Hi,
I’ve got a DS aged 6m. He will not nap for longer than 30 mins at a time - it’s like he has an internal clock set to wake him up at exactly 30 mins after going to sleep.
As a result, he ends up having 5 short naps in the day, but according to the NHS, he should be napping 3 times per day for 1.5 hours at a time and over the next few weeks, dropping down to 2 naps.
He has no problems with night sleep - he goes down at 7.45pm and wakes up at 7.30am. He might have a brief night wakening around 4am for his dummy every now and again.
I’ve tried extending his awake time in case he isn’t tired enough to sleep for a sustained period but he generally can’t go longer than 2 hours between naps and ends up really grumpy and tearful. It isn’t boredom as I change his activity and he still continues to cry and rub his eyes.
I’ve also tried gently rousing him 25 mins into his nap to reset his sleep cycle but he sleeps for 5/6 mins more and then is awake again. He isn’t upset when he wakes up, is quite happy.
He sleeps in a pitch black room in his cot and I don’t struggle to get him down for naps - he’ll go off within 2-3 mins of being put in there.
An interesting thing is that he naps for a long time in his car seat or pram when out and about; he’ll manage 1-1.5 hours in there easily, even if the pram / car seat are brought indoors after to continue the nap.
Not sure if I’m doing anything wrong or whether he’ll developmentally catch up in time.
Any suggestions would be gratefully received!