Any advice for 13.5mo routine

[Madallie]

DD is 13.5mo and we are fluctuating between 1 and 2 naps per day as she was taking up to an hour to settle for pm nap. So for a while we had:

6.30-7am - wake
10-11 - nap (settled well for this usually)
3/3.15, sometimes 3.30 - nap (this was after being put down at varying times from 2, 2.15, 2.30 etc. She just didn't settle well.
I would then wake her no later than 4pm
7pm - bedtime but she was taking 30mins plus to settle

When I have now tried 1 nap, routine looks like

7-8.00am - wake (as she is only having 1 nap, on these days I let her sleep until she wakes up herself)
12-1.10 or 1.30 sometimes - nap
6.30/7pm - bed (straight to sleep)

The thing is she does get very tired in the late pm and I know that 1hr 10 is probably not enough day sleep but she settles so well for the 1 nap and at bedtime on these days as opposed to lots of time fussing and getting frustrated when put in her cot for nap and betime on 2 nap days.

What should I do? What would be best for her? Persevere with 2 naps and maybe over time (if I keep to 1 nap) the 1 nap may extend or keep trying for 2 naps, even though she wastes about an hour a day trying to get to sleep.

Oh, and it doesn't seem to make any difference if I shorten am nap to 45 or 40 mins she still doesn't want the 2nd nap.

Any opinions?

Thanks

my DS1 was 13 months he had 2 little naps too, then from one day to the other just wouldn't sleep at first nap, so I gave him his lunch, he fell asleep and slept for 3 hrs!

and that was that. 1 nap after lunch till he dropped them altogether (age 3)

definitely keep up with just 1 nap, she's old enough to last from brekkie til lunch!

keep a diary starting tonight for a week or so, to see what time she wakes in the morning, what time she has lunch, what time she has nap and for how long.

I'd wait for her to wake up naturally from the nap, just to gauge how much she actually needs, but wake her after 2 hrs anyway so it won't ruin bedtime routine.

then after a week or so when she's more settled I'd go back to waking her up no later than 7.30 in the morning, lunch at 12.30, nap at 1pm, then let her sleep till about 2.30. (3pm latest)

bedtime as before

hope this helps

Your morning nap looked too late which might be why she wasn't tired for the PM.

You could try lunch at 1130 and nap at 1230 then bed at 6/6.30?

I would say most of my peers' 13/14 month olds were still on 2 naps. My ds and my dd who is nearly 14 months is on two naps. First one at 9am for 45 mins, second one at 1pm for two hours, asleep by 7pm for bed.

Thanks Iggly.

I have tried putting dd down earlier in am but she just lays there playing, chatting, kicking, rolling, throwing ehr muslin then eventually crying when she gets fed up. She does eventually go to sleep after visits from me or dh but it's always nearer to 10am by then. I just don't think she's tired til about 10am (9.45 earliest).

Then, even if she does have only 45 mins she just does not want to settle in pm until late.

I have tried for past few days

Sat
7.15am - awake
12-1.10 - nap (short!!)
6.45 - in bed staight asleep

Sun
7.40am - wake
11.50-1.05 - nap
6.45pm - bed (although fussed about until 7.10 even though she was v tired)

Should I just keep going with this for a few days/ a week and see if she settles into a pattern of sleeping longer for lunchtime nap? Does this sometimes happen? That it takes a while for them to adjust to sleeping longer? Or should it just be happeing straight away if she's ready for it?

I'm confused!

I think if she's not settling for an early nap at 9/9.30 then i would try.
7am - wake & breakfast
9.30 - snack to keep her going till lunch
11.30 - lunch ready for
12.15/12.30 - sleep
2.30 - wake
6.30/7pm - sleep
On an evening i'd try and 'wind her down'. Dim the lights, give milk and then read couple of stories.
Don't worry if she doesn't settle into the routine straight away, it can take a few days and she may adjust it to fit her needs better. Once you've crack the daytime nap and bedtime routine you can then go back to a longer lie-in if needed.
Does she sleep through once she's settled?

Forgot to add that my LO was very similiar at this age. In fact some days lunch was more like 11am then 12noon nap which ranged from 1hr to 3hrs and an unusually difficult bedtime with a broken nights sleep. As soon as his molars broke through he was straight back to his usual routine.

My boy is 14 months and has been on one nap for at least 3 months. he dropped to one nap earlier than his peers but I think all of them (group of 6) are on 1 nap now.

