11 month-old skipping naps with pu/pd - drop to 1?

[aidenmc]

Just wondering if anyone has insights. We are training our lo to fall asleep on his own with PD. The problem is that he skips his pm nap. We are only on day 3 but the last time we tried this (a few months ago, gave up after 6 days ) he did the same thing. Even with a limited am nap (he only got 30 minutes this morning b/c by the time he finally got to sleep it was 10:00 and we had an appointment at 11:00) he still just played through his pm nap (started near 1:30). I don't know whether we are timing things wrong, whether he should go to 1 nap a day (and let him sleep as long as possible) or what. I think the added sleep deprivation will just make this process worse. Tonight we had him asleep by 5:45 pm, although he was sooo tired by 4:00 pm. When I was BF him to sleep he would take 2 naps of 1.25 to 1.5 hours a day, at about 9 and 1:30. He would normally be asleep by about 6:30 and up by 5:00 (yuck I know). Lots of people keep saying maybe he just doesn't need much sleep or he should maybe only have 1 nap, but I don't thnk I agree. Is this something that may just pass once he has learned to fall asleep on his own? Or could giving him one midday nap be a better approach to getting more daytime sleep?

Thanks,

Becky

[Lana]

It is possible that he is ready for one nap.  Ewan went to one nap at 10.5 months.  Have you tried to extend his awake time in the morning?

[aidenmc]

Currently he goes to slepe at about 9am. Usually he is awake at 5 for the day. TOday he woke at 4:45, chatting. I fed him at 5:40 and he was virtually asleep by 6, but didn't stay that way. In hindsight I should have tried harder to keep him asleep because he is so sleep deprived right now. Anyway, he was back to sleep by 8:45 until 10:00. I tried for his afternnon nap at 1:00. At 2:45 I gave up. I know he was tired but he spent about 45 minutes playing and fussing before he got into the crying. He was asleep by 5:45 tonight but there were lots of tears. He needs more sleep than he is getting right now. He is so exhausted! If the same thing happens tomorrow morning then I may get him back to sleep as if it was a night waking then aim for one midday nap. Hopefully it will be a longer one.

[alex and danny]

We also went trhough a tought time with our lo not wanting his pm nap.... he is 10.5 months and I refused to believe he should go to one nap.... until this week... I extended his awake time ( going to the store, walk, swim....whatever...) fed him lunch at 11 - 11:30 he plays for about 30-45 min and its nap time....he sleeps for about 2 hours.  He seems to do well on this.... he goes to bed at 7 - 7:30 and awakes at about 7am.  He often fusses at around 5:30 - 6, but I leavehim and usually goes back to sleep until 7.  I suggest you try it for a few days at least, and see how it goes.  As I said, I was shocked (as were my friends and family) that a lo so young only needs one nap (of only 2 hours?!)  HTH.  Keep us posted! Alex

[aidenmc]

We tried the one afternoon nap today and it didn't go quite as well as I had hoped. A couple of questions. Should we have started earlier? He woke for the day at 5:30 (typical for him) and I got him through the morning without much of a problem. I put him in his crib at 12:20 and it wasn't until 2pm that he was asleep. I gave him a short break after an hour (10 minutes) and when we went back in he was not pleased. But, he cried for about 15 minutes then fell asleep. He then woke after 1 hour. Not happy and very fussy the rest of the day. Bedtime didn't go as well as yesterday either. I am not really sure what to do tomorrow. I am really hoping he will sleep later in the morning. I think that might help things. I knew he must be tired by noon but he spent much of the first hour getting up and down, trying to chat and play, alternating with some fussing. Any thoughts?

[Lana]

I think you need to decide what you want your day to look like.  What time do you want him up for the day?  What time does he go to bed?  Then you want to aim for the nap in the middle.

Ewan used to get up at 8 or 8:30 and go to bed at 8 or 8:30 so his nap happened at 1 pm.  He did fall asleep in his lunch a few times which was pretty funny

[aidenmc]

Aiden wakes up at 5:30 (very early I know but we haven't been able to move it yet - hoping the nap change will help). Today we put him down at 11:20 and he was asleep in seconds. His quickest one yet (and this is while he's still learning to fall asleep on his own). I think the earlier timing definitely helped. I would love to have the whole schedule shifted to an hour or more later but maybe we'll work on that once he is actually napping consistently again.

[Lana]

Sounds like you are on the right track .  How long did he sleep for?

[aidenmc]

He slept for his normal nap length - 1.25 hours and he woke at 12:45. I was hoping for a longer one of at least 2 hours. Do you think we should keep on going and that the nap might lengthen? He fussed when he first woke but then was quite happy. He was pretty tired in the afternoon though. We put him down early (maybe too early) just after 5 and it took him about an hour to fall asleep (but he was happy and not crying which is great).

[Lana]

It did take Ewan a bit to get his nap length up as well. I would just keep at it.  Are you going to try to shift your bedtime and wake time?  Is it really dark in his room? 

[aidenmc]

Hi Lana,

Today we tried to attempt two naps and failed again. after yesterday's short nap and after reading so many warnings about not going to 1 nap too soon we deceided to try for 2. Well Aiden didn't agree with that and spent over an hour playing in his crib (that is after DH took him to the pool to tire him out ). So, maybe we just have to accept that it is going to be one nap and go with it. It is good to hear that they do begin to lengthen that nap though. The one good thing is that by bedtime today (he had been up since 10:40) he was so tired he went to sleep in record time. He is also sleeping fairly well at night (one waking - although lastnight he woke fully and started chatting  ). So, i guess we will go back to our 11:30 nap and try to gradually move it later in the day. I am really unsure of when to put him to bed these days, though. He was up at about 5:40 this morning. It is hard to choose a time and stick to it right now because I am constantly concerned taht he is sleep deprived (there should be a litmus test for overtiredness ). I would love to have a 7 am wake-up and 7pm bedtime but he wakes usually at 5 or 5:30 regardless of when he is put down. He has been this way for a few months now.