nap routine for 6mo

[moonprayer]

Hi, I was wondering what's your LO's nap routine for 6~7mo. My DS doesn't nap at the same time each day, and for various of time length. He still needs 3 naps each day. After waking up at around 6.30, he normally starts his first nap at about 8.30~9, then sometimes naps for 45min, sometimes 1.5hr, sometimes 2hrs. Then he will just wake up for another two hours, and then naps for another 1/2hrs, and then another 45min in the late afternoon. The only thing that seems to be quite consistent is that he can only stay awake for about 2hrs before he starts yawning. My question is, shall I try to fix his napping length or shall I just follow his lead, whenever he wants to wake up or nap?

My other question is, when are your LOs dropping the late afternoon nap? Two weeks ago, he became quite difficult to settle for the later afternoon nap. So I thought he was ready to drop it... but then he got so over-excited and very fussy near bedtime and always fell asleep when I started to feed him right before his bedtime. So I started to cuddle him to nap again for the late afternoon.. So normally when are they dropping the late afternoon nap? How do I know whether he is ready or not?

Thank you very much... (I think I am asking more and more questions here, and find mumsnet is much more useful than any of the parenting books...)

Hi. Your exactly the same as me. No day is every the same. Wake up is different every day so nap times change daily as does bedtime although I do try and stick to 7.30pm it very rarely happens. LO will go 2.5-3 hours between naps on a normal day and nap can vary from 30 mins to 2 hours so like you times change daily. I have got to the point where he needs to be awake from his 2nd nap by 1pm in order for me to get him down again for a 3rd nap (normally by4) if I don't do this he will miss 3rd nap and be ready for going to bed by 6pm which is a no go for me lol. This hardly ever goes to plan and we spend most tea times trying to entertain him and keep him happy through till 7pm and as you know it's hard to do but he often refuses to settle so I give in.
I've just posted about him as I think he's teething and just won't settle at all so its a nightmare yet again.
Hope you feel more human knowing your not alone xx

Hi, just wanted to add my voice to this - our situations sound v smilar. My DS has varied nap lengths and at different times. I have noticed that if he has a short morning nap, he will then have a long afternoon nap (the routine all the books tell you about!) but I would not dare wake him from naps as a general rule as his older brother would only sleep for 30 min naps - I am grateful for one who sleeps longer (crosses fingers and toes that I haven't jinxed this!)

Also doing 3 naps here, though the third one can get to be very late (5ish) but I prefer doing that as then I can get DS2 to sleep after DS1 goes to sleep (DS2 can take aaages to settle for bedtime).

If you want to drop the pm nap, how about trying a v early bedtime? It can be good for them, making them sleep better overall - though this seems counterintuitive. May be worth a try?

I think DS1 dropped to 2 naps at about 7 months (when his naps lengthened) but he has been early to drop naps in general (stopped napping at 2yo!)