3 naps too many but 2 not enough?

[Mull]

Hi. 7mo DS has finally got the idea of napping in his cot in the day and will now sleep for over an hour at a time. I thought this would never happen so I'm very pleased. But, now he is sleeping longer he doesn't seem to want a nap late afternoon anymore so we are down to a morning nap 8.30 til 9.30 / 10 and one after an early lunch (approx. 12.30 til 2). So today he's been awake since 2pm and was a nightmare to get through til bedtime (bath at 6.30 and bed at 7). I don't really want to bring bedtime forward as DH only gets home in time for bathtime.

I s'pose my questions are: do I need to bring bedtime forward for a bit? Will DS get used to 2 naps and not get so tired late afternoon? How long will this take? Is there anything else I should be doing to make this transition easier for him?

Any suggestions gratefully received!

Bumping ...

hiya, my DS went through this at 9 months. Some days he'd nap, other days he didn't. So we gave him an earlier bedtime or took him for a walk in his buggy around afternoon nap time so he'd get a break. After a while he got used to two naps.

Your DS's sleep might get worse if you keep him awake for bathtime. I used to have this problem with DH getting back late, so I'd give a bath and DH would do story instead. At the weekend we'd go for even earlier when DH was around.

Hi
I am having the same issue with my 7.5 mo and have done for a few weeks now.

I find that 2 naps are getting to be enough if they are long(ish) but if they are short (particularly the post-lunch one) I really try, like Igglybuff said, to take her out in the pram late afternoon to try and get her to have a 3rd nap. This however can make bedtime really late, but without a 3rd nap bedtime needs to be really early. It's a choice between a grumpy baby in the early evening, or a happy baby but less time for DH and I to ourselves IYSWIM?

SHe is gradually getting used to it and some days are better than others. On the plus side, she seems to have improved her night sleep

Mull, my DS is 7 months (just) and we are having the same thing for about 4 days now... I was thinking it was as a result of the clocks going back, but am beginning to wonder.

Hmm same here- dd is nearly 9 months. Having a bit of a mad patch which I also put down to the clocks going back but now think might be a transition into a new phase.

Nights (well, early mornings) have gone a bit funny- waking early, wanting to feed, then going back to sleep. Before she used to wake (slightly) later, feed and then be up. As a result her whole day has changed. Naps are either really short or much longer than usual. And she seems to be dropping the late afternoon nap and being cranky in the evenings as a result.

I think the best thing really is to go with the flow if at all possible. As with all things, there is no change without some disruption, and between now and the age of 2-3 they have to somehow become normal human beings who don't nap at all in the day and (hopefully) sleep all night. The road is bound to be bumpy interesting along the way!

I've also learned in the last 9 months that as a parent, you never have it cracked: sleep, eating, whatever. Just when you think it's sorted, it all changes!

Just hope it all settles down before I go back to work!

We had the same thing around 8mo, but DD did adjust fairly quickly. I used to give her some quiet time in the afternoon to give her a break, either a walk in her buggy, like Igglybuff suggested, or we curled up on the sofa and read books. I also gave her less of a nap in the morning so that she slept better at lunch. Usually 9/9.30 for 30 mins, then 12.30 - 2.30/3.

Thanks for the replies. I think a late afternoon walk sounds like a good idea (although I'm not sure I fancy wandering around in the gloom!).

I do find it strange that the longest nap that DS has is often after he's only been awake for 1.5hrs! I see the reasoning for getting him up earlier so he sleeps longer later on but I don't feel that comfortable waking him if he needs the sleep. For some reason he woke after only 30mins yesterday morning and he was SO grumpy!!

Maybe wake him after 45 mins gently? You could open his door after 40 mins and potter quietly in his room. I do this sometimes and DS wakes up by himself.

Why not let him have a 3rd nap a bit later and then have some daddy time and go to bed a little later on in the evening?

Well today was interesting. DS slept for 1.5hrs from 8.30 til 10 (woke up at 7am) and then had 30mins from 12.30 til 1 (while in the car so I ended up sat in B&Q car park - dull!). He seemed tired around 3.30 but I tried everything to get him to sleep and he was having none of it. Tried a walk, rocking, having his feed in the quiet, dark nursery, left him in the cot for a bit etc etc. It really seems like he will only go to sleep twice in a day, regardless of how much sleep he is getting.

Hmm, maybe I do need to try getting him up earlier from his morning nap ... just the thought of a day where he might only have 30mins sleep between 9am and 7pm fills me with dread!

I had this problem at 7 months. DS was overtired when 3 naps was too many and 2 wasn't enough, but I put him to bed really early (6pm) which helped. We still had more night wakings and early morning starts, though. I think it took a couple of weeks before he adjusted.

In the transition, I experimented with 3rd nap and late bedtime, or no 3rd naps and early bedtime. Losing the 3rd nap meant more total sleep over the 24 hours, despite the overtiredness.

I find that if DS has a long first nap, his second will be too short to get him through till bedtime. If he has a 35-40 min first nap, he'll then sleep 2 hours at lunchtime. On the odd occasions he sleeps for longer at the first nap, I wake him or he is overtired in the afternoon.

A 30 min nap is too short for many babies, whereas a 40 min one is a whole sleep cycle.

I have this problem too!!
My 8.5 month old will do 35-45 mins at 9am and 1hr 20 at 12.30pm. I have tried cutting back the 9am to 15 mins and no improvement.

Today she woke at 1.50pm so needed a nap at 4.20pm. I woke her at 4.45pm. She only went to sleep 15 mins ago!!!

LittlebearH, 15 mins isn't a whole sleep cycle, so doesn't really 'count' as a nap. The sleep books say that anything less than 30 mins is so short that it is pretty much the same as no nap at all.

Some babies just don't sleep quite so long at lunchtime. Your DD might still need a third nap to get her through to bedtime - or a very early bedtime.

Alternatively, you could try keeping her up slightly longer before lunchtime - you could try putting her down at 1pm - to see if that gets her to sleep for longer then.

Can you push both naps a bit later somehow? DD used to have naps around 10am and 2pm which made it a bit easier to get her through to bedtime.

Otherwise just wanted to say that he will get used to it.

Yeah tried napping her at 1pm too. (She has a bottle at 2.45pm)

Trouble is I try and keep consistant but she never is.

What with her lunch nap and her night wakings I dont get a lot done and I am so tired that I will be going to bed shortly.

I feel like I am shit at being a parent. Aaaaargh as I am typing she has woken already and have sent DP in.

Remember: Babies Are Random.

This Too Shall Pass.

You're probably in the 8/9 month sleep regression which won't be helping. (My sympathies - we're just going into the second half of it. DS woke 5 times between his bedtime and mine last night, although he's teething and has a cold too.)

More info on it here, here and here.