Six month afternoon nap issues

[tysonbing]

Brodie is now a little over 6 mos old.  His schedule is wacky b/c he never takes the same length of naps everyday.  Usually, we do the AM nap two hours after waking (usually around 9 or 9:30AM) and he sleeps anywhere from 1hr 20 mins to 2hrs.  Then the afternoon nap is where it gets HECK.  He has been screaming when I lay him down, like he doesn't want to take a nap and sleeps about 30-40 mins tops.  I used to could pat/shh him back to sleep, but now he gets HYSTERICAL till I get him out then seems wide awake.  I tried pu/pd once but I was literally almost in tears and totally stressed out by it and it didn't end up working.  Today I tried a third nap, but it didn't happen, so it looks like bedtime might be as early as 6pm.  I've tried keeping him awake anywhere from 2.5-3hrs.  Is this too long?  Should I move back to two hours A time?  He seems OK with longer A times (not grumpy really) so I'm not sure what to do. 

So confused.  It's been six months of pat/shh and extending naps and I'm just exhausted and tired of it all.   

[Aly Mac]

I would maybe shorten that A time back to 2.5hrs max (so allow for some time to get to sleep) and see how you go.  I found with Lil, that even though she could go longer happily, putting her down earlier enabled an easier process, and a longer nap.

let us know how you go
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