What time does your 12 month old nap?

[mamarug]

I seem to have got our nap schedule into a terrible muddle...

DS wakes early - usually just before 5 - and is knackered by 9am, which is when I put him down for his first nap. Lately he's been sleeping for up to two hours, so he isn't tired for his second nap until around 3pm, when he usually sleeps for a good hour. Although I am overjoyed at the prospect of three hours off during the day, lately he hasn't wanted to go to sleep until at least 9pm, which just seems too late for a such little one.

I've tried stringing him along for his first nap but he gets so exhausted and cranky. Should I persevere in trying to push his first nap out so that he eventually goes to one sleep a day? Any other suggestions?

[karen999]

My dd is 10 months and naps 9-10am and then 12-2pm. Sometimes she has a cat nap of about 20 minutes at about 4 depending on how the other two naps have gone. If she wakens at 5 I feed her and then put her back down and then waken her at 7am.

[Kathyis6incheshigh]

Mine naps at lunchtimeish, 12.30-2 on average.
I think probably if your baby wants 2 naps he wants 2 naps and I wouldn't try to force him to only have one, but I would be tempted to wake him up after 45 mins or so in his first nap, so he has one little one and one big one.
Must be tough having a baby that wakes up at 5! I would probably be more concerned to change that than the fact that he stays up so late, just because it's hard on you having to get up so early.

[mamarug]

Thanks ladies. Believe me I have tried getting my lo to sleep past 5, but nothing seems to help, not feeding him, not bringing him into bed with me, not leaving him in his cot to grizzle...

I read in the Ferber book that some babies who wake at 5am have effectively separeted their last sleep cycle from their main night time sleep, which is why they take a long nap so early in the morning. He suggests putting them down for the first nap progressively later until they stop waking at 5am. Good idea to try limiting the first nap to 45 minutes - might have the same effect?

[karen999]

I think it would help if you did this. It may encourage him to sleep longer in the afternoon and he will prob be sleepy and ready for bed earlier too.

[suwoo]

I have just cut out DS morning nap as it was impacting massively on night time sleep, so just one nap now. 12-2.

[mamarug]

suwoo - how did you do it? did you push the morning nap out slowly or just cut it out altogether and start putting him down at 12?

[witchandchips]

If he is sleeping longer in the mornings then it will probably be the afternoon one to go. Try and push the morning one forward by 10 mins at a time. Once he is waking from his morning nap around 12, then he will just need a quick doze in the buggy or car before bedtime at 7.

[suwoo]

I just literally stopped him sleeping LOL. Lots of pinching involved . It has made a big difference as he sleeps brilliantly in the aft now but the night time is still not great but a huge improvement.

[mamarug]

Our nights are generally rubbish too, but am hoping that once we sort naps out things might improve

[suwoo]

We co-sleep at night and he is still a crap sleeper.

[mamarug]

Same - DS is in bed with me usually from around 12 and he still wakes up a couple of times before morning. What can they possibly need when they have their mum cuddled up next to them and milk on tap all night??!!

[suwoo]

DS is bottle fed but I have the bottle there, so yes he has milk on tap too! Is your DS very clingy during the day? Mine is, I can't leave the room without him crying. I have just ordered a sling so I can get stuff done.

[mamarug]

Yep, my ds has been really clingy lately too and has even started refusing to go to my mum, who he normally LOVES. He also likes to glue himself to my leg whenever I try to do any housework. Little monkey. Maybe it's a phase? (I've been saying this since he was about 6 weeks old!!)

[pops79]

I'm having similar problems with my 12 month old. He always napped for one hour in the morning and then 1-2 hours over lunchtime. He slept pretty well in the night and usually wakes around 6.30/7, which is fine. But over the last week his daytime nap schedule has changed dramatically. He was still sleeping for 45mins to 1 hour in the morning, but then only 30 mins over lunchtime. This meant he was absolutely exhausted in the afternoon but wouldn't nap further. The one good thing meant that he slept brilliantly at night and started waking at 7am every morning.
I took this as a sign that he needed less sleep during the day and started working to try and shorten and then eventually drop the morning nap, in favour of a longer lunchtime one. Today was the first day I tried no morning nap at all and despite a little rubbing of eyes he was just fine. I finally put him into bed at 11.30. He was exhausted. And then, he wakes up after 30 mins! I managed to get a further 15 minutes sleep out of it but now he is awake and refusing to nap again. I'm now dreading the LONG afternoon ahead with a cranky baby...

Help! Should I stick with trying to lengthen his lunchtime nap or am I doing it all wrong?

[ceebee74]

Mamarug - what happens if you let your DS sleep for a couple of hours in the morning and then not for the rest of the day? Do you think he would go to sleep earlier in the evening? Or would he be unbearable all afternoon?

My DS is 17 months now but from about 12 months, he started to only have a morning nap (unless we are out in the car in the afternoon). He goes to sleep between 9 and 9.30am and we always wake him up by 11. He gets a little bit grouchy for about half an hour around 3pm but as long as we distract him, he is fine - and goes to sleep like a dream at 7pm.

Although we could probably distract him in the mornings to keep him awake and let him have the 'normal' nap after lunch, it suits our circumstances for him to have a morning nap and he is usually rubbing his eyes and getting grouchy by 9am anyway.

[witchandchips]

ime there are two sorts of toddlers. One sort who wakes a bit late and drops their morning nap. One sort who wakes early and then starts sleeping so long at this nap that not ready to sleep until late on in the afternoon. In the end they both end up having one nap around midday.

[mamarug]

That makes sense, witch, I reckon you're probably right.

I guess there will always be a transitional phase where things are a bit unsettled. Pops - maybe you need to give your DS a week or so to adjust, and in the meantime you might have to ride out a few cranky afternoons?

Thanks for the suggestion about keeping the morning nap, ceebee. Unfortunately I don't think my ds would manage to get through from 11 to 7. On the odd occasion when he's not napped in the afternoon he is so tired he doesn't eat dinner and is a nightmare in the bath.

[witchandchips]

Try puting him down for 20 mins or so or going for a walk in the buggy round mid afternoon to keep him going

[DaDingDaDongDaMerrilyOnHigh]

Around 1pm, just after lunch. Naps used to be a nightmare. He still gets grumpy mid morning, but taking him for a walk usually distracts him and lets him rest wthout napping. He only naps for about an hour and a quarter at best though.

Sleeps well at night from 8pm - 7am. Bliss.

[mamarug]

Good idea about the buggy, witch. A few times he has fallen asleep in the car mid afternoon and you're right, it has kept him going until bedtime. I just felt bad not putting him down for a proper nap but it probably makes sense now so as to ease the transition to one nap.

[witchandchips]

It will only be for a couple of weeks at the most. If you push his morning nap forwards by 10 mins a day he will be sleeping 10-12 rather than 11-1 within the week and so may not need a p.m nap at all

[fairylights]

my ds is 12mo and was doing very similar to the OP story until recently..and he was waking loads in the night too!
Now he is having one nap sleeping 1pm-3pm ish, whereas before he had had an hour at about 9am and then another hour at about 2pm. I think i just kept him awake til lunchtime (was an effort!) one day to see if he would have a longer nap in the afternoon and this seemed to balance things out - he is now sleeping thru til 7.30am which is a bloody miracle, having been up at 5am for months. But sometimes if he has had an early morning i will put him down for a nap at about 9am again, he only sleeps for a half hour and this keeps him going. All the best!