He wakes between 7-8am, has lunch at 11.30 and down for nap anytime between 12-1pm depending on tiredness. Sleeps for 2 hours and bed again between 7-7.30pm.

Thanks BNmum for reading at your advice.

Yes she does generally sleep through once settled. Although has been unwell just recently and has 4 molars coming! Still mostly sleeping through though. Although I do worry about OT creeping in if the 1 nap remains short.

I let her sleep in because even when she gets up at 7.45/8 she is definitely ready for the 12noon nap, today she was alsmost falling asleep during lunch at 11.30am! I worry that waking her at 7am will mean she gets OT.

I feel like if she's sleeping longer in the am it must be becasue she needs it so am worried to wake her at 7am.

Do you think this would work?

7.30/8am - wake
12.30 - nap (which I hope will be at least 1.5hours)
7pm - bed

Do you think her 1 nap might lengthen once her body clcok adjusts and realises she is only getting 1 nap?

Sorry for all the questions. I just keep boucning back between 1 nap and 2, getting more confused along the way.

Oooh, didn't read you 2nd post before I posted mine BNmum! Sounds similer to my dd then.

What was you LO like when having 2 naps? (mine has never taken particularly long naps).

We are having this problem too (at 14.5 months)

Over Christmas we had this kind of pattern:

7.30 wake up
12-2 nap
7pm bedtime

But recently he's been having 2 naps again and not going to bed till nearly 9pm!

If you don't mind a slight hijack, I've never been a routine person, what do you actually do to keep a tired baby up or get a not tired baby to sleep? I've not tried because both seem like more effort than it's worth! For example last night he was literally dancing and jumping all around until 9pm there is no way on earth that dimmed lights, bedtime story etc would have got him to sleep. And on the days he needs 2 naps, he is very screechy and cries when tired- I just let him nap, even at 3pm rather than let him go on making those noises!

Hi mummy. I also still used to put dd down for pm nap at 3.00pm, sometimes later too but I liked her to be up by 4.15 otherwise bedtime got late and then I knew she wouldn't get enough sleep in at night before we had to get up in the morning.
But when I woke her after this pm nap she seemed miserable so thought if she coulc manage 1 longer nap it would be better for her. Rather than me waking her from am nap in order to get a pm nap, only to have to wake her from that one too.

At the moment we seem to be stuck between 2 short naps, one of which she really doesn't want and 1 no long enough nap which means she is OT at BT.

Not sure which way to go!

When he had 2 naps his 9am nap seemed to go from 45mins to 30mins to 20mins to nothing. He would lie there chatting, clambering around the cot and then having a whine so i stopped putting him down. Then we had a couple of weeks of him not quite making it to lunchtime (hence the 11am lunch) but i would just monitor him and bring lunch early if needed and let him sleep for as long as he needed for his lunchtime snooze.
Also on days when he was struggling with his teeth i would give him calpol before putting him down.
We have quite a structured lifestyle due to the nature of our jobs so a routine has always suited us but i completely understand that it's not for everyone. I'm not sure i could cope was 9pm bedtime, that's almost my own bedtime and it's nice to have abit of 'me' time even if it is ironing in front of the telly!!

dd2 is almost 14 months and hasn't had 2 daytime naps for some time now. Day looks like this

7.30 wake (give or take depending on day of week etc)
snack around 10.30-11
nap 11.45-2 (except nursery days when she goes a bit later)
bed and asleep at 7.20...

she is very habitual! (nb was waking up 3-4 x a night until we put her in own room at start of December)

Thanks rhetorician

I just wish my dd would sleep at least 1.5hours (2 if I'm being really greedy)

Did your dd sleep the 2 and a quarter hours from the beginning of 1 nap or was there an adjustment period?

My DD is also 13.5mo.

She wakes at about 7:30 and I aim to put her back down for her first nap 2 hours after she wakes. Usually she'll have anywhere from 1hr 15m - 2 hrs. Then I aim to put her down again about 3 hours after she wakes from that nap and this second nap is usually only 30-45 mins and hopefully no later than 4pm. Bed is by 7pm and she always sleeps through til morning. All the books tell me that a long morning nap leads to early wakings but we haven't found that to be the case.

When she's ready for 1 nap I plan to make her morning nap a little later each day and then bring bedtime forward, as early as 6pm if necessary until the nap falls more in the middle and she's used to only one nap and can handle that and then bedtime can get later til it's 7pm again. Not looking forward to all that though - don't feel I've ever really got a proper handle on naps (dd still has all her naps in the buggy or car though the little minx sleeps fine in the cot at nursery)