11 mo inconsistent nap lengths - anyone else??

[ameliebob]

Hi everyone! I'm a very organized person and having a baby throwed the whole thing out loll

My son is now getting good at naps that are past the 45 min mark and I am proud of him! He's been a short napper for ever and now that he's starting to transition to one nap things are getting better and the schedule seems to be just fine! (30 min nap in the morning, 3.5 hour after that is nap time at 1:00)

But his nap lengths are so inconsistent!! Sometimes we're back to 45 min and other times it lasts up to 3 hours. Anybody's baby is or was like that?

[lily_layne]

My DD was like that. Her naps got more predictable once she was really settled on one nap.

[ameliebob]

On some days that he gets only one nap he will sometimes take a 1.25 hour long nap... I think it's pretty short for a one nap day.... He's happy when waking up but Then he gets supper fussy at 4 

[Kellyjs]

Oh yes, mine was the queen (or princess) of reverting to short naps. Never got a 3hr one though  . Much better when on one nap, mind you I mostly had to cap that one too  xx

[lily_layne]

You could try a 20-30 minute CN at 4 on days with only one nap. What BT do you shoot for on those days?

[ameliebob]

Ahah I would like it but he refuses and fights that nap since he's 5 months old! Even in the car or pram 
Then BT is around 6:30 instead of 7:00.

I was also wondering about EW. He always wakes up around 6:00 (give or take 30 min) chat to himself 5 to 15 min then back to sleep and at 7:00 I wake him up. This EW has been going on since day lights savings and is now habitual. Any thoughts on that? If I get him up at 6:00 he's rubbing his eyes and yawning soon after...

[ameliebob]

Sorry I have another question... For how long am I supposed to try to make the morning nap happen?

Today he fought it for 30 min (talking, fussing, standing, sitting etc) and then fell asleep sitting loll it was kind of funny!
I will wake him up after 20 min in order to not shift the routine so much and get a good afternoon nap. Should I just give up after 15-20 min of not falling asleep? I find it so hard to manage... Some days he doesn't seem tired and goes down easily but some days it's like today! Argh babies.... 

[lily_layne]

If he's settling himself in the early morning, I would leave him. I would also trying letting him wake on his own. He may sleep late enough that you can get away with one nap and then do BT at his regular time. DS does that occasionally.

It's really up to you how long you want to try for the am nap. My limit tends to be about 45 minutes of trying for the morning nap. Does it help if you push that nap a bit later?

[ameliebob]

Yes it help when pushing it later.
It's hard to manage the schedule with daycare as all kiddos naps at 1:00. So he needs to be up from morning nap at 9:30 in order to do a decent nap (which is not always the case!!) and he is such a light sleeper that the floor cracking wakes him up in the morning when DH gets ready for work. So he's up by 7 from Monday to Friday! and we have to be super quiet for afternoon nap to lasts more than 45 min, even with white noise

[lily_layne]

It is tough to work around daycare schedules!