A time for 11 month old

[4lamps]

Hello, this is my first time posting here and I am really glad to have found this site! I have been doing EASY with my twins since they were born. It's not always been EASY...sometimes EASAESY, you know what I mean! LOL
So I have a questions about the length of A time before the morning nap.  My boys will be 11 months this week (10.5 adjusted).  I am starting to get confused by their sleep signs and the timing lately.  I have read that the mornings will usually have a shorter A time and that has always been the case with my boys.  But lately, I have been getting sleepy signs at about 2 hours after they wake and when I put them down, they don't seem ready to sleep (even though they did when they were playing).  I guess I just want to know how long other LO's at this age are staying awake before the morning nap.  I have recently started extending their A time for the afternoon, but not so much for the morning.  Thanks in advance!

[Violet's mom]

Hi there!  My LO is just over 9 months old and she does about 3 hr 15 min in the am, 4 hrs in the afternoon, and 3.5 hrs in the evening.  I find at about 2 hr A time in the morning she needs a little top up and her sleepy signs are actually hunger related.  Just my personal experience anyways!

Are you familiar with this page at all?
Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!!

[4lamps]

I did see the average A times page - thanks! I am not sure it's hunger for my LO's as they have just finished having some solids.  Maybe they are just full?! Not sure.  I wish all this wasn't such a guessing game for me (I am a FTM).  I was doing the 2-3-4 rule for their A time for a while.  Really they were up for about 2.5 hours in the AM, 3.5 in the afternoon and then about 4 before bed. I have realized that that needs to change as these past couple of days I have extended the afternoon time, I have noticed that the evening A time has shortened. I think I will extend their morning A time a little and see what happens. 
Just curious, how long are your naps? Our am nap is about 1.5-2 hours and afternoon is about 45mins to 1 hour now.

[Erin M]

Hi there, and welcome!  I'm going to move your post over to the EASY board as it sounds like that's what the heart of your issue is -- in the meantime, you'd help out the folks over there if you'd post a typical day (as best you can) in this format:
E (breast/bottle/solids/whatever you're doing, along with a time)
A (how long they're awake for and briefly what they're doing)
S (how long)

[Layla]

She's in the 2-1 nap transition period and at an age where she won't be needing or won't be able to do 2 long naps so if the preference is longer morning and shorter afternoon nap and its working ok for her, then I would leave it at that.

These links will explain more:
From 2 to 1 nap transition (10-12m and older)
10/ 11mo sleep gone wonky? Read this first! (2-1 switch)

Our A's were very similar to V's mom: approx 3 hrs in the morning (morning nap was short, 45mins); afternoon A was approx 3-3.5 and nap was the longer one (1.5-2hrs) and bedtime about 3.5hrs later.

HTH

[Buttonbobs]

Hi and welcome to the EASY board

Like Erin says, if you'd like to post your day in EAS format, we might be able to help a little more.

[4lamps]

Thanks ladies!  Here is what we had been doing before the time change and have been for a few months:
Wake 6:30am
E - 8oz bottle 6:45am
A - play 7-8:15
E - breakfast (solids)  8:15-8:30
A - 8:30ish-9
S-down for nap 9-10:30
E-bottle 4-6oz 11am
A - play or go to park, or play date
E - lunch solids apprx 12:15
A - play
S - 1/1:30pm-2:30 nap
E - 6 oz bottle 3pm
A - play practice walking, etc, bouncers or run errands
E - Dinner 5pm
A - play or bath time (depending on day)
E - 8 oz bottle before bed
S- 6:45-7pm bedtime
Just before time change they were taking about 30 mins. to fall asleep at their afternoon nap and the morning nap seemed to be getting shorter (apprx 45 min nap).  Since the time change, wake times have been sporadic between 5-6 am and so our timings are not set, but the routine has stayed the same EXCEPT that I am keeping them up longer during the afternoon.  Before I was at about 3 hours of awake time in the afternoon and now, since they were not going to sleep right away, I am stretching it to 3.5 hours of awake time in the afternoon.  The naps have been about 1 hour in the afternoon since then. 
I think that is all, please let me know if you have more questions. Thanks!
Oh - my main question about this initially was just wondering if the A time in the mornings is shorter than all the other A times or the same?

[Buttonbobs]

Well the average A time for an 11 month old would be between 3.30 - 4.30 hours so that first A time is really quite short. It appears that this hasn't been causing you any problems with EWs as such, but you are seeing that they are not quite ready to sleep after only a couple of hours.

It is quite usual for LOs to show signs of tiredness when what they really need is a change of scene or sometimes a drink/snack. Think about how you feel at the mid-afternoon slump time, it might be boredom or thirst/hunger that makes you yawn or appear sleepy. When they show these signs, why not try offering a change of scene instead of a nap and look to offer a nap a little later?

It is not unheard of for LOs to require a shorter A time first thing and not all children need the same patterns. My DD for example has always managed better with a long first A time and a shorter one to BT. It is about knowing your own children.

There is no problem with having a early first nap as long as you are not getting earlier and earlier WUs or nap refusal. As you are getting nap troubles it maybe a sign they want to move that first nap a little later. Why not try shifting it a little bit later every few days and seeing how they do?

[4lamps]

That makes sense about change of scenery.  Maybe (weather permitting) we could do a morning walk or play in another room.  Should I gradually extend the time by about 10-15 mins each day or every couple of days?  It's important to me to have both of them on the same schedule, but I am wondering if they are different in their sleep needs.  One of them always takes much longer to fall asleep than the other too and he is the one who normally wakes first.  Ugh! So many unknowns for me sometimes I just feel like I am racking my brain trying to figure it out.
I did read the articles posted above and that helped me too.  Thank you very much!

[Buttonbobs]

It's best if you can stick to each new time for a few days before changing to allow your LOs to adjust properly. It will of course be easier for you to keep your two on the same times for sleep and food etc, so I suppose I would just try to find the best timing for the two of them, even if one is not quite exactly right. There are other twin mums here, if you have a twin-specific question at at point just mention you have twins in the title and they are likely to come to help.

[Violet's mom]

Are you having issues with EW from what I see?  I do also so I have been pushing out the first nap and capping it.  She takes 1.5 hr naps (which I usually wake her from) so she will get enough night sleep. 

I hope things are going better for you!