9 months old- Naps are such a struggle....

[Raquelx]

Hi, sorry about that - here is my routine.

7am - wake
7.30 8oz bottle
8.30 - breakfast (porridge/weetabix or such like) with water to drink
9.30 - nap (which was an hour and 30mins but now 30-45mins - hence the confusion.
12.30 - Lunch (sandwich, yoghurt and water to drink)
12.30-1ish - nap (used to be at 2o'clock ish) again another 30-45mins
3.15 - 3.30 - 3 or 4oz bottle
3.30-3.45 - catnap (reinstated since christmas) 20-30mins (sleeps no later than 4.30)
5.30 - dinner - hot dinner and yoghurt with water to drink
6.15-6.30 - bath time with wind down routine
6.30-6.45 - 8oz bottle
7 - sleep (used to fall asleep within minutes but again since christmas its been really hard to get him settled at night)

I have only just dropped his 11.30 bottle in the last 2 or 3 days as he was leaving both the 11.30 and 3o'clock bottle.  this has helped a little and he at least takes 2-3oz at 3.30.

Thank you for any advice you can give cause i have been trying for weeks to get him bacl on track but am really struggling with it.

x

[lyndsy_p]

Raquel...we have talked about A times in the past, can you push that AM nap a little later over a series of days. The short naps are because he isn't tired enough.

[laurenhendo]

Hey there all,

Just wanted to say a bit thank you to all the mums who gave advice on this thread. I thought I would check it out before i posted about my lo's naps, which have gotten progressively shorter over the last month or so, and since i have read these posts, i realise that she probably needs longer A time, and that if she only sleeps 1.24 hrs each nap, thats ok, because she sleeps 12 hours at night:)

So thanks again!

LH

[Raquelx]

But thats the problem lyndsy, i have been trying to do that but if i extend it just by 5mins he only sleeps 30mins. should i just try to bear with the 30mins sleeps and keep extending? and hope that he will go longer? He is teething which doesn't help.
I honestly have tried to extend to 3hrs.

[lyndsy_p]

LH...glad we could help 

Raquel.....It sounds like your LO is very sensitive to long A times. The 1st day may be a 30 min nap, but you just need to stick it out. The last 30 mins before the nap keep the Activity really low key. Dim lights, maybe some singing, books, wakling around the house with him in your arms talking about things you see, etc. No tv, no hustle and bustle. After about 3 days of extention by 5mins, the nap WILL be longer (trust me ), and you can start to extend another 5-10. One day will not do it. It will progress over the series of about 1 week. Your LO needs time to adjust to the new routine.

HTH
Lyndsy

[Raquelx]

Ok Lyndsy, I shall try that.  I had been trying for the last 3/4weeks and just didn't think i was doing it right because of these problems - hence why i posted 'again' about this same topic! I was/am going round in circles! But as you say i shall continue over the next few weeks.  I know i will get there but just didn't know if there was something else i could try. Was feeling a bit frantic!
Thanks very much

PS what does HTH mean?

[lyndsy_p]

HTH=Hope That Helps

[Mummydownunder]

Ladies,

thanks to all your advise the morning nap is now a breeze  After 2 3/4 hours of A time we go into DD bedroom for a wind down and story and she is in her cot fast asleep within 15 mins.

However, when its time for her lunchtime nap and we are at home which means sleeping in the cot it is an absolute nightmare. As I mentioned before if we are out in the car or stroller she will fall asleep no problem but at home its a totally different ball game! Today she really fought and screamed when I put her to bed. She was really upset. I finally managed to get her to calm down on my lap and she fell asleep at which time I transferred her to the cot.

Why is the lunchtime nap so hard at home?? I do the same wind down as in the morning.

Any suggestions???

Victoria

[mommy2mason]

Great news that you're having success with the morning nap!!

Unforunately we're having major nap issues on my end so I can't be much help! He'll go down for am nap but it's only for 30-45 minutes and he refuses his pm nap until he's been up for about 4 hours!

[claires mum]

Hmmm...I vaguely remember seeing a thread about this and I think the response was along the lines that LO's just progressively get more alert..and more tired as the day progresses.  This makes the afternoon and evening sleeps harder than the am naps.  I can't find it...so would be interested to hear what others think.

Mommy2mason...the 30-45 minute am nap suggests that he's OT.  Do you think that's a possibility???

[mommy2mason]

Thanks Claire's Mum-30 min. naps from my LO usually does mean OT, and 45 min. usually mean he's undertired. He's been so inconsistent lately that it's so hard to tell. He had been having 3 hours of A time but this morning he seemed tired at 2hr. 45min., fell asleep right away, but woke at 30 min. I'm really going to watch his cues tomorrow and see what's up!

[claires mum]

I'm sure you'll figure it out...it can be soooo frustrating!  If you don't have any luck and feel like posting your schedule, we might be able to find something there to tweak.

[Layla]

Victoria, what time are you attemtping the pm nap?

Can you tell me how long the morning nap is?

Whats the schedule like these days?

[Mummydownunder]

Hope this helps.

Our routine looks like this:-

6.30 wake
7.00 bottle
8.00 breakfast
9.30 nap (1 hour or just over)

10.30 wake
11.00 lunch
1.30 nap (if out in stroller or car 1 hour no problem- if at home fight, scream and cry finally falls asleep for max 40 mins)

2.30 wake
3.00 bottle
4.30 tea
6.00 bath routine
6.30 bottle
6.45 bed