cry and fuss for about 15 to 20 minutes before falling asleep at night, 10 to 15 minutes before her morning nap but endless before her pm nap(s)!! She has always napped an hour in the morning but will not nap any longer than 20 minutes in the afternoon. This results in me either driving her around for a 3rd catnap so she doesn't get OT or taking her for a walk in her stroller around 4pm. I'll post my day for you to see what I'm missing here. The afternoons are a bit messy as I have been trying to put her down for naps different times to see if it makes a difference. Generally when I'm putting her down in the afternoon she really fights me. She's already crying and unhappy. But for the morning nap (where there is only 2 or 2.5 hours of A time) she goes down within 10 minutes or so with a bit of fussing but not too bad. So, I'm not sure what to do b/c I'm assuming that at her age she should be longer than 2 hours of A time. Otherwise, I would have to put her down again at 12 or 12:30 to follow the morning A time. Is it possible that that is what she needs or is it possible that we are destined to 2 short cat naps in the pm forever!!!!I wait and watch for her yawning, rubbing her eyes or ear pulling and this usually does not come until about 3 hours of A time - but then she really fights me and then stays down for 20 min She is an excellent baby during the day. She can be rubbing her eyes and pulling at her ears and then smiling and laughing at the same time. So..even though she is tired in the pm she is not really a cranky baby. Also - important to tell you that she only gets about 9 to 10 hours of sleep a night and for the most part wakes up once - sometimes not at all and sometimes 2x a night. For the last week and a half I have been working on just patting her back to sleep when she wakes at night and not feeding her. Huge, huge progress for her..as I used to bf her to sleep and whenever she woke - which would be anywhere from 4 to 6 times a night! I n the morning, I don't go in and get her right away b/c I hope that she will go back to sleep longer but she starts crying hard if I wait too long. This is frustrating b/c I go in and pick her up and start to bf her and she rubs her eyes and closes them while bf!! I don't know what to do but I know that our schedule must be way way off...but she really is tired at about 2 or 2.5 hours in the am after she wakes up (I have been ignoring her tired cues when she first gets up b/c she will not go back to sleep when she first wakes up). I'm scared to mess with the morning b/c this is her only 'decent' nap of the day. Please HELP!!!!
6 to 7am - wake up and bf
8am - cereal& fruit
830 to 9am - sleep - one hour
9:30 to 10am to 11am play
11am - bf
11am to 12pm - play again or walk
12pm - meat, fruit & veggies
somewhere between 1pm and 2pm - try for nap - usually only stays down for about 20 minutes
after wake up from nap - play, read books or walk until 4pm
3m - bf
4pm - try again for a nap b/c 2nd nap so short - usually I end up taking her in the car or walk and she passes out for a half hour.
5pm to 5:30 - meat, veggies and fruit
6pm to 715 - play
7:15 bf
7:30 in bed and asleep by 8pm.
