pm nap resistance 9.5 mo

[kimmbba]

My son is about 9.5 months, and for weeks has been wanting to take a 2 hour morning nap and then refusing to go down for an afternoon nap.  I began to wake him from the morning nap, trying 1.5 and 1 hours to see if he'd take a pm nap.  This would get about a 30-45 min nap at best.  Here's an example of how his EASY will go if he takes a short pm nap.

Wake 6:30-7
E 7:30 (bottle around 8:30)
S 9:30-10
A 10:30-11
E 11:30
S 2-2:30
A 2:30-3
E 4:30
Bath, bottle, bed begin at 6ish usually asleep by around 6:30-7

So, in general nights are "good".  He's waking about 11pm and 5am for a bottle.  I'm trying to get rid on the 11pm feed.  However, last night he was waking every 10 min. crying??  I'm guessing he didn't feel well or something.  He was basically up for 3 hours, and then out until 5am and moving around for about an hour before he fell back to sleep.  I woke him at 7:30 to let him sleep a little bit more because of the horrible night, but not get too far off schedule.  I put him down for a nap at 10:30 and we'll see how the day pans out.  I'm guessing he's as tired as I am?!

Does anyone see anything with my EASY that would result in the pm nap refusal?

[~Sara~]

I think he's starting the 2-1 transition (which isn't uncommon in LOs this age).  Have you looked through this thread:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=95670.0

I think that will help.  The best approach for a LO who has PM nap refusal is a short AM/long PM nap approach.  I would shorten nap 1 to 45 minutes, reduce the following A time by ~20 minutes (look for his cues) and hopefully he'll be ready to sleep 1.5ish hours for nap #2.

I would say that his disturbed night was from being OT by bedtime.  He had a full A time on a really short nap.  I would have either tried to squeeze in a 2nd catnap with a slightly later bedtime, or done an earlier bedtime.

But try the short AM/long PM approach for a couple of days and let me know how it goes

[kimmbba]

Great!
I gave him a 1hr nap this morning after 3.5 hours A, and right now he's on nap #2!!!  I'm so happy.  I hope he sleeps for at least an hour, but ideally 1.5 hours.  I'll keep with this to see if this sorts it out for a while.
Thanks

[kimmbba]

OK, second nap only 45 min...so total DS 1.45 today.  When he was sleeping two naps it was generally 2.25-2.5 hours total so not too far off, but I know that second nap needs/should be better.  I guess I'll try the 45 min am nap and see what happens?!

[~Sara~]

How long of an A time did he do before his second nap?

The theory behind shortening the AM nap is so that the 2nd A time can be shortened, thus bringing the PM nap earlier in the day.  There's less of a chance of nap refusal if it's earlier and he's not going into it with another full nap under his belt...if that makes sense.  This is the general advice for PM nap refusal if/when LO starts the 2-1.

A 45 minute nap sounds UT to me.  Plus, if his first nap was only 1h, he might need more A time at the start of his day.  If adding more A time--in addition to longer naps--would make his day super long (longer than 13h), then you have to start cutting sleep somewhere in efforts to consolidate.

Let me know how it goes, and please feel free to check in if you've got questions

[kimmbba]

Ok here's how our day was:
Wake 6:30
S 9:50-10:50
S 2:15-3
So first A was3 hours 20 min, second A 3 hours 25 min and last A time will be about 3.5 hours to go to bed at 6:30.

Do you think I should stretch morning A?  and then give him only 2.45-3 hours for the second A?  He's crabby now, tired trying to get to bath time.  I think we'll start early and just have a LONG bath to change the scenery.

[~Sara~]

Hmm...yes, I would stretch his first A time.  If you'd been trying to get a 1.5h+ nap on 3h20 A time, and you've not been getting it, I would definitely add some more.  Maybe, like, 10 minutes.  Then go ahead and cap his nap to 45 minutes...if he suddenly does a 30 minute nap on the new A time, we'll know that he wasn't really ready for the jump.

He did do a full A time on the 1h nap...so I wonder if nap #2 was really OT.  I'd try putting him down like you've planned (at ~3h A time).  So, tomorrow, we're *thinking* will look something like this...

Awake: 6:30
A time: 3.5h
Nap 1: 10:30-11:15
A time: 3h
Nap 2: 2:15-3:45
A time: 3.5h
Bedtime: 7:15

That's just a guide; and I would definitely cap that 2nd nap.  The idea is that the A times will increase all around and the first nap will get shorter, thus moving the 2nd nap closer to the middle of the day.  LOL, sounds good in theory, right?

Give it a shot tomorrow

I'd also try for a slightly early bedtime tonight since he hasn't slept well today.

[kimmbba]

Thanks Sara!
He did end up in bed a little early tonight, he just couldn't deal with the day anymore

I'll give it a shot tomorrow!  My MIL arrives late tomorrow afternoon, so I'm sure he'll be excited so we'll see how BT goes.