9 month old: still having hard time getting long naps- school run to contend wit

[hanna]

She usually gets 11.5 hrs of sleep. The last two nights she has had fewer night wakings.
Yesterday she only napped 45 and 60 minutes so less than two hrs.
I tried to put her down early but she wouldn't have it. So last A was 3.5 as usual.
She woke up hungry again this morning at 6 am.
Thanks.

[Erin M]

I think you just keep on pushing through -- that sounds like pretty much where we were at 9 months TBH.  Things got better as we got to 1 nap.  Still a ways off, but you're much closer than you used to be. 

[hanna]

I hope she will continue to nap twice a day for a long time. She needs it. This whole weekend was pretty bad nap wise, I think I missed her second window today so she didn't nap until after 5.25 hrs and had to be AP b/c she was so tired . And then of course she slept 35 minutes only.

She is so tired in the morning yet she only sleeps 60 minutes. It's hard to extend her first A time when she falls asleep in the car. But 3.5 hrs is pretty normal at this age so ....

[hanna]

I don't know if this is OT or teeth but the last few days she has had a 60 minute am nap and then fights her pm nap and ends up taking a 30 minute nap after a LONG A time.  (I'm putting her down at A time 3 and 10 as I have been.) I'm going to try a shorter A time tomorrow.

[hanna]

Argh...Today I put her down for her second nap at 2 hrs 50 minutes; she fell asleep at A time 3 and 20 mins and slept for 40 mins! (wake up at 2.35 pm) I am at a loss here. Her am nap was 60 mins again. She looks tired and she continues to wake up earlier than usual in the morning, like 5.30 am. 

Shall I try a catnap at 5 pm? I'm not sure she will take one. Also not sure she will go to bed extra early. I tried to put her to bed right before 6 pm last night but she stayed up until her normal bt at 6.30 pm. That means she would have an A time of 4 hrs on a 40 minute nap.

Is this just normal 9 month stuff?

[Erin M]

How close are you to 10 months?  I'm wondering if you're heading into 2-1 territory?
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=95670.0

Could also be teeth though, they mess with naps here all the time.

I generally avoid naps too close to BT as they tend to mess with night sleep, but babies are different -- if it will work for you, I might try it.  Some babies do better with a little catch up sleep to help night sleep.

[hanna]

She stayed up the whole 4 hrs after that last 40 minute nap, but woke up many times in the first part of the night and then woke at 5.30 am. So I think she is OT.
Thanks.

[Erin M]

Yes, that sounds very OT

[hanna]

But she seems set on sleeping for 60 minutes in the morning now. I'm just not sure how long her second A time should be these days...Update: Since she is waking up so early now, at 5.30, her first A time is around 4 hrs. (I leave her in bed until she starts to cry at 6.15 am usually, but I don't think she sleeps any more)

Is there no other way besides adding to the A times to get her to sleep longer in the morning. She used to sleep until 6.15 am and now it's 5.30. 6.30 am would make a lot of difference!

[Erin M]

EWs are a tricky thing, they can be due to a lot of things -- general discomfort (teeth, hunger, temperature, etc), routine (not enough/too little A time), or even something like napping too close to bed time.  Generally with my ds, they are always due to him being OT or getting teeth. 

[hanna]

Hi again,
OT and teething, yes, that's what we are dealing with. She has a good am nap usually 60 minutes, occasionally 90 . Then about half of the afternoons she is fighting her nap or is not sleepy enough? Or she sleeps 35 minutes, wakes up crying as in OT... would love for he to sleep 60 mins in the afternoon too. She is so tired before bt and she keeps waking and crying every night at least 3-5 times!

[Erin M]

What kind of A time are you doing between her naps?

[hanna]

When she sleeps 60-70 minutes in the morning, I have tried at A time 3 up to 3 and 30 minutes, sometimes she falls asleep somewhere in between those. Yesterday she had a 90 minute am nap so tried at A time 3 and 30 minutes but it was probably to early. After 30 minutes I gave up and took her for a car ride and then she slept 30 minutes. A time ended up being 4 and 15 minutes.
She is 9.5 months now.

[hanna]

Well we haven't had any 90 minute naps in over a week now! I think she is so OT that she can't. She wakes up between 5.15 and 5.30 am now, so it's going in the wrong direction. This morning she had a 35 minute nap after A time 3 hrs. She was so sleepy that I decided to put her down before driving to daycare just to see how long she would sleep. oh well. Hoping for better pm nap. She's been a little cranky the last few days, which may be because of this or just being almost 10 months.

[Erin M]

Sounds very 2-1 --  can you do a short AM nap and aim for a longer PM one with your schedule.  I'll be honest, the 9/10/11 month period was rough for us sleep-wise until we got on a solid 1 nap a day.