10.5 month - is he ready for 1 nap???

[Melie]

Hi everyone,

Nap time is such a struggle at home!!! DS is 10.5 months and I have always had trouble in getting him to nap! I wonder if he sould only nap once or do 2 short naps.
The thing is that at around 9.30, he rubs his eyes and yawns so change him and put him to bed. It used to take him only 5 mins to go to sleep and he would sleep for 1h (1.5 on the good days!). Then, I put him back to sleep at 2.30 and it usually takes 30 mins for him to fall asleep. He naps for only 1h in the afternoon.
I tried to put him to bed later in the afternoon, but it still takes him half an hour to settle down and fall asleep and then he wakes up too late.

This morning though, I put him to bed a 9.45 and it took 55 mins for him to fall asleep. So I'm all confused about his schedule and I don't want him to go OT. I know he needs the sleep time because he DOES sleep and if he naps only once in the afternoon, he gets OT and takes more time to fall asleep at night and won't wake up later in the morning.

Here is what used to be his schedule:

7.00 Wake up
7.30 BF
8.00 solids
9.30 Nap (usually falls asleep around 10.00 but this morning was 10.45)
11.00 Wake up and BF
12.00 Solids
2.30 Nap (falls asleep around 3.00)
4.00 Wake up and BF
5.30 Solids
7.00 Bath and BF
7.30 Sleep for the night

Should I put him to bed at the time he usually falls asleep for his naps or do I continue like that?
Should I try to extend his morning A time so he gets only one nap a day?

I doubt that he would sleep a longer nap if I do that because there is always some noise in the house (the dog barks or jumps out of the sofa) it wakes him up after 1h and he won't fall asleep again and I don't want him to be OT.

I would appreciate any help here!!
Thanks a lot!

[~inbalance~]

Hi there!  We already really struggled with naps too.  Here's what I think - extending morning A time, yes, one nap, no.  10.5 months is really much too early for one nap.  I was very tempted at that time too, but your LO really needs to be able to handle very long A times, and one nap will lead him to being OT, especially since he is used to a short A in the morning.

Your first A time I would say is definitely too short, but you may not want to go stretching it out too long too fast, kwim?  Try adding 15mins a day every few days until you are getting a nap.  I will bet he is taking so long to go to sleep because he is just not tired.  Quite often eye rubbing isn't a reliable cue. 

At 10.5 months I think my LO was probably doing 3.5, maybe even 4hrs A time in the mornings.  So I would gradually start increasing until you find an A time that works.

Now is a good time to start thinking about the 2-1 nap transition thought and how you will approach it.  Here are some links to get you started. 
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=95670.0
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=41952.0

[Melie]

Thanks Martina for your response!!

I was pretty sure it was too early for only one nap but I didn't know how to handle the "aaaaages" for him to go to sleep. I will definitely try to extend the A time in the morning and see how it goes.

I have also read other threads and I think he might be overstimulated when I put him to bed for the 2 naps. I usually let him play with his toys after he ate and he just runs around the house to discover all the great spaces!!!

When it's nap time, I just take him, say it's nap time, change the diaper and put him to bed. I used to cuddle him before putting him to bed, but he was moving all over the place and arching his back so I thought it was because he didn't like it so I stopped, but at least, he was settling much more quicker when I did that. I think I will reinstate the cuddling part and sit with him on the rocking chair like 5 mins before putting him to bed. Hopefully it will help!

[~inbalance~]

Overstimulation is less of a problem usually by this point, but it's still always a good idea to have the 30mins before naptime pretty quiet I find.  I usually take DS into his room about 15mins before and that's kinda his cue.  We hang out, do all our prenap stuff, then he's usually ready for bed.  Good luck!