13 month old Napping Nightmare!

[Zacsmom]

Help!  My son is 13 months old.  He is still having two naps (2 1/2 hours after waking and 3 hours after am nap; usually around 9:30/1:30).  He's always been a crappy napper.  When he was little, PU/PD worked well to extend his naps.  Now that he weighs 27 pounds I can't do it anymore.  Lately his first nap is anywhere from 45 mins.-1 15 mins. and his afternoon nap is usually around 1 1/2hrs.  He sleeps well at night (12 hours) but still seems cranky during the day.  I don't think he's ready for 1 nap as he struggles with staying awake longer than 3-3 1/2 hours after his p.m. nap and is always ready for his morning nap after 2-2 1/2 hrs.  Should I keep trying to extend his morning nap by giving him his soother and stuffed mouse and laying him back down.  Any advice and encouragement would be great!

[elfin]

Hello,

It looks like he is getting enough sleep.  Have you thought about teething at all to be the cause of the crankiness during the day?  Myles got his molars right around this time, and was very whiny and cranky for the couple weeks it took to them to break through.

I don't think that one nap would be the answer as you said, the awake time he has right now is all he can handle.

Do you think he is getting any new teeth?

[Zacsmom]

Thanks for the quick reply.  Zac has only 7 teeth and just popped one of the lower right.  It could be the lower left coming soon.  When cranky though he rubs his eyes and yawns so I don't think it's his teeth.  He woke up after 45 mins. this morning and I left him there for another 45 mins but he wouldn't go back to sleep.  He'd lay quietly for a few minutes then he'd cry again.  Needless to say he was really tired by 1:00p.m..  I managed to keep him busy for 1/2 an hour before putting him down at 1:30.  He did start to walk a few days ago and seems to be learning all sorts of things these days, but I don't know if that's it or not.

[elfin]

It sounds like he is just hitting a stage where there is alot going on for him.  I found that 14-16 months was very trying!  Between getting molars and eyeteeth, and reaching new developmental milestones, there were alot of sleep disturbances.  The best thing you can do is stay as consistent as possible, continue to follow his cues, and try not to start any bad habits that you will eventually have to break.

Good luck!

[cjwagner77]

I don't know if this will help much or not, but Katy is 12.5 months old and we are having napping issues as well.  We are switching to one nap right now. But I would agree that I don't think you are ready to.  We were having problems with her falling asleep on her own when she used to fall asleep on her all of the time.  (Even on the days that we did two naps as we transition.)  She was getting some teeth and had recently discovered walking around the crib.  At first I would go in, calm her down, and lay her back down and she would go to sleep.  She was capable of getting back down herself as she did it when she was out of the crib.  I wonder if she was too tired to realize it.    Then she started not going to sleep after I calmed her down so I stoped going in.  She cried for a number of naps for awhile before finally laying down and going to sleep.  The novelty has worn off.

So all of this to say that her sleep is returning to what it was and it was a milestone that I hadn't even thought about causing a problem with naps.  New milestones can really make a difference in their sleep.

Crystal