11 months old at a loss with sleep

[mummaroo88]

Hi everyone, me AGAIN!
I posted a few days ago about possibly dropping a nap...!

Well, we have been dropping his morning nap for four days now but today, I just felt so guilty as the last few days he’s seemed so so tired all morning so I’ve put him down to sleep (he went off within 5 minutes absolutely no crying). The reason I thought we should drop the nap is because he’s been increasing his awake time and I was finding it difficult to squeeze the naps in and end them before at least four (ideally 3:00-3:30). The first couple of days that we dropped it went quite well...he was managed a stretch of 7 hours sleep the first night and slept through the second. The only thing is he has recently been so so unsettled at the beginning of the night and 3 out of 4 of the nights he has woken and needed me after twoish hours. He would then do a long stretch and wake at 5ish. The first night he woke at 5:50. The last couple of nights however have been worse...waking every sort of two to three hours and needing me and still waking early am. He has woken with a runny nose this morning so that might be why but now I'm so confused whether I continue to drop the nap or not. He's starting settling into nursery on Tuesday and ideally I want to be consistent by then! 🤦🏼‍♀️

Last night looked like this...
Bed at 7:00
Awake at 9,2:30 and 4:45 ( he didn't really resettle after 4:45).

I can’t figure out what’s going on or what’s right or wrong.

Any advice or just kind words would be lush as I just feel like I am obsessed with sleep at the moment!!! My head is spinning. For example I'm on here typing about sleep, as he sleeps, instead of doing something constructive.

Thanks x

Can you list out his naps as well as his night time sleep?

Yeah sure. So on a two nap day, it's roughly as follows...

5:00am wake up
8:30am nap (anything from 30mins to 1hr 20)
Between 1and 2pm nap (anything from 45mins to 1hr 20)
6:30/7pm bedtime

For a one nap, I'd skip the first nap and he'd nap 11:30 or 12:00

To be honest...these are rough timings, sometimes he'll not wake from an afternoon nap until about 3:30.

Sorry so vague but it's just so inconsistent. X

I usually do the one nap if he wakes later, some times he does wake at 5:50 or 6:50

It also tends to be that the longer the awake time between naps, the better the nap.

So yesterday he woke at 5:20 and napped at 12 and slept for two hours, his longest nap ever.

I used to follow Gina Ford (not at all trendy at the moment but I found it perfect for me). She suggested that if you use 7 am as a start thr day time, the first nap at 9am for 45 mins (and yes you do go in amd wake them up). Then a second nap at 12.30 after lunch and wake at 2.30 at the latest. Then bed at 7pm. It adjusts as they get older and you eventually drop the morning nap - you might be able to google that. It worked perfectly for all four of my dc and they were sleeping from 7 to7 by 5 months ish

Hi, just to say my baby has just turned 1 and has finally started getting back to normal with naps. But we had about 2/3 weeks of nap refusing and super early waking. He also learnt to walk during this time. Hopefully yours is the same and it's just a phase, just try your best to go with it in the meantime.

Why does Gina Ford think they need a nap at 9 am when they wake at 7? And then the second nap might end at 2.30 pm or earlier and they go for another 5 plus hours without a nap? That seems an odd distribution to me.

I think the first nap should be nearer 10.30 - 11 and then wake for lunch. Play and then a short afternoon nap. No more than 1 hour. Mine slept through 8-7 from around 4 months. They didn’t ever sleep much during the day and went to bed late as we couldn’t stand 5 am waking!!! We decided later evenings was better than early waking. I would limit naps if you want longer sleeping.

Thank you Haz1516, I really hope that's what it is! I'd love sleep to normalise and perhaps later wake ups sometime soon! Your message gives me hope.

Thanks Seatoski, I have tried many routines including little ones but they just don't suit him as he fights the naps if too early. Thank you though.