Back again...help please

[Hendersonsisnotrelish]

I posted yesterday about 10 month old DD refusing her afternoon nap. I took advice and took her for a walk in the pram and got her to have an hours nap, great.

Today her dad tried to put her down for her afternoon nap and she was having none of it. He is usually the sleep inducer and can normally get her to sleep if we are having issues.

I said no problem we will just take her for a walk! We walked round the park for over an hour and no joy. She was happily looking around and chatting away to herself. Tried covering the pram so she wasn't distracted, still no sleeping.

It got past her dinner time so we came home and fed her. She still seems perfectly happy. Will take her to bed at usual time of 7 and be prepared for the consequences.

I am now wondering if it's time to move to one afternoon nap? Surely it's far too early for that? Any suggestions?

The second nap is always harder than the first. I wouldn't drop the nap. The average age for dropping to 1 nap is 18m, with a range around 14-22m.

What happens to get her from awake to asleep?

What times are her usual naps?

I did think it was very early!

Usually when I put her to sleep it's into grow bag, I sit on the edge of the double bed in her room lay her down on my lap and give her a bottle. She gets sleepy as she drinks but doesn't fall asleep and starts playing with her hair. When she has had her bottle I insert dummy and put her in her cot still awake, say goodnight and leave the room. Usually no problems.

When dad puts her to bed he does similar but lies back on the bed and has a little cuddle before putting her into her cot.

Oh and naps are usually 9.30 and 1.30 bedtime at 7. She usually has a good 3-4 hours of naps a day but sometimes the longer one is am sometimes pm. Thanks for replying

How long are the naps?

They do vary slightly but usually about 1-1.5 hours at 9.30 and 1-2 hours in the afternoon. Sometimes 2.5 hours in the afternoon if she's had a short morning nap.

She wakes between 6 and 7am. Occasionally before 6 but is happy in her cot so we leave her babbling till six

3 - 4 hours is quite a lot of daytime sleep at 10 months I think. Would it help to keep the morning sleep shorter so she is tierder for the second sleep?

I would say that's a good idea in theory calpol but today and yesterday, when we've had the issue with the afternoon naps, her morning naps have been 1 hour max. Maybe even a little less. It's just so confusing and I don't know what to do for the best

But thank you for the suggestion, much appreciated

In my experience the teansition to 1nap days starts by baby not being tired in the morning. When you think "you know what, he/she really doesnt need a nap this morning and will be fine". Refusing the afternoon nap is more likely to either be over tired or an inadequate way of going to sleep.

Over Tired would suggest baby wants to go to sleep earlier than you are trying. Looking at your routine I doubt that's the issue.

So I would look at your settling method as a way to deal with this. You need to remove yourself from the settling process, or at least aim for that in the long term.

Does baby have teeth? You know baby should not have any milk after her teeth are brushed. It is therefore a good habit to seperate feeding and sleeping. It will also help DSs sleep hygiene.

I would start feeding him downstairs, before going up for bedtime routine. After milk, go up, brush teeth, into sleeping bag, given miss, into cot, given dummy, leave.

Just that, no faffing. Start to finish in less than 5 minutes. Do the same at naptime.

Do you think he'd cry when you leave? If you do, stay by the cot, hand on chest to settle or just standing by the cot when settled. Keep repeatedly lying back down if getting up (this might be a million times the first few nights, don't worry just be consistant).

The aim is that baby goes into cot with dummy and does the rest himself, with the door shut.

DD1 is a dreadful sleeper so I am by no means an Oracle but she started nursery at 10m and very quickly moved to one long nap. On a Friday, to catch up, she would sleep 11am-2pm, sometimes even longer. The challenge was fitting food around it!

It might be worth trying to delay the first nap and seeing what happens?

Thanks Faye, she has no teeth yet so brushing is not yet an issue. But it may be worth starting the milk downstairs in anticipation of that as they are definitely coming through.

Sometimes she will cry when I leave the room and I usually just stand by the door for a few minutes saying reassuring things then leave. Worst case scenario I get her out and give her a quick cuddle to settle and all is fine. This is why I'm so confused she is generally an easy baby to get to sleep and has been since very little so this afternoon thing has thrown us a little bit.

Fate sorry not Faye

Thanks trilby, she has been at nursery 2 days a week since 7 months old. They struggled to get her to nap at first but it didn't seem to affect night time sleeping. She's now off nursery till September so maybe that has messed with her routine a bit. But as only 2 days that seems strange.
I might see how she goes with no morning nap maybe and put her down a bit later as if we are out and about she sometimes stays up later as gets nosey in the pram. Good to know other babies have gone to one nap early