When should I adjust naps and what should I be targeting

[Michael Pauls Mom]

My DS is 9 mths.  He was a 45 minute cat napper until 7 mths and now he sleeps 2 naps each day of 1 h 30 min and sleeps about 10.5 - 11 hrs at night.  What I am seeing is that his A times are getting longer so his bedtime is getting later so I was wondering about adjusting EASY to make sure we don't get ourselves into a trap here.

Awakes between 6:30 am and 7 am

E 7 am
S 9:45 (10) 1.5 hrs

E 11:30
S 2:30 (2:45) 1.5 hrs

E 4
S 8:15


He eats solids about 8:30, 1 and 5:30.  He recently is to busy to eat as he wants to go everywhere, crawling, practice walking.  I have had to give him his bottle in his bed so he can feed himself, he does not want to be held to eat, at all.  It was a little difficult and of course I am sure he will change again.  He is very independent and active boy.  He is a textbook baby for the most part.  Just thinking I should have some plan on where I should be moving him as I am worried that he is getting over tired with the later bedtimes.  The A times seem to be gettign longer as well as he rolls around in his bed, or sits up or tries to stand up.  I realize that these are issues that wil resolve themselves but I was wondering when he may start to sleep a little less or if I haev to guide him.  This is not really a problem but I think it could devlop into other issues so I thought my EASY may need a tweak or two.  Any advice would be wonderful.

[huntersmummyinoz]

sorry for the late reply, the site went down for a while!

sounds like he is starting the 2 to 1 nap switch. now that doesnt mean he is anywhere near being on one nap yet but you will need to do some tweaking as you are running out of hours in the day as his A time increases.

there are two approaches:
1) gradually shorten the am nap, and nudge the second nap slightly earlier (eg. am nap 10 mins shorter, offer second nap 10mins earlier). eventually the am nap will become a catnap and then disappear. this tends to suit LO who get sleepy very early in the morning and who like a long last A time before bed.

2) nudge the first nap slightly later and gradually shorten the pm nap which will eventually become a catnap and disappear. this tends to suit LOs who like a long first A time and short last A time before bed and also those who hate to be woken from naps. (this is the approach i did with my LO)

is he typically an 11/11.5/12 hr sleeper at night? you would want to aim for a minimum of 11hrs night sleep, so for now i would suggest shaving 15 mins off of whichever nap you choose and making bedtime 8pm (based on a 7am wake up).

here are a few links which may be helpful:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=145344.0
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=95670.0

HTH
kirry