What to do at 5pm for a 11mo

[TracyK]

Some days ds only manages an hours nap all day despite being up at 6am.
When it gets to about 5pm he starts to flag and look tired.
I have been letting him nap for 45 mins at this point - but when I wake him he is very cross and tearful - presumably he was getting into too deep a sleep.
Should I let him nap longer and just keep him up a little later before proper bed (normally bed for 7.30) - or should I just bring bedtime forward to 6ish.
He only seems to sleep for 10 hours at night - so if in bed for 6 - he'd be awake at 4am.

Have you ever let him sleep to see what happens. He might sleep through until 6 anyway. Sometimes, I think, they wake up at the same time each day whatever you do.

He has such a different pattern of naps every day due to going to nursery/not going etc - that I've lost track of what he sleeps over night - he has sometimes woken at 4am - but I can't remember if that was on the nights he had an early night or not.

I agree with maretta. Ds used to flag at around 5pm so that's when we started bedtime routine. Until he was about 18 months he was never asleep later than 6! He always slept until the same time - about 6a.m. whether he went to bed early or late. If he does wake at 4a.m. to the extent that you can't ignore him, treat it like a night waking. DS is (like I've always been) a very early riser, and since he became mobile we have let him get out of bed once he's awake (after 6a.m.) and play with toys. He has just turned 2, and he now switches on his own light and looks at books until we're ready for him!

Would say that 5 pm was a bad time for a nap for 11 mo. So you've got two choices - either bring bedtime forward as you suggest or try and ensure that he sleeps more earlier in the daytime. 7.30 - 6 plus an hour in the day doesn't sound that much to me.

What hours is he at nursery that is causing him not to nap? Can he not nap there? DS had a nap at nursery up until he was 3. And I've just had to stop nursery from letting DD (8mo) nap after 4,.30 pm or she won't go to bed.

ds hardly ever naps at nursery - he's far too nosey - if he's been up early - he'll fall asleep in his highchair at lunchtime - but then they wake him when I come to get him at 1.
Its a rush home as he usually falls asleep in the car on the way home from nursery. Sometimes he'll sleep for 2 hours in the car - but more often than not it's under an hour and then he won't go back to sleep - even if I jump back in the car and start driving again.
It all goes like a dream if I can make it home, get him tucked up snuggly on the couch with a little bottle of milk - then he can do his 2 hour nap and is a little angel all afternoon.
But I don't know how far to push nursery to get him to nap - it would take them 15 mins of individual attention to rub his back or stroke his face and I don't know if they would have the manpower to allow them to do that.