Capping naps?

[AshleyMegan]

My daughter (9 months) used to nap at 11am until at least 12:30 or 1 pm, and again from 4-5pm, with me waking her at 5pm.  Her morning wakeup is 7:30 am and bedtime is 7:30-7:45 pm.  This past week, she has woke up at 12:10 pm, which I know is still an ok nap.

Should I still be capping the evening nap at 5?  I feel awful waking her since her 1st nap
Hasn't been as long, but don't want to interfere with bedtime.

We have playgroup twice a week at 12:45/1pm until 3 and these naps have worked good for us.  Just not sure if she may be on her way to one nap

[jessmum46]

It's common to have one longer and one shorter nap at this age   It sounds like she's telling you she needs her first (longer nap) a bit later to have a full nap again, so you could just try moving it to 11.15am and see if that gets the long nap back again.  Shouldn't interfere too much with your playgroup - even if you need to wake her a few mins early twice a week I wouldn't think that would be too much of an issue x

[AshleyMegan]

Perfect, thank you!  I tried that the past few days and her naps are back up to at least 1.5 hours 😊

[jessmum46]

That's great

[AshleyMegan]

Ok so I'm not sure if I should be continuing on this thread or starting a new one...
The past 3 days my daughter (now 9.5 months) has been sleeping 2-2.5 hours for her first nap.  It has been from 1115-115 or 145 (no playgroup this week)  I did try putting her down at 4pm for her last nap but she was talking to herself for a while and finally fell asleep at 430.  I did wake her at 5 since I didn't want it to interfere with night sleep.

Should I wake her at a certain point from this first nap?  I'm not used to her sleeping this long.
And should I continue with the last nap even if it's only 30 minutes? 

[Scottishmummy]

Hi!

If the long first nap and the 30min CN is working for her and not interfering with her night sleep, I'd stick with it.

I would keep a second CN to get to BT though as otherwise it's too long an A time and she's probably  young to manage on only 1 nap without OT creeping in.

Sounds like she's in the 2-1 transition now: From 2 to 1 nap transition (10-12m and older)

[AshleyMegan]

Ahh the past few days both her naps have only been 45 minutes and she wakes up screaming.  (It started with just the morning nap, but yesterday and today, the pm was short too).

She hasn't done this in so long.

Do you think I should keep with the same schedule, and assume she's going through a developmental leap, or try extending A times, yet again?

[jessmum46]

Could she be teething?  Waking screaming at the sleep cycle transition point sounds like something is bothering her....I wouldn't immediately change the schedule given how sudden a change it is, perhaps just ride it out a few days (and try pain meds if you feel that could be an issue) and see what happens?

[AshleyMegan]

She is teething but it doesn't seem to bother her at bed or throughout the day.

I did give her a dose of pain Meds and she slept 55 minutes this morning.  I put her down at 4pm for her late nap and it took her 20 minutes to fall asleep (no crying, just talking to herself) and she woke up 40 minutes later.  😥  I'm at a loss.

[Lindsay27]

With my DS when we started the 2-1 I had to reverse it and do the CN in the morning followed by the long nap in the afternoon.  I guess the issue with that would be your playgroup though.

[AshleyMegan]

I was thinking that as well.  However, even when she does a short nap in the morning, her afternoon ones are still short.  She only has playgroup Monday and Thursday, and really, if it means her napping properly, I could always miss it.

When did your LO fully go to one nap per day?  Mine just seems so young!

[Lindsay27]

DS did at 12 months when he went to daycare, that was the schedule there and he was already on his way to 1 nap so it just kind of helped push him there.  On the weekends though he'd often revert back to 2 for a while just to help catch up, up it was maybe 30mins in the morning and then the good PM nap.

We are much of the same with DD right now, a good morning nap and then 30-45mins in the PM.

[AshleyMegan]

Hmmm little ones- they're always changing! 

She has been sleeping for exactly one hour per nap today (which I know isn't bad) but she still wakes up fussy.  Do you think it would be beneficial to extend her A time by another 15 minutes to see if that helps and gives us a longer nap?

[Lindsay27]

Yes I think extending might be beneficial, an hour is still a good nap but given that they are both an hour neither is overly restorative which is likely why she is fussy.  I would extend and try to get 1 x 1.5hr nap and then the next nap can be shorter.  We do 1 x 1.5/1.45 and 1 x 45min...sometimes more sometimes less.

[AshleyMegan]

Thought I'd provide an update.  We had a few errands to run today which lasted longer than expected, and we were late getting home.  She went down for a nap significantly later at 12:45 pm (and she wasnt cranky whatsoever), she slept until 3pm and woke up so happy 😊  However, there wasn't really much time for a second nap.  She went to bed great at 7:45.

Does this mean she's already on a one nap schedule?

If so, will it affect her to do 2 days a week of 2 shorter naps due to playgroup?

Sorry for all the questions 😊