One nap a day - times and routines please

[lorisparkle]

My 15 month old has one nap a day - currently before lunch from about 11.30 till 1pm. I'm finding though he sometimes is not going to sleep until 12 so am wondering should I be having an early lunch and then putting him down after lunch.

Any suggestions welcome..... thanks

dd is 18 months. she is up at 8.30, breakfast straight away. lunch then at 11.30, nap 12pm. sometimes she has half an hour, sometimes an hour. she has longer if she's up earlier. i would love to get her up earlier to extend the nap, however i work til 11pm or midnight so i really don't mind! she then has snack about 2.30ish, tea at 4.30ish. bed at 6.30.

lorisparkle - sounds just like DS (17ths) - he always used to nap from 10.30 - 12.30 then it started to get later that he would go to sleep until it was nearly 11.30 (this was about 2 mths ago) when he would nod off. What I'm trying to do now is give him early lunch 11.30-12 ish and then nap from about 12.30-2. Occasionally he still wants his morning nap if he's had a bad night but on the whole the early afternoon nap seems to work better as he dosen't get quite so tired by evening. Lunch for us does need to be early though otherwise he gets really tired and foul tempered.

Thanks pelvicflawed (love your nickname btw) I think I might have a go at an early lunch. He slept for other 2 hours today (OMG) when my DM was looking after him from 11am - 1.20pm so who knows!

Thanks again

i'm having a similar problem with ds (nearly 14months)

he somedays has 1 nap others he has 2! we are aiming for the one nap, have started to give lunch between 11 and half past rather than between 12 and half past. He is usually awake anytime from 6am onwards so an early lunch isn't really a problem!

i now just need to get him down to the one nap a day and for it to last more than half an hour!!!!

my dd is 22 months but has had the same routine since 12 months old!

7-7.30: up and breakfast get dressed
8.30: out door and normally go toddler group or shopping etc
12.00 Lunch
12.30 Nap
2- 2.30 Wake up and snack
5pm Bath
5.30 Bed

This routine works really well for us and unless she is teething or poorly we dont have any trouble at all!!

wow i am that you dd goes to bed so early and sleeps until 7!!

ds goes to bed around 7pm(rarely, i ever any later) but can be awake anytime after 5.30am!!!!

months of training!!! To be fair DD has always been a brilliant sleeper!!
A good bedtime routine is very important though and DD starts getting annoying and tired at about 4.45 every night no matter what we are doing! Bath at 5 and then pyjamas, story and bed. she sleeps in a bed and doesnt argue or fuss just gets in and goes to sleep! In the morning she will not move off the bed till me or Dh go into her!! We are very lucky!

My DS (15 months) has 2 different routines - one at home and one at nursery.

On 'home' days, he wakes between 7-7.30 and then goes back down for a nap at about 9.30 until 11 and that tends to be the only nap he has all day (unless we go anywhere in the car after lunch). He is usually in bed by 7.

On 'nursery' days, they don't put him down for his nap until 1pm and he will usually sleep between 60-90 minutes. Again, he will be in bed by 7.

He seems perfectly fine with both routines and it doesn't affect his nighttime sleep or his behaviour - we have a different routine at home as he always seems ready for a nap at 9.30 so it would be a struggle to keep him awake until after lunch - much more going on at nursery I guess so he lasts longer.

Hi Lorisparkle (and all) I seem to be having the same trouble, (DS is nearly 13 months, and pelvicflawed hi we chatted about this too the other day). Just wondering how it's been going for you, I've posted a similar problem on another thread about this earlier today.

I've been trying to go with the flow with this napping/lunch time lark for a week or so now but seem to be having more difficulty with him settling for his nap. I've tried to give lunch early but it seems sometimes he's too tired to eat and gets fussy ( not helping with the food throwing situ either!)

Our childminder doesn't seem to have a problem with him and I'm feeling like I'm just getting it all wrong!

Sorry to rant, have you had any luck these last few days?

snotonmyshoulder I know what you mean about being tired at lunchtime - generally the early lunch and nap is working out ok but I do play it by ear - if he seems really tired in the morning then I do let him nap then (food flinging gets worse with tiredness) and today I got him to nap late morning because we were going to storytime at the library at 2 (but I did get him out early with lots of fresh air/exercise to wear him out!!!) It is a bit free flow but it does seem that DS body clock is naturally moving to a post lunch nap,. He goes to nursery three days a week and though they lunch very early he normally naps afterwards there as well.

Thanks pf it's good to hear someone's getting there. What about Lorisparkle? Is the eating early thing working for you?

Well after a couple of days of waking at 6.30am or later he has now returned to his old ways of 5am or earlier! This has meant he is completely shattered by 11am again so I am putting him down for a nap then. I knew I should not have enjoyed those lie ins!

I can't believe bonkerz that your lo sleeps so long. Mine has always been a terrible sleeper and after months of work I am impressed that he will now sleep for about 11 hours at night and 1 1/2 hours in the day. We have an evening meal as a family at 5.30pm and my lo goes to bed at about 7pm. I've tried earlier and later bedtimes but they don't make any difference on the time he wakes up. 5am starts are a nightmare.

hi lorisparkle. my dd (11 months) sleeps around 11.30 - 1.30. I give her a banana or some kind of snack at about 10 and then her lunch at 1.30.

Dd is 18mths - current pattern seems to be:

wake up around 7.30ish - laze around in bed (me) while she entertains herself til 8/8.30ish. Sometimes she has a rice cake at this time.
breakfast 9ish, maybe a biscuit at 11 or something
nap 11.30-1ish (12pm today)
late lunch 1.30 (can be 2.30!)
snack 4ish
dinner 6pm
bed 7.30/8pm.

We just go with the flow. If she is tired she says 'bed, bed' or 'sleeps' and goes to bed. If she is hungry then she eats. This is a pattern not a strict routine.

Hi, my dd is 17 months and had no routine at all for ages. A couple of months though she just settled into a routine that suits her (and me) and we are all a lot happier now.

8-8.30am wakes up, has breakfast
10ish -snack
12.00 - lunch
12.30 - nap (between 1 and 2 hours usually)
3ish - snack
5.30 - dinner
7.30 - bedtime

18 month old dd didn't used to sleep at all during the day until a few months ago! Now she does:
7am wake
9.30-10am 1/2 hr nap
12pm lunch
1-3pm nap
4pm snack
6pm bath
7pm tea, story and bed

If she doesn't get her morning 1/2 nap she is all over the place by lunchtime, and also then doesn't sleep as long after lunch. Sometimes she doesn't actually sleep in the morning, but she always goes in her cot with a few toys and books.

It did take weeks of patience to find something that worked for her.

Thanks everyone. Had a much better night with DS. He slept till 6.30am hooray! Consequently I thought lets try the early lunch then nap. He did get a bit grouchy at around 11am but enjoyed his lunch soon afterwards. He did not seem obviously tired and it took about 20minutes for him to settle to sleep in his cot. He's been asleep now for about 1hr 30mins so it will be interesting to see if he sleeps longer. I found it much better for me. I'm always starving by 12pm so having an early lunch was great. He is usually really grumpy when he wakes and cries if I put him down to make lunch so that won't be a problem today. He often seems tired at about 9.30am wrigglejiggle so I wonder if a little nap there might work well too.

Its all about finding what is best for your lo isn't it.