Come and talk to me about naps for an 11 month old...I am at a loss!

[RaisingMrC]

Just to set the scene, I've never really cracked day time naps in the cot, so for a while I had been doing his morning nap in the cot and afternoon nap in the buggy. 2 weeks ago I decided to try for both naps in the cot in the hope that this would help with his night time sleep.

His rough pattern is 2 one hour naps, one at 9 and one at 2. He wakes at 6/6.30 usually and bed 7/7.30, with currently 3 wake ups in between (self settling is the issue). He has a little pre-nap routine.

I feel like I must be missing something though, as it can take him up to an hour to settle to sleep, and the norm is 40 minutes. I sit with him as he goes off and shush or pat/stroke if needed. He also has a very strong tendency - which he has had from day dot - to wake after 30 minutes of sleep. I usually extend his nap by rubbing his back.

I'd love for it to take less time for him to get to sleep - and I think the fact it takes ages surely shows that I've got something wrong...though I can't figure out what!

Leaving him to settle alone doesn't really work (though I haven't pushed this) as he cries and gets himself worked up.

Any words of wisdom??

Hes possibly not that tired!
My 12 month old wakes and goes to bedtime same as yours but has one long sleep a day and one short.
I'm really not that prescribed, if he's tired and I'm at home he goes in his cot or if I know I have to go out to collect his sister, I just put him in buggy.
I don't put him to sleep until he shows me tired signals (basically he cries!!) and this can be anytime from 9am to 12 in morning. He is currently sleeping approx 2 hrs then and then does about 45 mins in afternoon but some days he manages this one sleep alone.

Once he grows a bit more, he will be able to stay awake throughout the whole morning and have one sleep a day straight after lunch. But I'm not bothered about when he makes this milestone.
It seems you have a good routine but do you need to be quite so precise?

Oh meant to say it's about this age they become attached to a comfort toy or muslin etc so try using some sort of toy at all sleep times as a signal. Better than a dummy! And don't be too worried about a little crying himself to sleep in day as this helps good habits at night.