When do babies start long afternoon naps

[Dinosaurus86]

DS is 5.5 months and sleeps ok at night (he wakes up to feed but generally goes back down fairly easily) but nap resists in the day. He will occasionally have a longer nap if moving in the pram early/mid afternoon but otherwise it’s rare to have anything longer than about 45 mins.

I’ve tried various techniques to extend the naps as suggested by Huckleberry but they don’t seem to work. I think he’s not quite there yet, developmentally. Although annoyingly he naps better for my mum, despite me trying all the same things.

I just wanted to ask, if you had a nap resister like mine at a similar age, did they ever start having 2+ hour afternoon naps in their cot or is it just not going to happen?

It would just be so helpful if he would nap longer and without me always having to take him out for a walk. I might actually be able to get something done!

My first was taking 5 short naps a day at that age (he's always had high sleep needs). Drove me mad- half hour rocking etc for a 35 min nap. My nerves were shredded.

By 7 months he was on a solid 2 nap schedule, both naps were about an hour and a half.

At about one, he dropped to one afternoon nap of between 2 and 3 hours.

Life does get easier with longer naps!

Mine used to take 3 x 45 min naps, now takes morning nap (about 1.5 hours) and afternoon nap (record was 3 hours but usually 2)
He is 8 months now and started predictably doing this maybe 3 weeks ago?

Lol, some of them never have two hour naps, none of my 3 ever did.

DD started 1.45/2hr naps at around 11am at age 13/14 months. Life was so much easier after that, it felt like we could actually do things

Can't remember that far back yet but comparison is the thief of joy and you'll be miserable if you're comparing to other kids.
I found that both of mine slept the best when they were outside. So they were often left outside in the garden come rain or shine!

In my DS's case...pretty much never 😬

2 year old DS has done maybe 2 or 3 naps over 2 hours in his life and that was when he was poorly. He consistently napped for 1h50 minutes when we dropped to one nap at 15 months. When he was on two naps a day, the second nap would maybe be 1h30 about 50% of times. Prior to 8 or 9 months, every single nap was 40 minutes in length. Sorry!

They start taking long naps just around the time you need to start cutting the nap short to not affect bedtime

8 months for my second, I can’t remember with my first. We did have to do controlled crying to achieve it though.

Hahahaha abandon all optimism OP. I don't know where you read that sage advice but none of my five ever did 2+ hours nap in the afternoon. Wild!

Mine did it around 15 months when we moved to one nap a day

I'm going through this with my 4 month old. He will sleep if I'm there so I'm napping with him (on the days I don't also have my 4yo) which kills 2 birds with one stone frankly! I'm hoping that once that sleep pattern is established / he's in the habit I can just move them to his cot.

2+ hours is a lot and I wouldn't expect that. It's around 12-18 months they drop to one nap usually.

Depends on the child. DD1 stopped napping in the daytime at about 12 weeks old but STTN very young. DD2 loved her afternoon nap but also spent a few months waking up for Daddy time in the middle of the night (an attempt to night wean that went badly wrong). DS was somewhere in between but as a third child had no choice in our daily routine.

Never had a 2hr nap!! Mine slept long at night (11-12hrs without waking), then maybe 45mins late morning and sometimes an afternoon if lucky for 30-40mins. This was from around the same age as yours. Still didn’t improve the daytime naps as they got older, but pick your battles - I was quite happy with the full night sleeping!

Never for my two. DD at least slept well at night, DS didn't, but neither normally napped during the day for longer than half an hour, unless they were in the car, and once they got to about a year old wouldn't nap at all in the cot, only in the buggy, car or lying on us.

9MO sleeps for 30 min maximum. My sister had the same with her two, but she says they slept 2 hours when they only had one nap a day so I live in hope

Mine is almost two and has never got the hang of a two hour nap. He now will do 1hr30 regularly but we’re having to cut that down as bedtime has become a nightmare. Some babies are just cat nappers, as long as they’re getting enough sleep it doesn’t really matter (although appreciate the need of a two hour break for you!£

This 😂😩

Yes this. Good thing they're cute.

You have to teach them

My 18 month old DS does 2 hr + naps in the afternoon. However I always wake him at 2pm (Regardless of how long he has had) as a 2pm wake up means a 8pm bedtime. He also doesn't sleep through the night and wakes at 5am so swings and roundabouts really! It is much more easier to manage though with 1 nap as when on 2 and 3 naps I always feel like I was getting him to sleep!

Yup this is so true

5 months was a nap a early morning nap , a late morning and an afternoon. All about an hour
DC dropped the early morning about 5/6 months? Then a nap at 10am( 1.30-2hrs) then a nap at 2:30/3-4:30pm)

this was clockwork for 6 months.

now at 13 months sometimes just one long nap in the middle of the day? I put this down to a regression or leap. For eg today they had 2 naps ( shorter). And 2 days ago it was 1 nap !
hopefully back to 2 x 1 hour naps !

We followed the Gina Ford routine of naps at 9-10, 12-2 and 4-4.30, then dropped the late afternoon one.

Both of mine kept their ‘after lunch’ nap until they started Reception, although by then it was ‘quiet time in your room with a story tape and fall asleep if you feel like it’.