18.5 month old has long naps

[Jann]

I shouldn't be complaining but my lo goes down at around 12.15 and is asleep by 12.30. I have been waking him at 3 and putting him down at 7:30.  He wakes at aroung 6:30.  Should i let him sleep longer or shorten the nap?

Jan

[clazzat]

If you're happy getting up at 6.30 then I wouldn't worry about it.  If you'd like him to wake a bit later, it might be worth waking him a bit earlier from his nap.  My lo sleeps 2-2.5 hours during the day at 2.5 years, but she still sleeps really well at night so I have no intention of changing anything!
Cx

[speechie]

I agree- our schedule is almost identical to yours. On good days he'll wake at 7:15 AM. So anything after 7 I'm happy with.
Nick will take a nap for 2.5 hours everyday pretty much...

[~Karen~]

I'd leave it.  My ds is the same age and when he's sleeping well he's on a similar schedule.

[Jann]

thanks for the encouragement. 
 
He seems to be doing very well on this routine.

[Krissy18]

My son is almost 17 months and I WISH WISH WISH he was on a similar schedule!
We are all over the place still on two naps, nothing is every consistant two days in a row and I am really at my wits end with this. I want him something consistant before June. That is my goal.  We can never schedule our days cause who knows what he will be doing, when he will be sleeping etc.

Right now he wakes anywhere from 7 all the way to 830 on some days. I dont understand this. What would make the wake up type sway this much? That is what really messes up the day.
Im keen to just enforce some schedule and stick to it tooth and nail till he gets used to it but Im afraid of that backfiring. He can handle pretty long A times thats why I dont get why the 2 naps.

[clazzat]

If he wakes at such different times every day, you might do well to chose a time to wake him and stick to it for a couple of weeks to see if you can get a bit more of a routine in place.  I'm not sure that he should really need 2 naps at 17 months, so maybe you should try to phase out the morning nap and move the afternoon nap earlier.  My dd has been on pretty much the same routine since before she was 17 months, although her lunchtime nap has gone from 2.5 to 2 hours.

[Krissy18]

If he wakes at such different times every day, you might do well to chose a time to wake him and stick to it for a couple of weeks to see if you can get a bit more of a routine in place.  I'm not sure that he should really need 2 naps at 17 months, so maybe you should try to phase out the morning nap and move the afternoon nap earlier.  My dd has been on pretty much the same routine since before she was 17 months, although her lunchtime nap has gone from 2.5 to 2 hours.

Clazzat we would LOVE for him to be on one nap. We have tried several times to go this route but it always seems to revert back. I am at my wits end with trying different routines. He will be starting daycare soon and will need something more consitant for sure at that time, in the meantime i dont know what to do about this.

[clazzat]

What is his schedule?  When we had 2 naps, it looked like this:
7am wake
S - 9.30-10am
A
S -12/12.30-2.15/2.30
A
bath 6/6.15, bed 6.30/6.45

When we were trying to drop the morning nap, I found that she would need it maybe one day in three.  Sometimes I would let her sleep a bit longer in the morning on the 2-nap day so that she could catch up.  I think when you are trying to change from 2-1 naps, it's a good idea to count total sleep for the week rather than day by day.

Does this help at all?
Cx

[Krissy18]

How old was your LO when you had that schedule?
My DS is 16.5 months.
His routine is kinda like this but not all the time
wake 7/715
nap 1045/11-12 or 1230
nap 415/430-5
sleep 8

we can not do the early bedtime cause of mine and DH's work schedule. by the time we get him home and into the bath its 715ish, then bottle and bed by close to 8, sleeping at 8 or just shorlty after. so we need something that he can get to bed by 8/830.

I am not really clear on counting total sleep for the week. I know that right now he is a little OT from losing sleep over the weekend. We can not be prisnoers to our house (although many times it seems we are lol) sometimes we just cant help it and he ends up going to bed at 9 or 930 he ends up sleeping right through till 730ish the next day but i dont see where he makes it up. so I think my LO is always on the edge of being OT.
He did 1 nap for a whole week once. And he seemed to be ok. Then he reverted back. It doesnt help that he has three different caregivers in the 7 days the week has.

[clazzat]

I can't remember exactly how old she was when she dropped the first nap, but I think she was a similar age to your lo.  She has always been at the high end of sleep needs (at 2.5 she sleeps more than my 8-month old!) so I think she was quite late dropping that nap compared with most of her friends.

If he does have a lot of different caregivers, it might be difficult for him to settle into a routine because he's a bit confused.  I would think that setting a definite routine and asking everyone to stick to it for a couple of weeks could help him gain a bit of consistency.  Maybe once he did that he might catch up from the nearly-OT and then be ready to work towards one nap.

Maybe you could try a short nap at 10.30 (half an hour or so), followed by a long nap at 1.30/2 until 3.30/4.  If you think that will leave him with too long an A time before bed, maybe give him a bit longer in the morning, and try pushing the afternoon nap half an hour later.

As far as total sleep for the week goes, it could be worth looking up the average amounts of sleep los need at his age, multiply it by 7 (for the full week) and compare it to a one-week sleep log of your lo.  Does that make sense?

[Krissy18]

/Yes it makes sense.
I dont like waking him..thats the problem, he doesnt like it either!! I noticed a few days putting him down around 12 or 1230 we actually did get a pretty good nap and no cryig in between.  i think that goes more with his natural rythems..since he tends to wake at 7/730 mostly every day..