Confused about nap schedule for 13 month old

[mom2william]

I am a bit confused over naps and awake time for my DS at this age.  He seems to really need the 2 naps still at this point.  However, sometimes he's napping later in the afternoon which is OK but seems to be messing up bedtime (Not enough A time prior to bed??).  He won't go down until 8:00pm sometimes.  That would be OK but he still wakes up around 6:30am and I wish he could get in at least 11 hours of night sleep.  That's about all he'll sleep.  He's rarely done 12 hours overnight.  So, my questions are multiple.  He loves his morning nap but since this is pushing the PM nap later in the day, should I shorten it so he'll nap earlier in the day for the PM nap and be able to make a 7-7:30 bedtime?  I definitely limit the AM nap to 1 1/2  hours (sometimes he'll do 1 15 min and wake up on his own).  But I've heard lot's of people say to limit the AM nap to 1 hour at this age.  I am confused!  He will sometimes sleep 1 1/2 in the AM and 1 1/2 in the PM but, again, the PM nap starts later sometimes not 'til 3:00pm and he goes to bed later but wakes up early!

Our schedule is like this, currently:

6:30am Wake up
7:30am Breakfast (muffin, milk, juice, fruit, egg)
9:30am Nap
11:00am wake up (sometimes if he goes down later he doesn't get up 'til 11:30am)
11:15am snack (cheerios, milk)
12:30 Lunch (meat, veggies and/or fruit, bread, cheese, milk)
2:00-2:30ish Nap (at times he doesn't get down until 2:45-3:00pm though and this is when we have problems
4:00 or after wake up (I try not to let him sleep past 4:30pm)
5:30pm dinner (eats what we're having.  I have a great eater on my hands!)
6:30pm Bath
7:15-7:30 Wind down for bedtime and hope he goes down but won't until 8:00 sometimes!!

So...

1.  Should I limit the AM nap to help get him to bed earlier?  I am confused because I thought you only limited the AM nap if they were refusing the PM nap which he's still taking it pretty well.

2.  Is the reason he's not going down for bedtime easily due to not enough A time before bed??  What are awake times for this age, generally? (he's actually almost 14 mos. old)

Thanks for the help in advance! 

Suzanne
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William born 3/23/05

[Paulsmama]

Hi Suzanne,
Hope y'all have been doing well.  I don't think I can be of much help but did want to let you know that your current routine is almost exactly what Paul was doing for several weeks before he started to really go to one nap about 2 weeks ago.  Although we had gotten to the point where am nap was limited to 1 hour (couldn't cut it less or he was too grumpy) and pm nap ended at 4 so he would fall asleep by 8.  But, we were also only getting Paul to sleep overnight from 8-6:30 and then he started having nightwakings on top of that (he's also cutting his molars).  We had a few sporadic days where after a really bad night he'd sleep until 7:30 am, there was no time for a morning nap so we just did one midday.  Then 2-3 weeks of back to 2 good naps, now I think we really are transitioning to one -- the couple of 2-nap days have been worse than the dozen or so 1-nap days.  It's been pretty bumpy and he still has nightwakings but he is getting more total sleep hours because he is going to bed earlier.  If things don't improve soon I will be posting asking for help again!

[alyssa1]

My son now 16months old just went through the same thing except we did not have to limit the am nap but we had to make the pm nap happen earlier in the day to ensure a good night sleep.  If I were you, I would limit the am nap to 1 hour or less (9:30-10:30am) - that way hopefully he will go down for his pm nap at 1:30/2 - 3:30 - this will ensure bedtime at 7/7:30pm and that way he will get more night sleep.  My lo would have a short am nap and wake up very tired but have a great pm nap - this is what I would shoot for until you can eliminate the am nap alltogether.  I have heard that they need 4 hours of A time before bedtime (so from the end of pm nap-bedtime is 4 hours).  We would never let our son sleep past 3:30pm to make sure bedtime was no later than 7:30pm.  I think the reason he won't go down until 8pm is that he's waking from his pm nap at 4pm.  Try to get that pm nap earlier and never let him sleep past 3:30pm.  It worked for us and now we are in the transition to 1 nap - dropping the am nap altogether and moving the pm nap to 11:30-1:30.  Good luck!

[mom2william]

Cynthia,

Good to hear from you.  Glad to know you may soon be on the other side of the 2 to 1 nightmare!  You've had your trials with the nightwakings, for sure.  Fortunately, William is an extremely solid night sleeper.  But we had MONTHS and I mean months of horrid 30-40 min. naps so I guess you trade one for the other!  I think I am going to definitely start limiting the AM nap more.  Today I let him sleep about an hour 15 min. and it's been 4 hours since he got up and he's not going to sleep!!     My problem is that I always want things to go perfectly!    Yeah, right Suzanne!  That is parenthood and you would think I would have realized this by now!   I am also soooooo worried that he'll start the transition during our beach trip the first week in June.  It will be virtually impossible to get him to bed early there because everyone will be like "Why is he going to bed so early?"    

Alyssa,

Thanks for the tips on limiting the naps.  I'm a bit confused because I thought it was OK to limit the AM nap and not the PM one as it's the one they keep when they drop the AM nap.  But, as you say, I think him sleeping 'til 4:00pm or later is why he won't go down at 7:30pm.  I thought he was just giving us a hard time by crying but I think he was trying to say "Hey guys, I'm just not sleepy yet!". 

Suzanne
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William born 3/23/05

[alyssa1]

I have heard the same thing about not limiting the pm nap unless it will mess up bedtime.  If you can get it early enough then by all means let him have the 2hours plus - but I have also heard and seen at this age that 2-2.5 hours of day sleep is what you want if you want the 11-12 hours of night sleep.  I guess it's a flip for some - some like the long nap, others the extra hours at night.