8 month old nap routines - what's yours?

[Hanster85]

Hi everyone,

I'm having a bit of a nightmare with my baby's naps, she's 8 months and into everything! She's crawling, pulling herself into standing and starting to mimic sound. She's very bright but also finds it really hard to shut down for naps.

She's brilliant at night & I think the routine we've had in place sends her the clear signal it's night time & shes just started sleeping through (I know we are very lucky)!

The problem I am having is that she has to sleep in her crib, pitch black, no sound in her room - otherwise she will not settle & just recently every bedtime is a battle. She stands in her crib banging the aide, shouting and crying - when I go into sooth her, she gets giddy / cries more and tries to climb down on to the floor to play.

I've had to leave her crying in her room to get her settled, as one day I went in every time she cries and it just went on for two hours and each time she became more awake. Eventually she was wired and we just had to give up!

I'm just wondering if I'm not doing her naps early/late enough, or how I should be managing it!?

What's routines do your babies have?

My DD's routine at this age was roughly the 2-3-4 one. The numbers are the hours awake between naps.

7am or earlier: wake up
9am: first nap
10.30ish: wake-up
1.30: second nap
Second nap was usually shorter and she'd wake at some point between 2 and 3
7pm: bed

She was always a good night sleeper so some days both naps could be very short (30-40 mins). As she got towards a year old, the first nap was usually a short one in the buggy while we walked to a baby class.

Oh, and around 8 months she started to need a special toy to be a comforter in bed as separation anxiety was starting.

I am having the exact same problem with my 8month babyboy. sleep is 7-7 at night which is amazing but the day naps are turning into battles that i just cant bear! and now hes pulling himself up and crying standing until i come back in and im scared he will fall so i go back in and makes him even more awake and he thinks its play time.

my routine is
7am wake up
9.30-10 half an hour nap
1pm 1 hour and a half/ two hours nap
7pm bed time

again this does not happen every day like today so i just stay patient with him but it can be hard specially when theyre fighting sleep! i think as long as you have 3-4 hours between the naps it should be ok i always want the one in the morning short so he sleeps longer in the afternoon so i always wake him up after 20 mins half an hour

Thank you!! I think I may be doing her naps too close together! She yawns after 2 hours and presume she's tired!

I think it is a bit of a separation anxiety, I've found that if I give her some time in her cot until she's drowsy (including a bit of a cry 🙈), I can go in and lie her facing me and pat her bum. She resists it a bit, but as long as I just go with it - let her arch her back and then turn her back in, she has been falling to sleep! Well it's worked the last two times 😂!

I'm probably just making a new rod for my back but I feel like she needs a bit of help at the mo! I'll try 3 hours between naps tomorrow and see how it goes 🤞😬!