My son is 10 months old, and his nap schedule was working pretty good for us for a while. He would nap at 11am and 4pm, and each nap would last approximatly 1 1/2 hours (give or take). I like trying to keep a schedule (not extremely strict) because it helps me stay on track. I grew up with a set but flexible schedule and it worked for me knowing what to expect. The problem now is that sometimes he acts like he doesn't want a nap, and other days I can hardly keep him awake till his nap time. Sometimes he'll stay up till 11:30pm, and other times he'll crash at 8pm. Many mornings he'll wake at about 4am, and just toss and turn restlessly trying to go back to sleep. He's just beginning to walk (and it's soooo cute and fun!!) and I think this might have something to do with it. He has plenty of energy, and always seems well rested when he wakes up. Do any of you have children this age, and if so, what kind of nap schedule do they have?? If this is a phase, I'm totally ok with that, but if there's something different I could be doing, I would love to try. Thank you for taking the time to read this. =)
It sounds like maybe he is ready to go to one nap a day instead of two. This happened at about this time with both of my kids. Maybe try to keep him up until 1230ish and hopefully you will get 1 longer nap. Good luck!
Awwwe, the times of looking for the signs that mean it's time to change the nap schedule. I loved that age, but it was also sad because it meant less time for a new mother to recooperate throughout the day from the exhaustions of being a mother to a baby.
You'll need to get rid of that morning nap. I know it sucks, but atleast you'll still have one during the day where you can relax or get things done you can't do with a little one around. A 12:00 nap worked out well for me when I first took my boy from two naps to one. You'll know if it needs to be pushed back by keeping an eye out for what time at night he's getting tired. I ended up moving my son's naptime from noon to 1:00 because I wanted his bedtime to be the same as his sister's, which is 8:30, and he just wasn't able to make it that long. He slept from 1-3 from the time he was about 10 or 11 months old until....just last week!!!! Unfortunately I just had to cut out all naps because he wasn't falling asleep at night until about 10:00. He laid in bed, but wasn't able to fall asleep. Now, I'm a mother with no breaks!! he he You'll know by how he's acting whether or not the time you choose to start at works or not, but I do recommend giving it about a week before you switch because you need to give him time to adjust. To get rid of that morning nap, try playing something really interactive at about the time you would normally have laid him down. This will give him a boost of energy at a time when he was normally laying down. You'll love it because switching to one nap a day in my opinion, helps them to sleep very peacefully at night.
MY SON IS 6MTHS BUT HIS USUALLY TAKES ABOUT 2-3NAPS NOW. SOMETIMES THEY ARE CAT NAPS AND THAT DRIVES ME CRAZY BUT HE ALSO SEEMS WELL RESTED SO I WOULDN'T WORRY TOO MUCH ABOUT IT. I HAVE CABIN FEVER TOO. WHAT SHOULD WE DO. I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK TO WORK UNTIL I FINISH NURSING BUT IM BORED AT HOME. LOL
Hi, M.!
My son is also 10 months old. He has been taking two naps a day, up until the past few days, actually. I usually lay him down around 9am and then around 1 pm, but the naptimes were getting shorter. So, the past few days, I have been laying him down around noon, and it seems to work much better because he'll actually nap longer...and I can get more done while he's sleeping,lol. (It's also nice because my 3 yr old naps at that time too!!) Now, if I can just get him to sleep in past 5 am, we'll be all set! Anyway, sounds like you're doing a great job! This is just one of many phases they go through:) Never a dull moment. Good luck! Email me if u ever want to chat...sounds like our boys are going through the same things:)
~B.
I just put my Kate on a schedule about a month ago, but she's olny five monthes old. She was going to same things, irregular naps, up late nights. If you haven't already tried, what I did was start giving her a bath about thirty minutes before she would normally fall asleep, and every night moved the bath time up by a half an hour. Now she doesn't even need the bath. That's all I have:-) Good luck!
My daughter quite take two naps around 10 months. She just did not require that much sleep. There were days though where she would take two naps like your son, and be awake late into the night, and then get up later the next day and her whole schedule was off. Some children just don't need as much sleep as others. She has been one of the only kids in K4 to not take a nap with all the other children. Also sleeping a lot some days and less on others is a sign that he is growing and needs more sleep, because that is when they grow. Have you ever noticed in the morning he looks bigger and taller that is because they grow at night. I would definitely keep him on a good schedule, but you may need to adjust nap time, to get him down after lunch around 1 and let him sleep for about 1-2 hours and then wake him up, he should still go to bed at a good time.
So normal. My son (now 16 mo. old) prior to 10 months old was at 3 naps per day plus bedtime at 6:30/7pm. Close to a year old he cut out the middle nap and took only his morning and afternoon with the same bedtime.
Now at 16 months old he has cut out the afternoon nap but some days seems so tired he could take one. His morning naps are usually within 3 hours after he wakes in the morning and his wake schedule is somewhere between 7:00/7:30am. We have managed to keep his bed schedule (7pm) since I don't put him down for the afternoon nap, unless of course he falls asleep in the car and he stays asleep once I bring him in the house.
I had 2 weeks here recently that he just wouldn't take his morning nap and fell asleep around 2:00pm but I just let him sleep in the car since I had things to do. Your son will change many many times but at least try and get him down for one nap per day either morning or early afternoon. Our son would stay up really late at night if we allowed him to but really the energy he has at night is nervous/over-tired energy. If you can try to get him to sleep earlier and keep that schedule you might be better off. Not to mention, quiet time for you and your husband. Hope this helps.
Try to limit his nap to one nap a day maybe after lunch time. I did this too and my daughter did the very samething then I decided it was time to adjust it and she would go to sleep around 1pm wake at 3pm and go down for the night about 8:30 give or take a half an hour then she would wake between 7-8am.Children do need stucture they thrive on that maybe if you see hes getting sleepy to early in the evening give him a bath and play together for a little bit to keep him awake because it will take sometime for him to get use to the idea.
good luck
M.
Preston is just growing out of his two nap cycle and just needs one a day. That one a day will probably turn into 2-3 hours of sleep, depending on him. Babies can't monitor their activity, it's just full steam ahead, than that steam is gone. We have five children, that includes a set of twins (Preston is one twin) and they all went through it around 10-11 months. It takes time for the adjustment, the getting sleepy on some days, just try your best to keep him up until the closest time until nap. Waking up in the middle of the night should stop when he hits the new cycle of naps, because he won't be overly rested, ie the tossing and turning & waking up. Trying to keep a schedule, with a little flex is great, we are like that with ours and everything goes according to plan, for the most part. My twins just turned three and their naps in the past month have started to shorten, all a part of growing up and out of things! I wish you the best and it sounds like you are off to a great start!!
