9 1/2 months old and still having 3 naps.....do I need to move to 2?

[Andys mum]

My baby is 9 1/2months old (8 months corrected as he was 6 weeks prem), and is still taking 3 naps.  He can barely stay awake 2 hours before showing tired signs.  He is only awake for 1 hour in the morning....

His current day looks like this:
7am wake
7am bf
8am -9.30am nap (1hour + 1/2 hour to settle)
9.30am breakfast/water sippy cup
11.30am-1.00 nap (1hour + 1/2 hour to settle)
1.00 bf
1.30 lunch
3.00-4.30 nap |(1hour + 1/2 hour to settle)
5pm dinner/water sippy cup
6pm bath
6.15 bf
6.30 wind down
7pm asleep

I am very lucky and he sleeps through the night (and has done so consistently for 3 weeks now!!!)

Recently he is becoming really hard to settle (I have a posting on the sleep board too!)  Basically we have reestablished independent sleeping over the last few weeks.  He has no problems with eating and plays really well.

So I am wondering if I need to be transitioning him to 2 naps.  After reading the boards it looks like his day should be more like this:
7am Wake / Bf
8am Breakfast
9/9.30am Play
9/9.30-10.30/11.00am sleep
10.30/11.00am bf
12.00 noon lunch
1.30/2pm ? 3.00/3.30sleep
3.30pm bf
5pm dinner
6pm bath
6.30pm bf
7pm bed

Do I just gradually keep him up past seeing his tired signs to extend his A time? 

Thanks in advance,
Donna

[corrina01]

My DD is 8 months, corrected to 7 months 1wk (3 wks premature). From about 7 months my DD awake time was 2hrs, I gradually increased it by 5mins, and 3 days later I increased it again so her awake time was 2hrs 10 mins.  There she stuck for a while, and now all of a sudden it is 2hrs 30mins.

Does he wake happy?

If not, try and increase his nap time in the morning to 1hr30mins, but try and put him down at 8.30am.

What I am saying is increase his awake time for 5-10mins, see how that goes, and if he does well on it, increase it another 5mins after about 3-4 days.  He will probably be stuck at his awake time for a couple of weeks, and then see if he can do another 5mins.

Traci (Colesmum) has adviced me, (as I have posted on this board), that transitioning from 3 naps to 2 he should be awake 3+hrs.

HTH

[Windsurfer's mum]

My LO has since 7 months had 2 naps but he is spirited and does not need much sleep. He has 20 mins in the morning 3 hrs after waking up and then at 1pm he has 1 and half hours. I would not worry too much as your LO is sleeping though. Go with your gut instinict.
clare

[Andys mum]

Thanks for the suggestions.  I extended his A time today and although he was shattered for both naps, he went to sleep by himself quite quickly.  I will see how he progresses over the next few days.

Thanks again,
Donna