Author Topic: When to starting capping nap?  (Read 1868 times)

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Offline lyssie28

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When to starting capping nap?
« on: August 09, 2016, 05:52:18 am »
Hi my dd is 9.5 months old.  She was having 2 naps of 1.5 - 2 hrs but has been ew etc so I have been giving her 1.5 in morning and 1hr 15 in the afternoon making sure she's not sleeping past 2.30/3 so that her bt stays at 7pm.  When do I cap one nap so that she will end up with one nap a day?  Her day yesterday was:

Wu: 6.30

Nap 8.30-10

Nap 1.15-2.30

Bt 7pm

She normally wakes once or twice still in the night and currently I'm getting her up at 7am.

If I wake her at 7 should I cap one nap even more?  How much A time should she have?  If she gets up at 7 would input her down at 10 but then when would I put her down for afternoon nap so it's not too late?

Offline Scottishmummy

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Re: When to starting capping nap?
« Reply #1 on: August 09, 2016, 13:08:35 pm »
Hi!

Are you counting 6.30 as EW?  An 11.5 hr night might just be her full night's sleep if she has a 7pm BT.
EW can also be linked to start time of a nap, not just the length.  So if you want a later wu, you might need to move the start of the first nap later.

Re moving to one nap..it depends on your LO.  There isn't a set age to start thr 2-1 transition..this link has info on some signs that a baby might be ready to start capping naps but it is a v gradual process. My DS started showing signs of needing his first nap capped at 10 mo but didn't go consistently to one nap until he was 18mo.  From 2 to 1 nap transition (10-12m and older)
Signs of needing to cap a nap further are usually fighting the next nap or fighting BT.

I personally only cap one of the 2 naps to try to avoid OT.  It might help to choose one to keep as long as she wants and one to cap. 

If she wakes at 7, I'd try to keep her usual amount of first A time & adapt rest of the day around this..depending on whether you choose to cap the first or second nap.

Typical A time at this age is 3-4hrs and can vary through the day.

Exact timings of naps, A times and length of naps are quite a lot of trial and error and it's hard to give you exact answers on these as it depends on your baby.  BW is a routine not a timed schedule. Could you observe and record her routine for a few days and see if you see any patterns and come back to chat through what might suit your LO?



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Offline lyssie28

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Re: When to starting capping nap?
« Reply #2 on: August 09, 2016, 17:05:49 pm »
Hi, sorry no meant to say her ew are between 4.30-5.30.  Sometimes I can give her a bit milk and she'll go back to sleep but a lot of the times she's wide awake standing in her cot. 

I guess I will cap the morning nap but just so an hour? So then it would be 2.5 hrs nap per day do you think this would be too much? She doesn't fight her naps ever and I only really put her down when she starts to rub her eyes but then it was the ew that made me think she was making up for the lost sleep by napping longer through the day.

Offline Scottishmummy

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Re: When to starting capping nap?
« Reply #3 on: August 09, 2016, 20:04:37 pm »
I guess I will cap the morning nap but just so an hour? So then it would be 2.5 hrs nap per day do you think this would be too much?

Worth a try!  You might want to try pushing it to a later start too. 8.30 is quite early for first nap at this age and could be contributing to the EW.

2.5hrs of day sleep is within average range..my DD is 10 mo and seems to need around this amount of nap sleep and will still do an 11-12 hr night (on a good night!)

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Offline michaeljacknnugg

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Re: When to starting capping nap?
« Reply #4 on: August 09, 2016, 20:26:28 pm »
Just another perspective... I never capped naps with DS1 as he was horrendous if woken. I just let the nap gradually get later and later until the second nap was replaced by an earlier bedtime. I think different babies need different things.
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Offline lyssie28

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Re: When to starting capping nap?
« Reply #5 on: August 10, 2016, 17:19:06 pm »
Thanks.  Yeah my first dd just did it herself.  When she was about 14 months old she just totally cut out the morning nap but she always had 1hr20-1hr30 naps and always woke herself whereas dd2 would just sleep all day if I let her and party all night.  Today she has only had one nap due to me having to go out and being to nosy to go to sleep in her pram but I will try tomorrow to see if she will have a later morning nap and a little bit shorter.  Last night she was awake 3am-4am playing in her cot 😏