DS 18mo sometimes long afternoon nap, should I wake him?

[sharond101]

Is it ever wise to wake a sleeping baby?DS is 18mo and after a restless night can nap for 2.5hrs in the afternoon. I know he needs to catch up in his sleep but I'd rather he did it in the nighttime and sleep a little later in the morning (wishful thinking!!)

Personally I always let my dd sleep if she needs to and she is nearly 3. It's not uncommon for her to have a 3 hour nap after a particular busy few days!!

It depends how bedtime is affected. After a v long nap, is he still going down as normal at bedtime? From about this age, a v long nap would mean that, although bedtime was 7, she wouldn't sleep until 8.30 or so. If bedtime is affected, I would limit / wake from the daytime nap.

If bedtime and nightime sleep is unaffected then I'd let them nap for a max of 2.5 hours... I think anything morethan that has a knock on effect at bedtime.

But then ive always been a bit of a sucker for routines and schedules! I would never let either of mine nap longer than 2.5 hours without a feed or waking them up.... im convinced it helped them both to sleep 7-7 from a very early age, about 12 weeks but I could be wrong!

I let ds sleep then only put him to bed when he looks tied that evening. But then the routine was his idea