Daytime naps

[elsmommy]

I've got an 18mth old dd. Am I meant to put her down for a nap at the same time each day or just let her fall asleep?
She used to fall asleep about lunch time but now its not until about 6 - she goes to bed at 9!!

[Seona1973]

I always put my dd down for a nap at roughly the same time each day - I look out for when she is getting tired (yawning, rubbing eyes, etc). Her nap is around 11.30/12ish and she will sleep for anywhere between 1-2.5hrs. This sees her through to bedtime at around 7.30pm

Even if she hasnt yawned, etc I still put her in her cot at around this time as I know she is tired but fighting it - shes 17 months btw.

[QueenEagle]

ds4 is nearly 2 and a half and will go all day without a nap but gets really really ratty by teatime so I always put him to bed by 12ish for a couple of hours and he's much better for it.

[Shazzler]

DD is 19 mths and I usually put her down for a nap between 1 and 2. She has started to fight this and if she doesn't go to sleep then I cannot put her back to bed until bed time.

If she misses one nap she really needs it the next day.

[bagpussmice]

dd2 is 18months and she naps around 12.00 or 1.00pm for an hour then goes to bed at 6.30, but takes about 30 mins to go to sleep. Would put her to bed later, but dd1 who is 3.5 goes to bed at 6.30 as she is desperate to sleep by then... it seems unfair to put the youngest to bed later!

[RnB]

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[elsmommy]

Thanks for all your advice

[HappyMumof2]

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[Kjaysmum]

I have decided that my 11 month old should be put into bed for a nap when tired rather than just falling asleep. Now I am trying to ascertain if he needs two naps a day or if one is enough, what is the gerneral opinion?

[alismummy]

At about 10 months I tried letting ds ( now 14 months) nap when he wanted to but he fought sleep. So now I put him in his cot for a nap 4 hours from when he wakes up. It took alot of stroking and shushing initially but now he goes down fine, sleeps for 2 hours and is much happier for the rest of the day. Having said that my fiends one year old dd has no set naptime and sleeps from 6.30-7.30 every day.

[HappyMumof2]

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[elsmommy]

DD gets up at 5ish!! I take her into my bed and sometimes she'll have another hour if I'm lucky, so I'm worried if I put her to bed earlier she'll wake earlier!
I tried to put her down before lunch today and she just kept laughing at me!

[HappyMumof2]

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[elsmommy]

I'll try and get her down now then, thanks for your advice!

[elsmommy]

I've been trying to get dd to have a nap for over an hour and she just won't go to sleep

[HappyMumof2]

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[mummylonglegs]

elsmommy, when she naps at 6pm does she wake up by herself or do you wake her, and how long does she sleep for? Has she always done this? I'm tempted to say that if she really won't nap in the daytime why not keep her up until 6.30pm and make that her official bedtime instead. 9pm - 5am is really nowhere near enough sleep for an 18 month old. I'd say she's probably over-tired. My dd's always been a nightmare to get to sleep when she's in that state.

[elsmommy]

She just went and lay on my bed with the dog and fell asleep - I've just moved her into her own bed now.
If she goes to sleep at 6pm she'll have about an hour and then wake up herself.
She used to fall asleep at 1 everyday for about 2 hours but about 3 weeks ago she just wouldn't stay in her bed when I put her down.
She never cries like shes over tired, if she doesn't want to go to sleep she just tries to play games with me and if I ignore her she just gets out of bed.