Hi Girls!
Well I must say first off I am now in the same boat as you - so I guess I should be following my own advice!! Except my LO is older so we may actually have to move to 1 nap.
One at a time:
Lil' Monkey - I would stick with where you are just now. You had one 45min nap but previously had a couple of good nap days, so I would recommend you stay where you are and see how the next 2 days go. If she continues (3 days in a row) w/ the 45min am nap you may want to test moving the time forward slightly and see if helps, but doesn't effect pm nap or bedtime.
Cazao – I think the same advice as I gave to Sharon – Mum to Ella Rose applies to you also. So shoot for:
8am wake up (never heard such a thing, if it works for you don’t see any reason why not)
11am – 1hr (3hr A)
3.30 – no later then 5pm (3.5hr A)
9 bed – (4hrs A)
For the set nap times – I have read (Mindell, sleep consult for babycenter and author) that they should have set nap times at this age to help set their internal clock. She doesn’t say much more but I found it helped us as they can really hide those sleep signs (as you all have witnessed). When I first moved to set times, we would go to her room and I would think…she is not tired, she’ll never sleep. But she did! Put her on the changing table and she would start the eye rubbing – when we had none of that 2 mins ago!
Sharon – hang in there, we had a similar day so I can feel for you! Let’s keep trying before making any more changes.
Everyone-
Now you can also play w/ these, push 1st nap to 3.5 and / or bed 3.5 to find what will work w/ your LO. I know my LO likes her bedtime so even though she woke from her pm nap at 4.30pm (which she did today) she was fast asleep by 7.30. Also, I am recommending waking them after 1hr for am nap to protect the pm nap and bedtime. But if they start crawling, you may find they are more tired and can go back to the 1.5hr am nap and it won’t cause any harm.
Also give them the full hr to fall asleep - if they don’t then keep them up until the next nap time – how?…however you can: water play – outside for a good dose of fresh air (but not the stroller if they will fall asleep) – visiting friends or neighbor – favorite game - etc. My LO will practice walking forever if I let her.
Lastly, are all of your babes falling asleep independently?
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Hang in there and i am with you ... literately :wink: