when do I encourage nap dropping?? 6 mo old

[SuziDee]

Hiya

just looking for some advice DS will be 6 months on Sunday, he has recently started solids but we are doing BLW he still naps on a 9, 12 and 4 basis the 9 nap is usually around 1 hour, 1 1/2 at lunch and then 1/2 hr to an hour at 4. He seems sleepy and still sleeps at these times. When would they usually drop to two naps? I want to encourage good habits and was wondering what others of the same age are doing?

Any help would be much appreciated

Suzi

I would drop them when your lo shows signs of being able to get to bedtime without the late nap i.e. when he resists going to sleep. I cant remember when my lo's dropped to 2 naps but I didnt have to force the issue as they let me know whether they still needed them or not.

agree with seona. wait until he is not going down for his later nap / not going to bed / sleeping for a very short time at 4. I think mine dropped his about 9 mo (thoug I can't really remember). then move his lunch nap a little later to help him cope with the longer evening.

My almost 8 month old either has 2 naps or 3. If she does a good long after lunch nap which goes on to at least 3, I find she can stay awake long enough to see her happily through tea and bath and into bed around 7. Some days though, her lunchtime nap is shorter (sometimes only 40 mins ) and so she is awake at 2-2.30. On those days she needs another short nap around 4.45 ish, or we have melt down. But as above, they tell you when they are ready- I only worked out the '3 o'clock rule' when I found she just didn't go to sleep like normal on our late afternoon walk.

Thanks so much for your advice, I guess he will just let me know when he is ready! I think I'm just struggling with how to fit the meals and naps into the day.... sure it will settle though!

Thanks again!

It's usually by about 9 months that they drop down to two naps a day but your DS will let you know when he is ready. Until then, he has a good nap pattern although you may want to try and move his naps back from 9 until 9:30 and from 12 until 12:30 over the next month as he should be able to cope with this now.

Do yourself a favor and try to get out and let your ds do his naps in a buggy. It means that whatever happens, you will not be tied to your house and his bed for naptime. Otherwise you really need to follow your child's lead. My ds is 7 and still often takes a midday nap if he can (obviously generally only happens on weekend and holidays). However my dd (5) gave up her midday naps before she was 2. They both are put to bed at the same time (8pm) and dd always wakes up earlier than ds even when he takes a nap. Ds would nap all the time when he was a baby, but would do the nap anywhere (including in a buggy in front of a brass band) so it didn't put a damper on our lives.

DS 9mo has been a 2 nap baby since maybe 4.5mo (he tends to sleep 9.30-11 and 1.30-2.45 but at 6mo was on 2x2 hours), but my DD wasn't so i tended to always take her for a walk around 4.45 or 5. With DS when he was younger i'd just BF him when he was flagging (around 5pm) and he'd have a catnap on me if he was tired. It always seemed too much of a struggle to get either DC down in their cot for a 3rd nap.

not read all posts but my ds dropped to 2 naps at around 9-10 mths and then dropped to one nap after lunch at around 16mths. Way too early to drop those naps at 6mths. Long may they continue for you!

oh and if it helps, i fretted abut this constantly (see my thread history ) but then it just kind of happened. his 2nd nap was happening too late for a 3rd one to fit it - esp since i have school run too. take it easy - don't fret - plenty of time yet. Happy Easter!

Just saw your extra message Suzi.

At DSs nursery they do lunch at 11.15 and tea at 3 so you could do something similar. We do lunch at 12 and tea at 5. Guess you could push the lunchtime nap back a bit and see how that goes if you think 11 is too early for lunch.

I worried a lot about when my dd napped and ate - then when my ds came along I realized that he just fitted in around the school run and the after school activities. If he needed to sleep he did, whether it was in the car seat, the pushchair or the sling - if he was hungry he told me and I fed him. And whether or not there's a connection, he is a much more adaptable character than dd is.I would just go with the flow - and if that means lunch at 11.00 or 2.00, so be it!

Thanks so much for all your replies, guess I need to chill out a bit more and go with the flow! Easier said than done I guess but roll on the next one and hopefully a more relaxed approach! I guess it's hard when your life revolves around the one baby.....

x

My two both dropped their 4pm nap first. I think think they both dropped their morning nap at around 18mths. They both still sleep after lunch and they are now 21mths and just 3yrs.

My 21mth old sleeps from about 12.30pm-3pm and my 3yo sleeps from 12.30pm-1.30/2pm.

I thought my 3yo was ready to drop his nap recently but he couldn't cope by 5ish his behaviour was terrible!

If I want to go out for the day I do and they either cope without it or sleep in the car or buggy if really tired. However I quite like having that time at home to chill out when they nap!

BTW they go to bed at around 7-7.30pm and sleep 12 hours.

Also if you're planning/expecting a 2nd child you will be very grateful for the nap times. I found that as some naps were dropped the lunchtime nap got longer, which was great! Am expecting no.3 so it's fantastic that mine both still sleep at the same time each day.