advise on what to do when napping isn't normal

[legend_018]

I'm just looking for some advise on alternatives when napping isn't normal. She is 10 month old

Short History:
For WEEKS on END things have been perfect. She sleeps anywhere from 9-11 hours at night with usually one wake up and takes 2 naps a day. No problems getting her to nap.  Usually an hour to an hour and half in the morning and an hour usually in the afternoon. I often control her naps now making sure there not too long or not too late into the afternoon. I might control her first nap so I can make sure I have plenty of time to get her 2nd nap in. Sometimes there are days where it's two 1 and half hour naps and other days it's less. Saturday I have to admit, her first nap was only 1/2 hour and that was sort of my fault. SHe is drinking and eating fine.

Problem: The night before last she slept from like 8:30pm until 6am straight. She than took an hour and half nap from 9:30-11. I put her in the crib at 8:45am. Than at around 2:30pm I put her down for a 2nd nap. LONG story short - she wouldnt' go down for this nap. It was a total of 2 hours of at least trying. I ended up putting her into bed at 6:30pm and she fell asleep right away pretty much. I had to stay with her since she was very overtired obvously until she fell asleep. She than slept from 6:30pm until 6:45am with the exception of waking up for 20 minutes at 3am. I am now in the process of trying to get her down for the 1st nap. she wont' fall asleep. even if she does it's almost 11am the time she WAKES from her nap. I started at 9:30 and it's 10:46am. I always!!! put her down 2 hours and 45 minutes after she wakes and it usually takes her anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour to fall asleep.  I think she might of fell asleep for 10/15 minutes but Im not 100% sure. She was quiet and I had left her room.

I have already gotten advise on napping and bed times on normal days. I'm only looking for advise on what I should do in situations like this. Do I go for just ONE nap in the afternoon on a day like today if I can't get her down for the first nap? How long should i let her nap for if she does finally fall asleep.  If I can't get her down for the 2nd nap and she's waking up from her first nap at 11am average...what time at night should I be putting her to sleep?

Thanks
<Mary>

[legend_018]

If appropriate please move over to nap section.
Also, I do now have the baby whisperer book and I'm trying to read through it. In addition, I have been very consistently working very hard at making sure she maintain 2 naps a day, my methods of putting her down for naps, and many other things that I'm working on on a daily basis to be a good mother and to allow her to grow.

[legend_018]

Since she didn't go down for her first nap - the best I could do was to put her down this afternoon. I put her in the crib at 1:30pm and he fell aleep I think about 2pm and slept until 3:15pm. I'm going to bring her up to bed/crib at about 6:30/6:40pm. If she doesn't go down for a nap it's tough because than she's up for a good 5-7 hours at once and becomes extremely overtired. Last night though she slept pretty much from 6:30pm until 6:45pm or maybe it was 70m until 6:45am. She did get up for 20 minutes at 3am. My point is she usually never sleep that long at night. Heck I'm lucky if she's sleeping by 7:30pm and she's up usually between 5:30 and 6:30am on average.

[Lana]

Are you aiming to start your day at 7?  If that is the case then if she wakes early at 6 you need to stretch her to get that nap where it would be if she wakes at 7 KWIM?  IF you dont you reinforce the early waking.

[legend_018]

I'm sorry, not sure if I understand. I don't even mind starting my day at 6:30pm. Anything before 5:30am is a bit much.
by the way: Last night I brought her upstairs at 6:30pm. She was sleeping by 7am I believe. She slept until 4am and than I couldn't get her back to sleep. I tried for 45 minutes. Today is out of whack a bit. Had to put her down for a nap at 6:45am and I think she was sleeping by 7:15am and slept until 8:40am. It's 12:05pm and I'm going to have to start thinking about putting her down again. Her last nap on average days are from say 3-4 or 2:30-3:30 ect. She had woken up from her afternoon nap at 3:15pm yesterday so I thought bringing her upstairs at 6:30pm was a good idea especially since she skipped morning nap. Please note skipping naps isn't her average. She is 10 months and 1 week and I try not to keep her up longer than 4 hours at a time at the most. I was close to that once and was advised that I was slowly but surely helping her into overtired mode. I try to bring her up for naps after she's been up for about 3 1/2 hours the latest. Keep in mind it takes anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour for her to even fall asleep. She is eating a lot better lately and yesterday I do have to admit...I dropped a bottle, but 2 of her bottles she had a big 8 oz. She had 3 bottles yesterday plus her solids.

I hope her waking up at 4am today isn't going to make it worse and worse. I really can't keep her up from 8:40am until 2:00pm ya know? almost 6 hours.

[Lana]

What you need to do is decide on a wakeup time for your day and not let her sleep past it.  So if you choose 7am then at 7am you wake her.  Even if she has woken at 4am and you only got her back to sleep at 6am.  Then you do your naps at 10 and 2:30 and bedtime at 7pm.

When you are first trying to put your little one on a routine you need to watch the clock for a bit.  Once she gets used to the new timing of things seh will do it on her own.  Make sense?