Nap times for a 13 mth boy

[parters]

Hi I'm a new so be nice (not that you wouldn't be!) I have a 13 mth boy who has been napping twice a day. 1st nap between 9 and 10 for about 1.5 to 2 hrs and then another shorter nap at around 4pm - up to 1 hour. My problem now is he has started playing up at bedtime which I think is because he isn't tired enough (always used to go off after a bit of chatting).

I'm thinking he needs to go down to one nap but by 5pm he is really tired. Should I be trying to keep him awake longer in the morning? Has anyone had a similar problem?

Hope to hear from some of you

Hi. My son is exactly the same age. We had the same problem and we have had to start waking him in the morning to try to get a longer nap in the afternoon. The plan (ha ha ha) is to keep cutting the morning nap shorter and shorter until he ends up with one nap after lunch. I now only let him sleep 20 or max 30 mins in the morning somewhere between 9:30 and 10:00. He then has a longer sleep around 1:00 or 1:30.

If I cut the morning to 30 mins, he will generally have 1.5 hours in the afternoon. But my son is a bad/short napper, so yours might need a bit more.

You could also try pushing your morning nap later and later and then not letting him sleep for more than 20 or 30 mins in the PM, like a cat nap before bed.

Hope that helps!

hi when my ds was that age he would nap after breakfast and then straight after lunch no later than 2pm he would be grizzly but i would put him to bed at 6-6.30 and it worked great not long after he actually dropped all naps and was going to bed at about 5.30 it really was trial and error and going with him rather than me setting a routine we had to change it several times

DS is 15 months, and pretty much just has one nap in the day now. He's hardly ever actually gone down for an afternoon nap actually, just used to mostly fall asleep in his buggy (as I tend to go out with him after lunch). He sleeps for 1-2 hours in the morning, and is pretty knackered by bedtime.

When he's at nursery, though, his nap comes after lunch. Not sure why it works that way as they follow his lead, just the different day routines I guess.

Thank you for all your replies. It really helps to hear what other people are doing. I think I'm going to try to gradually push his morning nap later and later. Yesterday he went down at 10 - 12.15 and then didn't have an afternoon nap. Went off to sleep much better.

But typically when you sort one thing out another pops up!... He has been been waking around 2am and now just cries and cries - the only way to stop him is to pick him up. Last night he was up for around an hour, and then awake again by 6am. I'm really hoping this is just a phase. I think maybe i should just leave him to cry - but I've always been pretty rubbish at it!

Thanks again for your replies

i wouldn't pick him up but my ds did wake for bottles at this time when having growth spurt he would happily drink and go back to sleep on his own or even needed bit of teething gel as back teeth were starting to play up

Thanks since weaning him off me I haven't given him milk at night - maybe I'll try that, I suppose I worry that he'll get used to it. I'll see how things go. I did think it may be his back teeth, it's so hard to tell until they come through and then the pain is over! It's a permanent guessing game.

oh yes if in doubt rule it out was my motto lol gripe water teething gel milk lol

i did find my ds needed night milk till quite late he was around 20mths when stopped i did start dream feeds before i went to bed at around midnight and this did stop him waking for feed

i found nurofen better for teething pain and bonjela calpol and calgel did nothing for teething pain i found

DD's naps were all over the place, first she was fine with a morning and afternoon ones then none, then only one of the two... Now she has lunch earlier ( around 12) and goes for a nap at around 12.45. She sleeps for 2 hours and then sleeps through the night ( well til 5.30-6.30, has bf and goes back to sleep for another hour).