Any tips to get 9mth old to take longer naps?

[iloveholidays]

Has anyone got any tips to help my DD take longer daytime naps? She self settles, but often only sleeps for 40mins-1 hour twice a day. On the odd occasion she does sleep well, she tends to sleep through.

Thanks

When she does sleep longer, have you done anything differently? Is your DD tired and relaxed enough to sleep for longer? My DS is a lot younger (3months) and I've found he only takes long naps e.g two hours if he's been awake longer but not overstimulated. For example we've been out and about and he gets to quietly watch for a bit or we've had people over but not passed him around. That way come nap time he's not "wired" and sleeps a bit easier and for longer.

It might be ueful to put her down for a nap after 3-4hours of being awake, not longer. Mine doesn;t show sleepy signs any longer, but goes down easily if I put him down with that time in mind. But it migt not work , I'm sorry, but you could give it a try.

Feed her beforehand.

Put her in bed in her gro bag / whatever she wears for bed.

And my personal advice - tiptoe.

Thanks everyone.

I tend to put her down about 2.5hours after waking up. I've tried keeping her up longer but it has the negative effect and she wakes after half an hour screaming. I think a lot of it is to do with not being overstimulated. Maybe I need to introduce more of a wind down time before hand.

Any other advise welcome.

I second feeding beforehand. I had real trouble with DS2's naps around 6 months when we were weaning to solids. I realised that he was going down for both daytime naps after having solids but no milk. The amount of solids he was having was clearly not enough or maybe it was the comfort thing. But now I give him around 3oz before the lunchtime nap after he's had lunch and it usually means I get between 1.5 and 2 hrs peace!

You could stretch the time out by short increments, like 10 minutes every 3 days. a good wind-down usually helps.

My DD2 sleeps best with a feed beforehand, a gentle wind down, and unlike my DS needs a completely dark room. Don't know if you have a blackout or not, mine are from easyblindsonline.co.uk , cheap and easy to use. It also helps if I tiptoe around and the doorbell/telephone don't ring whereas DS could sleep through everything - problem is they are all a bit different and we have to come up with lots of solutions....!! Good luck