LAST NAP OF THE DAY...HOW LATE IS TOO LATE???

[1605yvette]

Hi all, I'm interested to know if anyone has a cut off for when they put their LO down for their last nap of the day before bedtime?

I'm worried that if I leave it too long between the last nap and bedtime, baby will be overtired and struggle to get to sleep, or fall asleep on the breast and not get a good last feed!

My little girl is 12 weeks, she generally wakes up between 06.45/7.30 each morning and can manage 1.5-2 hours of awake time before I put her down for a nap...the problem is, she is very inconsistent with the length of her naps. This means that, if she sleeps 2hrs, her last nap generally fits nicely at 4.30ish. But if she only sleeps 40 mins (which is more common) she can be going down at 5.30pm for her last nap! She has 3-4naps a day and we aim to get her to sleep 8pm, and I find it stressful trying to time everything to a routine, when her naps are so unpredictable and then have a knock-on effect on the rest of the day, and don't want to cause problems by putting her down too close to bedtime. Also, how can I promote a consistent routine, when some days she has 3 naps and sometimes 4?

Would love to hear if anyone has any tips or the same problem :-)

Hi 1605yvette,
I know this feeling, and it does seem a little scatty trying to constantly tweek the naps. My wee boy needed a nap every 1.5-2 hrs at this age but I did notice that as his bedtime was 6.30/7 his last nap needed to be before 4.30.
I certainly don't have all the answers (see my current sleep dilemma on another thread!) but it might be an idea to try to move the bed time a little earlier and stretch out the evening awake time incrementally. I found I could only do this very gradually over a week or two. As far as consistency, I'm afraid my experience is that as soon as you think you've got it licked, baby changes and a new phase rolls in! Good Luck!

My DD didn't settle into a properly predictable routine until about 4.5 MO. Until then bedtime was always btw 6.30 & 7.30, depending on when the afternoon nap happened.

Now, at 5.5 Mo, things are more consistent, although nap times aren't absolutely set in stone. The absolute latest I'll let her afternoon nap start is 5pm and then I'll wake her at 5.30 as bedtime is 7.

Thanks Flark, we did try putting her to bed around 6.30/7, up until around 3 weeks ago, when we were out late both sat and sun one weekend for two weddings (none all year, then two at once!) and she seemed to settle so much better than the earlier bedtime - when she would cry and cry for an age...but I guess that could have just been that she was that bit younger than she is now? Will try and gradually tweek it earlier I think :-)

Thanks CityDweller, her last nap yesterday ended at 6.10pm, and she was asleep at 8.15pm, but I must admit, it felt that little bit too close to bedtime!...I think I just need to hold out for a couple of months for things to settle like you say...just some days it feels like all I do is put the poor thing down for naps :-)

How long do your LOs now nap for? :-)