Is it nuts to drop a nap at 9mo?

[BarrelOfMonkeys]

DD has been struggling to get to sleep at night, screaming for 1.5 hours or more for a while, and also fighting naps with screaming for no obvious reason as soon as I put her down. Her routine was sleeping from 10-11.30 and then 2.30-4 and then bed at 7.

However, the afternoon nap time had started to drift backwards and she has also seemed to want the morning one later. Quite by accident on Monday this week we ended up missing the morning nap and having a 2.5 hour nap 12-2.30, and then a blissfully easy bedtime.

She's roughly followed this pattern for the past 4 days, having a 2.5-3 hour nap in the middle of the day, and is no longer screaming when we try and put her down for naps or night. Partly I think as she is really tired and ready for it... but if she is falling asleep exhausted if that bad? From my point of view the new non-fighting naptime/bedtime is great, but am I doing her out of sleep she needs? 9mo seems a bit early compared to what I have heard elsewhere. (Her night sleeping has remained consistent, she's still waking around 1am for a feed and last night she was awake and practising her babbling at 2am as well, but no noticeable disruption otherwise to her night pattern.)

If she's doing better why would it be a bad idea?

Well, she wouldn't nap at all in the early days and I got told we were overstimulating her and depriving her of sleep and the learning/brain organising that goes on when they're asleep so I guess I am just paranoid that I am depriving her of her second nap when everyone else's babies I know seem to still need two.

My DD is not quite 9mths and seems to be in the process of dropping her second nap. It does seem a bit early to me compared to what DS did, but then her sleep patterns have been different since birth.
I wouldn't worry about it. As long as your DD is happy and sleeping well at night it sounds like she's doing fine.

The babywhisperer forums site has lots of information about dropping to one nap. Seems that during the transition you might alternate between some days with 1 nap, some days with 2, just to avoid them getting overtired. You could try offering an AM nap a couple of times a week to give her a chance to catch up if she seems grizzly?

In case this is helpful:
www.babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=95670.0

Follow your baby. If she is happy and not overtired when awake then GREAT!

Oh interesting - was planning on posting a similar thread.

Ds2 is 11 months old and has always had 2 naps - but this morning, he just point blank refused to nap (screaming when in his cot, sitting up and whinging etc). After 3 abortive attempts to get him to nap, he eventually conked out for 30 minutes at 11 and then had a 2 hour nap at 3pm.

I thought 11 months old was very early to be dropping his morning nap (I cannot, for the life of me remember when DS1 switched to 1 nap) but maybe not....

I have to say the thought of a guaranteed 2 hours in the afternoon is very tempting

I am finding with my almost-10-month-old DD that she sometimes wants a morning nap and sometimes not. Sometimes she doesn't get tired until about 11, and then she'll have a long (up to 2 hours) nap, and not be bothered for one later. It doesn't seem to affect her night-time sleeping at all, so I'm guessing she's going through a bit of a transition period. My advice would be to go with what your DD seems to want on any given day (not always easy to figure out, I know, at least not for me!) and maybe she'll start to fall into a more regular pattern soon.

Ds dropped his morning nap at 9.5mo and after he started crying every time I tried to put him down in the morning. Now he happily goes down for his afternoon nap at 12.30-1 for 2 hours.

Follow your LO - if she's happy and alert with 1 nap then why not!

BarrelofMonkeys

Wondering how you are getting on? My DS is doing funny things with naps at 8.5 months. He wants his morning nap and sleeps for 1.5 hours but then stays awake til he crashes around 5pm... dodgy transition.
Not sure what to do....

Did you go to one nap? Maybe I should try that.

If I wake him from his morning nap I am worried he won't sleep for long later...
this is his general pattern.

Thanks for all your replies! It is good to know other people's babies are also dropping naps around now. I went to our local 'sleep clinic' in the end and they said it was very early for dropping a nap but agreed DD seems perky enough on it. The routine seems to have settled into a 2-2.5 hour nap every day from 11.30-1.30/2ish. I've also introduced a dream feed at 10.30 for the last 2 nights, and last night she made it through from 10.30-7.30 without wanting milk!! If it wasn't for the stinky nappy incident at 4am we'd be sleeping through, I reckon. Happy days!!

(And I will be checking out that babywhisperer link, thanks!)