6 month old 31 minute naps

[Ehc1989]

6 month old wake windows please?
My baby is 6 months next week, taking consistently 31 minute naps. Really struggling with the 3 naps & can’t always try extend them due to other children etc. Bedtime would be at 5pm if I didn’t offer a small cat nap 😴
I do leave him in the cot for a good 20-30 minutes but he has never gone back to sleep.
For 2 days this week he did extend his naps so managed a 3 nap day easily but right back to 31 minute so I know he can sleep longer. He goes down & settles himself no dummy or rocking etc for each nap & bedtime.
How do I handle it when he’ll need to go to bed at 5pm due to 3x 31 minute naps?

Hey! I'm sorry to say mine was the same and didn't consistently link sleep cycles for naps (or night time actually!) Until around 11 months. She would do it occasionally before then, but not often.

I used to try and stretch the awake time between each nap so she could last until 6.30pm at the earliest.

Hope this happens earlier for you as I remember being very frustrated and exhausted.

Maybe not tired enough? Have you tried to add time to his wake windows?

@Grace050 Weirdly the day after I posted this we extended wake windows and he began napping longer. However we are now having 5am wakings every morning - if it isn’t one thing it’s something else 🫠 trying to work out what I can do now to help him sleep in later!

Some babies are just like that! Baby sleep patterns are all different, just like as adults we are all different. Wake windows between sleep can be a useful guide but ultimately it's all very individual. My baby never slept over 40 mins till about 9 months old, and still barely sleeps over an hour at 10 months. She sleeps well at night though on the whole. It's just her personal pattern.

My only solution to 5am wake ups has been me going to bed at 9,30 🤣

Think that's pretty normal. The naps will get later until only 2 fit in in a day and then 1. They'll get longer, or one will be longer and one shorter. My 6 month old has 3 x 30 mins naps and sleeps 7-6 (with 1 or 2 wake ups for feeds). My 4 year old was the same. He was down to 1 long nap a day by 10 months, which continued until over 3!

Hello, I think my son must be nearly the same age as yours. He also has three naps, and also wakes up for the day at 05:00, but my lovely husband thankfully takes him then and lets me get another hour of sleep (after our nighttime partying!).

Do you ever do pram naps? I find that they can be helpful to get a slightly longer nap. As long as you can keep moving!!