nap for my 13 month old

[NotSureImDoingThisRight]

My DD is in a really awkward stage with her naps; she generally wakes up between 6 and 6.45 in the morning (having gone to sleep at 6.45 the night before) and is desperate for a nap around 9/9.15. Today she was so tired at this time she walked into her room and shook on the cot bars till I put her in...If she has it her way she'll sleep till 10.15/10.30. Only trouble is that she is then not wanting to sleep in the afternoon, and despite attempts at 2pm, 2.30pm and a drive around at 3pm she didn't fall asleep and stayed awake until her bedtime (perfectly good natured but a fair amount of eye rubbing)

Now, this obviously means she's staying awake for 8hours in the day which I know is too long and not good for her. Ideally she should have a nap 12.30/1ish right? I'm happy with this idea but I cannot stop her from crying for a nap around 9. What can I do? I've tried shortening the nap to 45 minutes but all she does is cry all day because she hates being woken and then is difficult to be around. Is it possible that she is just the type who will have one nap but it will be in the morning?

My dd wakes and goes to bed at a similar time to yours. She has pretty much always been a one nap in the morning baby. I found that as she got older the nap slowly started to get later and now at 20 months it tends to be after lunch.

I think they get to an age when they don't want to nap in case they miss out on anything and they are so active. Hence refusing to have an afternoon sleep despite the eye rubbing and obvious tiredness!

My response probably doesn't help but just wanted you to know that you are not the only one

It does help to know that, thank you! I guess I will just let her have this nap and hope it moves a bit later with time like your daughter. Everywhere I read they should drop the morning nap first and sleep after lunch so I am worried she is getting overtired but I can't force her to sleep if she wont!

I don't think it helps to wake them early, my little girl is very upset if I cut her naps short. We switched from a 9 and 2 nap to a 11am one recently. She needs a bit of hugging and "downtime" around 9 to get her through the tired bit, but then gets another lease of life and goes till 11 - and then the great bit is she is completely shattered and sleeps undisturbed for 2 hours, it's blissful.

But yes, around 9, we have a few cuddles, maybe watch a tv programme or read a book, something sat down. A snack helps too!

It took us a week or two to make the transition but naps and bedtime nd night sleep have been loads better since. My baby is 14 months.

Good luck, I suspect she'll get there soon anyway, but I find the "downtime instead of sleep" at those tricky periods really helps. On the other hand if she's having a nap at 9 and going fine till bedtime, is it really a problem???

Thanks squid what do you do in your 'quiet time'? I think a 10.30/11am nap could work for my DD ultimately. What time does she wake up in the morning? and when do you give her lunch? I am finding that on the days my DD naps in the afternoon (regardless of nap or not in the morning) she wakes up grumpy and stays that way until she goes back to bed. It's like it doesn't restore her at all, just makes her groggy...Perhaps she really will be better with a late morning nap. I don't mind at all if she sleeps at 9, I just worry that the amount of wake time is unhealthy for her...but perhaps I should ignore the books and just let her do what she wants!

Quiet time is just something where she has to sit down (she runs everywhere all the time otherwise). So a cuddle and some books, or a little trip in the pushchair (not long enough to fall asleep though). In the Night Garden seems to work well!!! Once she's been sat down for 20 minutes or so she's a bit more rested.

She generally gets up at 6.30am (5am this morning, YAWN!) We have a feed on waking, breakfast at 7, very early lunch around 10.30 (more like a second breakfast I suppose) and then she sleeps well 11-1, and we sometimes have a snack on waking, and then a proper meal at 3.30pm. Bedtime is 6.30pm.

I nicked those timings from her nursery, that's what they do with the 1-3 year olds. I wouldn't have thought such early meals would work but it's been going well.

I would definitely ignore the books if things are working for you!! I don't really believe in imposing routines on little babies, but as they get older I find keeping them successfully fed and slept makes them so much happier!!! It's not always easy to make adjustments though, I kind of nudge little changes bit by bit.

We had an early wake up this morning too, 5.45! She's getting another tooth so we've not got much past 6 for a week or so! I think I will just look at gradually stretching out her awake time in the morning and just let her sleep then. She will either sleep or not in the afternoon I guess. Today we got to 9.25 but it was a bit of a struggle! There is absolutely no way we will be getting to lunchtime without a nap for a good few weeks yet! Is it very unusual for a child to drop their afternoon nap but not morning, or more common that I think?