8mo short naps

[MrsB902]

My 8mo DS would only contact nap until recently when he has started going down in his cot or pram. He’s approaching the transition from 3-2 naps as he can now stay awake for longer so I’m finding the last nap in particular a bit of a battle.

Our issue is that he will only sleep for around 30mins unless on me (I know this is normal but thought he would have been starting to lengthen his naps a little now). This means that it’s difficult to get him to take 3 naps but he doesn’t sleep anywhere near long enough to drop down to 2 yet as he’s an early riser too.

I’m trying to avoid going back to contact naps as will be back to work soon so guess I’m just looking for reassurance from anyone who has been in the same boat that he will eventually start to sleep for longer periods independently. Any success stories would be appreciated ☺️

Sadly we didn't get longer naps until we sleep trained at night time and they were able to link cycles.

The only real way my lo ever slept well (took me ages to work out) was around 8 months I took her in same conditions as night time and popped her in her cot and she slept better. Maybe worth a go?

Very normal and my DD didn't start taking longer naps until around 11/12 months old. 8-10 months can be peak of separation anxiety for a lot of babies so they will wake a lot.
I know you don't want to go back to contact naps but it is worth going with it. If they're going to nursery or childminder then they usually find other ways to fall asleep without needing a contact nap.
You absolutely do not need to sleep train!!

Check out the following accounts on Instagram as they have some brilliant advice:
Hey sleepy baby
Little nest sleep
Second star to the right
Fox and the moon infant sleep

I've been there and it's tough but it does get easier and the phase does pass.

@ChittyBang1987 @lilroo87 thank you both for responding. He actually sleeps really well at night (unless he’s ill, teething or in a regression he will usually do 7:45-6/6:30am) so don’t think it’s a case of him being unable to link sleep cycles, unless it’s different during the day 🤷‍♀️
He does have a blackout blind up at night which I don’t use during the day (it’s a stick on one) so will maybe try using that and see if it makes a difference, thank you. I’ve had a look at some of those Instagram accounts and found them quite useful in terms of reassuring me that he will get there in the end and it’s normal for him to want mum cuddles! Thanks for your advice ladies x