Put down for nap/sleep - how long to leave them if they don’t fall asleep?

[Bs9123]

I have a 13 month old who’s sleep is starting to go all over the place. Sometimes he goes down easily and other times he’s wide awake for 30-45 mins before falling asleep. Most of the time he’s content but should I be leaving him on his own in his cot for that long, or should I be taking him out after 10/20 mins once I realise he’s not actually tired yet? I don’t know why but i feel bad for leaving him awake. I don’t want him to feel abandoned 😬What would you do?

Hi there :) Optimal sleep latency (the time you put your little one down to them actually falling asleep) should be around 15-20 mins. It sounds like a long time, but it's great for little ones to practice falling asleep gently so they experience the different sleep states. I always recommend getting little ones up from a nap if they haven't fallen asleep within 20-30 mins max. They probably haven't built up enough sleep pressure to fall asleep yet. So just keep him up for an hour and then try again. Hope this helps x

How many naps is he having? Maybe time to drop a nap.