Can anyone help with transition to less/longer naps for 6month old?

[Aly Mac]

OK, my lo is nearly 6months and still primarily a 45min napper.  I have had some limited succes with extending, but really I don't think it's from anything that I have done!! The morning is the best to extend and if I don't go into her when I hear her she oftens sleeps for nearly 2hrs.  the others I'm not so succesful with.  I have kind of resigned myself to the fact that she is a 45min napper as she really does wake up quite happy 90% of the time.  Not to mention she sleeps thru at night 7-7. She stays awake around 2hrs for most A time (with exception of the first one - normally 1.5 but sometimes I don't know how long she has beena wake for in her cot!)

My prob is of course, now that she is older, she should be only having 2 naps.... and I know I need to transition her there.  Has anyone been in my shoes with a 45mn napper, and is at 6months and still no luck?  What did you do? Did you just work on extending A time to 3hrs like I did previously?  It took her a while to go past 1.5hrs... prob due to the naps!!!

Sorry if this is haphazard.  Just want to make sure that I get her on track as I obviously have not perservered enough.  With solids around the corner, I really want to make sure I'm stricter with her routine.

Any firsthand experience would be greatly appreciated..

[*Mona*]

hi

well IMHO at not even 6 months she has every right to still be on 3 naps a day, 2 longer ones, one catnap. at her age 3hrs A time may rather be too long.

can you post her routine for us?

Monika

[KathrynK]

my dd was still having 2 x 90min and 1 x 45 min nap each day at nearly 8 months! Don't worry about the number of naps she is having or "should" be having- there is no "should"- every baby is different. You don't need to transition her to 2 naps, lo's do that themselves when they are ready.

[Aly Mac]

7am E
7.30 A
8.30 S (not always that long,,,,)
10 A
10.30 E
12 S
12.45 A
2 E
2.15 S
3 A
4.30 S
5.15 E
5.30A (inc bath)
6.45 E (top up before bed)
7 Bed....


Doesnt' always look like this of course.... the start and end are always the same.  No matter what, I start at around 7 (sometime a little earlier) and end with catnap onwards at the same time.  It's just the naps etc in the middle of the day that muck the rest of the day up....hence the 3.5 not really EASY!  sometimes naps coincide with eat etc.  Or like yesterday, she had a 45min nap in the morning, then we went groceries and stayed awake nearly 3hrs with only 15catnap int the car, then slept for over 2 hrs.  

TBH, I think I know the answer to all this.  I need to be more strict on her sleeping and waking hours in the day so she gets more of a routine.....  then when it is time to transition to 2 naps it will be easier for her....am I right???

If not 6months for 2naps, when should it be??

thanks for your help too!

[Aly Mac]

Sorry KathrynK - I missed your post while posting mine. 

On the FAQ's it mentions 6months, hence my concern... As I said, I really should concentrate on extending the 45min naps so we at least have 2sleeps and a catnap and the rest should fall into place...at the moment she has 4 (if she doesn't get the last one, its meltdown as she can't go that long - I've tried it!!)

[rinajack]

Dont' worry, they will increase on their own.  Zara was a 45 min napper for what felt like forever.  I just kept watching for her tired cues (instead of the clock) and she eventually fixed it all on her own - starting with the odd nap here or there, then more and more til they were nearly all long.

As for eat colliding with sleep - don't worry about this either. I figured even if it happened at one nap of the day every day, it didn't happen at 3 naps of teh day each day, so the independant sleep outweighed the feeding to sleep.

Actually, I found the easiest for Zara was to follow her cues, so that I was never waking her to eat if she wanted to sleep longer, and could move things around to give her the chance to learn to sleep longer iykwim.

But my approach is not always same as others, so hopefully you will get more replies and choose what suits you and your lo.

[Aly Mac]

HI Rina - that's really what I was doing.  Just trying to be not so obsessed by the clock but now I'm having a *bad mother* attack and thinking that I've created a problem not only for Lilly but for myself, esp with later down the track.  As I said, she is happy and sleeps at night - can't ask for more really.  She has started a couple of nearly 3hr awake times, esp if we keep her occupied at the right level IYKWIM (DH has more luck than this than me, prob because he doesn't watch the clock).

Thanks, I feel better knowing that others are like me!
PS> how are you BTW? Is the resting going well and your health OK?

[rinajack]

I am good thanks, and resting as much as Zara will allow me - we are going through 2-1 transition (which is by far the toughest so far), she is teething (molars) and has also started a pretty bad bout of seperation anxiety - I think due to me suddenly staying home with her all the time. LOL.  Looking back, I will take 45 min naps over this any day (but of course was stressed about those at the time ).

Many times, 45 min naps are developmental, and they just grow out of them - sounds like you are doign a fab job, and your lo is starting to work it out on her own....just as she should. And keep up the good work, those nights are worth any kind of naps I think....

[stheo]

my dd is 6 months old and we have done the 45 min naps for what seems like forever ( only 3 months though)... if they are developmental.. when do they start to grow out of them... sometimes lo will suprise me and sleep 1.5 hrs without any intervention from me but most of the time it is 45 min... and she wakes up happy a majority of the time.. most of the time she does 2 -2.5 hr A time except in morning, but she is still only napping 45 mins... she also is going thru nightwakings where she used to sleep 10 hr uninterrupted.... she always wakes up 45 min after we put her down for bed and I know this is due to overtired due to short naps... but I dont know what to do to solve it... so good luck aly mac.... when you come up with a solution let me know..

[rinajack]

6months give or take is the age where they usually start to outgrow the 45 min naps. 

For that wakeup 45 mins in to bedtime, you could simply try bringing bedtime earlier?  Or shortening a couple A times so you can fit an extra nap in....