55-60min nap?

[kimbo613]

I can not for the life of me figure this one out.  I don't know why he can't sleep past 1hr...and that's not enough for one nap.  I have been pushing him a bit later, and he's been going down easier with less playing.  Today I put him down just before 12:30 and he was asleep within 10 min, whereas we have been getting 20-30min of play before sleep.  Does anyone else get these weird nap lengths?  He will also do 30-35min naps, or even sometimes a 45min nap.  What on earth is his sleep cycle length?!

[*Becky*]

can you remind me of his age and routine?

[katie80]

Just wanted to let you know I've gotten all types of lengths of naps and I too often wonder how they are at all related to a sleep cycle.  We've had anywhere from 30 min to 2.5 hr and almost any 10 min interval in between that.  Most consistently, my DD will do 1 hr to 1hr 20 min when she's struggling in her naps and 1.5 hr to 2.5 hr when she's doing well.  It is frustrating, for sure.  Do post your routine and see if we can figure anything out from there.

[kimbo613]

Sorry, had to be breif in the initial post.  Someone wanted me

DS is almost 17mo.  Never been a good napper, but nights are fine.  We have very rare nw, usually when ill or teething.  Also, it is difficult to tell when he wakes.  Sometimes I think he's asleep still and I will go in to find him WIDE awake, just staring at the door, waiting for me.  He's very sneaky

Usually he wakes about 6:30/6:45.  I get him about 6:50.
Lunch about 11:45 and nap straight after.  Wind down is about 10 min.
Nap 12:30-?  (he is usually quiet by 12:40)
Bath & bedtime routine start at 6:30, in bed by 7:10 and usually asleep by 7:20/7:30.

So if I'm blessed, I get 12 hours sleep out of him in 24.  Blegh.  I don't know, maybe that's all he needs.  He seems happy, though usually grumpy upon awakening he perks up relatively quickly.  I would like more than 1 hr me time, though

*forgot to add...with about 9-10 days of illness/teething in there somewhere, we haven't had more than 1hr naps since Easter at least.

[momtonb&ab]

although it seems on the low end of sleep needs, it does almost seem like he needs only 12 hours.  what were his sleep needs before the switch to one nap?

also, we noticed with our guys that the later the nap time, the shorter the nap.  while some people would get to a 1 or 2 pm nap that would last for 2 + hours, we found that if they went down for their nap anytime after 12:15-12:30 (depending on how close to 7 am they woke) we were guaranteed a short nap.

have you tried a longer wind down at a slightly earlier time (say noon or 11:45)?   

fwiw, we never had regular glorious 2+ hour naps here.  we started after the switch at about 1:45-1:50 and then over time (up to about 4 weeks ago) it gradually got less and less.  and just recently we stopped napping all together and are doing about 11.5 hours at night.

[kimbo613]

Before he switched to one nap, he was doing a 20-30 min catnap and refusing the pm nap   Before that, I don't really remember, he was very sporadic.  I know at 8.5/9months he was doing two 1.5hr naps consistently, but really he's only been 'consistent' with naps for two to three weeks at a time, then he'd change again and it would take us a month or so to figure him out again <sigh>

I will give a longer wind down a try.  Maybe add a bit more reading, since that's the only time he will sit still

[katie80]

I agree. Have you tried the nap at 12 pm instead of 12:30?  My LO switched to one nap at about 17.5 mo and her A time was around 5 to 5.5 hr.  If he wakes at 6:30 and doesn't fall asleep til 12:40, that's a little over 6.  I know some LOs are able to do that much, but you may find he does actually sleep a little longer if you put him down a bit earlier.  Now at almost 20 mo with lots of teeth coming through, my LO has dropped back again and would definitely short nap if I kept her up 6 hr.

[kimbo613]

Well, the longer wind down doesn't seem to help his settle.  Though I have noticed that while he may be quiet and calm while I'm reading, when I turn out the light and sing, he gets squirmy and kind of amps himself up.  I may have to cut that out of our routine and just put him straight into bed.  Today I told him no more wiggles or I would put him in bed, which quieted him for all of two seconds.  But he didn't seem to mind going straight into bed.

I've also been putting him down earlier, which worked wonderfully yesterday with a 1.5 hour nap, but today he cried at 45 min and then again about 30 min later and chattered for another twenty.  So not sure how much sleep he actually got...  I'm going to try to have him in bed by 12:00 tomorrow and see if that helps.  Maybe I was pushing him too late.  I thought the playing in his crib meant he wasn't tired enough, but he seems to play no matter what I do.  Maybe he has to bounce around for a while to settle down?

[*Becky*]

ok well some progress - that is great about the 1.5 nap. I also agree with pp. Putting him down slightly earlier seems a good plan. If he wakes at 6.30am and naps at 12.30pm that is actually a long A time and if teeth and illness have a part to play then I would not be surprised by the short naps.
I know with DS that playing around can also be OT almost like the window has passed for sleeping.
Try a short wind down - some lo's do not like a long one.
Good luck x

[*Becky*]

something I forgot to add - teeth in our house have caused no end of problems with this whole 2:1 switch and we were getting naps very similar to yours. It is only now he has a cold that he is napping better but more teeth on the way so sure it will not last long. What I do know about teeth is that naps become very inconsistent so I guess we have to go with the flow as much as is possible but it is very hard - I know!!!

[kimbo613]

I hate teeth.  Thankfully we are having a break for now, but it has definitely messed us up.

He was asleep just before noon today and slept for 1hr15min.  Kind of mumbling to himself now.  Long time till bedtime, but we are doing some shopping this afternoon, so he'll have some 'rest time' in the car.

[kimbo613]

Again today, nap from about noon to 1:15.  Both days I put him down about 11:45 and he babbled and played around for about 10 min.

[momtonb&ab]

10 minutes isn't too bad to settle.  you could even try 11:45 to see if the window is a bit late -might just need a little tweaking here - at least you are past the hour mark.  would you consider trying wake to sleep at the hour mark to see if he will go a bit longer.  almost seems like he is stuck waking up between 1 and 1:30 like some kind of habit or something.   is there anything that would 'wake' him around that time, a noise, a change in temperature, a noisy neighbourhood dog?

[*Becky*]

Def factor in rest time - that is what I do with my lo. It is very frustrating. Is he happy when he has done a shorter nap? Does he then sleep ok at night?

[kimbo613]

We do live in kind of a noisy neighborhood, but he also has a white noise machine that masks most noises.  I'm not sure if w2s would work.  I haven't tried it in ages, but when he was younger it didn't seem to have much effect.  Plus, it never fails that the day I decide to do something like that, he wakes up before I can get to him

He is usually pretty happy, even after a short nap.  Actually he copes really well, probably because he's just used to never getting enough sleep.  He does tend to be more cranky and clingy before dinner time, but then as soon as he has food, he's tolerable.  generally he sleeps well at night, regardless of how his nap went.  Last night he cried briefly around 12:30, but was out again before I was done going pee

Not quiet today until almost 12:10.  We'll see how long we get today.  Hopefully I can get some rest too

*Wow!  He slept for 1hr45min!  Best Mother's Day present ever