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

[hanna]

Since my lo is almost 9 months now I am posting under a new topic.

I have kind of figured out her A times but since I don't always know when she wakes up in the morning, exactly; she is quiet sometimes, it's hard to calculate. What also makes it tricky is that I have to drive my toddler to daycare in the morning and baby falls asleep in the car on the way back. Thus, she sleeps only from 25-40 minutes for her first nap. She stays up about another 3 hrs and sleeps 60-70 minutes and has a long afternoon before bt. I have tried earlier bedtimes but she won't fall asleep until her usual bt. (6.30-6.45pm)

If I could get her to sleep until 6.30 am this would be less of an issue, but she wakes up around 6 am. (She sleeps longer in the morning when she has good naps the day before.) She has 2 good naps during the weekends ususally. I had a babysitter stay in the morning with the baby for 3 weeks, but I can't keep doing that. I was hoping as she got older she would stay awake a little longer in the morning...
 
Is there anything else I can do?

So far today we have
A time 3.5? nap 40 minutes in the carseat
A time 2 hrs, accidental 5-minute nap in the car, tried to put her down again after 1 and 2 hours but she didn't fall asleep. She sits up in bed and cries when I leave. This is very frustrating. We never do anything that takes us away from the house longer than 1 hour so I can be back for her second nap.

Thanks.

[hanna]

Today we have had 2 40-minute naps so far. I don't want to get stuck in OT circle again. Any advice?

[ZacsMumme]

Sorry your post was missed earlier Hanna!
At this age some LOs can do a good 3 hrs after a 45/50 min nap. Others not so much. I do think though at 9-10 mths theirsleep needs are changing, some LOs will  e select to do a lot less A on a 30 min nap than a 45 so if her am nap is variable, you may need to adjust the next A accordingly.
After a 30 min or so nap I would maybe try to PD again after 2hrs or so, a 45 min nap maybe 2.5/3 hrs.

What do you think

[hanna]

Thanks! She will usually sleep well her first nap if I can make it home to put her in the crib, which is what I would prefer. She gets overtired and not get enough sleep during the day if this goes wrong.

What I need help figuring out is how to get her to sleep just a little longer in the morning, so she will stay awake until we get home from driving toddler to daycare. She does A of 3 and 25 mins right now for the first nap. She wakes up at 6 am. I get home from driving at 9.30 am. And I have to leave again at 3 pm.

Something like this would work:
A 3.25 or 3.5, wake up at 6.15 or 6.30-9.45 am
S 75-90 mins, 9.45-11.00/11.15 am
A 3
S 45-60 mins, 2.00 or 2.15-3.00 pm
A 3.5-4 hrs, bt 6.30-7.00pm

Is it better to keep the first nap to 60 minutes and have a longer pm nap or vice versa?
Will she sleep longer in the morning if the last A is closer to 3 or 4 hrs?

Thanks a bunch!

[ZacsMumme]

For her age I think that first Atime is good really. I you can stretch her a touch for thecot nap it will help hero have a more rested and hopefully longer nap, plus it may be easier to extend in the crib if she wakes early.

It's up to you which nap you cap, is there a nap that naturally fits in better if long?
I'll aske for some more eyes for you from mums with school runs.

[hanna]

So today she had an 80 minute first nap and then a 35-40 minute nap in the afternoon, is that long enough to keep her until bt? I don't want her to be too tired and get nw's and ew's...  I guess I am wondering if she with a longer pm nap can stay awake longer, go to bed a little later and sleep a little later in the morning?

Thank you for your help!

[ZacsMumme]

I would do EBT after a short PM nap ie 6pm

[Erin M]

How long is your trip to/from school?  I found with mine that I needed to get him out when we got there and walk around, then load him up with some toys, a snack, a drink, etc in his car seat so he'd be interested enough to stay awake.   School runs were a challenge for us -- we had a super short pm nap forever due to one, eventually he managed to just muddle through the OTness and sleep better.

[hanna]

It's only a 10-minute trip, but she will fall asleep 2 minutes from the house
Ok, that's something I can try, give her a toy and a snack. Thanks.

[Erin M]

It's only a 10-minute trip, but she will fall asleep 2 minutes from the house

This drives me crazy.  So frustrating!

Opening and closing the window next to her might work too.    (can you tell I've done this before....) 

[hanna]

Any ideas how to get her to sleep longer in the morning? She keeps waking up at 6 am most mornings. I just need a little later morning awakening....6.15 would do.

[Erin M]

Well, OT gives us earlier wakings so it could be that when you straighten out your day a bit you'll be ok.  Too short an A time to bed also sometimes gives us earlier wakings.  Could also be that she's meant to just do an 11 hour night so bt could be too early (though that's a tricky oneto mess with as you always risk OT if you do bt too late).  Could also be teeth -- they're a guaranteed early waking around here.  Clear as mud, right? 

[hanna]

I kind of hope it's teeth. This morning she woke up before 6 am even. She had 2 good naps both Sat and Sun though. Bt Sunday night was 6.30 pm., fell asleep at 6.45 pm. (A was 3.5)  She usually sleeps about 11.5 hrs a night. She also had many nw's last night-- she tosses(loses) her pacifiers all night.

She had a 45 minute nap started in the car this am, will see how she does this afternoon. I am giving her meds for teething today.

Thanks again.

[hanna]

She is napping an average of 2 hrs total per day now...is that enough for her age?

If the last nap is 45-50 minutes, then early bedtime and A no longer than 3 hrs?

Her second nap has to end at 3 pm, and it varies between 45-80 minutes depending on the first nap, I am trying to figure out if she has to go to bed earlier when that nap is short. She's been having lots of nw's this week and I dont know if she is OT.

thanks

[Erin M]

We always got lots of NWs in the early part of the night when I put him to bed OT (basically when there was too much distance between the mini-nap he took when I picked the girls up) and BT -- but with us, I found that eventually could cope with it and started sleeping better (so I guess the plus is that even if you're not making any progress with longer naps, she'll get there eventually). 

If the last nap is 45-50 minutes, then early bedtime and A no longer than 3 hrs?

Sounds reasonable to me.

She is napping an average of 2 hrs total per day now...is that enough for her age?

It's probably on the low side, depending on your night.  If you're usually getting a 12 hour night, then it's enough, but if you're not it's probably a bit too little.  But, it does depend on your LO and how she's doing with it.