Help with 8.5 month old routine - dropping a nap?

[CluelessMama567]

I think my 8.5 month old is dropping a nap but he also struggles to stay awake without a meltdown whilst making it to bedtime if I stretch his wake windows. Any tips of what I can do to tweak the routine during the transition?

Current:

6.30/6.45am wake up
9.00/9.15am nap 1 for 30-45 mins
12.30/12.40pm nap 2 for 1 hour-1.25 hours
4.10/4.20pm nap 3 for 15-30 mins (I cap to prevent bedtime getting too late as it’s hard to fit this one in now!)
7.30 bedtime

I think he’s a low sleep needs baby as no matter what I do or what time bedtime is, he seems to only do max 10.5 hours of night sleep but it’s regularly as low as 9.5.

If I stretch his wake windows and move bedtime to 7pm, he’ll need to be awake for at least 4 hours before bed but I don’t think he can handle that without getting overtired? And that’s IF he manages to do two long naps, which I’m not convinced he will or needs. He averages 2-2.5 hours of day sleep normally.

How do I manage him dropping a nap??

I'd cap that 4pm nap at about ten mins until he can manage without it. I know it barely seems worth napping for ten mins but if got mine through to bedtime! As the weeks go by they will start to fight that last night and that's when you can drop it and bring bedtime forward to 6.30/ 6.45 if needed.

Fight that last nap I meant

@Whereland thanks for your reply! do you think it could be an issue moving bedtime from 7.30-6.30 so abruptly?

However I don’t know how to bring bed forward without reducing day sleep from other naps

If he gets a ten min nap it might not need to be 6.30, 7 might do! See how he seems

Mine dropped the third nap at about that same age, it was a really tough transition (some horrendous split nights while it happened) but it transformed her night time sleep. She also naturally brought forward her bedtime as she just couldn't stay awake past 7pm anymore. Roughly a 2:3:4 wake window pattern worked well for us at that age. Up at 7, nap at 9 for about 30 mins. Nap at 12:30 or 1 ish for about an hour and a half (2 hours if I got lucky) bed at 7.

@sazzt thats really helpful to know, thanks. How long did you find the transition to take before it settled /nights improved again?

Can you push naps 1 and 2 back so they're each 15 min later? that would give you half an hour less to worry about in the afternoon when you do finally drop it

agree with pp, nap #3 should be no more than 10 min until it goes completely.

Babies do so much developing in the first year. I thought my son was low sleep needs at that age - we were just getting into our routine. He now naps like your average toddler, so there is hope for you!

@DragonbornMum thanks. Do you think a 10 min nap will just reset his wake window and end up pushing bedtime later and later as the other two wake windows increase?

@CluelessMama567 it was probably about 2-3 weeks but felt like decades at the time. Her sleep hit absolute rock bottom at that age and has been on an upward trajectory since (19 months now). But I remember that age vividly because I was only about 8 weeks off returning to work and wracked with terror about how I'd manage it with her sleep being like that. Thankfully it passed.

I think it varies from baby to baby. For us a power nap didn't exactly reset the wake window, but it did stretch it out a decent amount.

I think leave the timings while if you the third nap. Then when you drop it may be a bit of a learning curve of the last wake window as you discover how long your baby can tolerate