Help me with nap time?

[moxy]

I apologize if it's been discussed. I thought I had saw a post or thread on it last week but now can't find it.

Someone mentioned at this stage ( tLex maybe?) it's not common for LO to drop second nap but possible?

It doesn't matter what we do lately but E just will not take an afternoon nap and then he's miserable by 630. We've tried putting him down earlier but he fights the early bedtime too!

Is this just a stage? Should I keep pushing and trying for the afternoon nap? Yesterday he was up at 6am and wouldn't go down until 10. Once he was out he took a 2 hour nap and then screamed bloody murder when laid down in the late afternoon. This lead to an overtired melt down and then 2nd wind occurrence and he fought off sleep until almost 9!

He has always had really crappy sleep habits, but it feel so bad when I see him looking utterly exhausted. I've tried catching him before overtired, giving a schedule and letting cry for awhile. It seems like the only cue I can rely on is when he's spacing out and it's close-ish to 8pm. (Most nights)

Added info and question: sometimes we will lay him down and it sounds like he went to sleep but I guess he's just chilling out and getting downtime. When he's done he's done and there is no official sleep time. Sometimes it's 10 min sometimes it's 30. Is that normal? (I can't be sure he isn't micro napping since all I have is an audio monitor)

[boogerbear]

Whaat are most days like sleep wise? Is there any consistency to wake and sleep times?

Between 12-18m babies will drop to one nap. But it sounds like your day is lacking a routine overall?

So long as LO is getting sufficient total rest and is happy in between I wouldn't force two naps. But I've found consistency in routine is key as well as working with your kids natural sleep patterns.

Lo1 gave up his pm nap at 16m and we just slowly pushed his am nap later. He still prefers an earlier nap than most kids his age (3.5yrs) and does better napping if he's asleep by noon.

[wildflowers]

LO is in the process of dropping her morning nap. It isn't realy something I am do, as she is doing it. At this point her 10 nap is hit or miss and always short, but she consistently naps at 1. We do bed time arround 7:30. But full disclosure, she doesn't self soothe at all. I nurse her or H rocks her to sleep and then I lay her down. Not sure if that is helpful at all!

[moxy]

Jan 24, 2015 20:50:45 GMT -5 boogerbear said:

Whaat are most days like sleep wise? Is there any consistency to wake and sleep times?

Between 12-18m babies will drop to one nap. But it sounds like your day is lacking a routine overall?

So long as LO is getting sufficient total rest and is happy in between I wouldn't force two naps. But I've found consistency in routine is key as well as working with your kids natural sleep patterns.

Lo1 gave up his pm nap at 16m and we just slowly pushed his am nap later. He still prefers an earlier nap than most kids his age (3.5yrs) and does better napping if he's asleep by noon.

Most days routine wise, he gets up between 630 and 730, breakfast, playtime - then he starts acting like he's ready to go down around 930 or 10. Sometimes he goes down without a fight, other times well put him down and he screams bloody murder.

My mom watches him Monday-Friday while I work but because I wah I can put him down for his morning nap most days on my lunch which is either at 930 or 1030 depending on my schedule. Last week I pushed for him to go down a little later in the hopes that maybe he'd take a longer nap - didn't work.

For the past few months it's always been up for 2-3 hours, nap which would last 1-2 hours then the nap later in the afternoon around 2 or 3. Bedtime is pretty regular between 7-8 depending on when nap time was. He's become a pretty solid sleeper at night so I'm not sure if that is playing into it?

[MadisonPenny]

Jan 24, 2015 21:12:13 GMT -5 moxy said:

Jan 24, 2015 20:50:45 GMT -5 boogerbear said:

Whaat are most days like sleep wise? Is there any consistency to wake and sleep times?

Between 12-18m babies will drop to one nap. But it sounds like your day is lacking a routine overall?

So long as LO is getting sufficient total rest and is happy in between I wouldn't force two naps. But I've found consistency in routine is key as well as working with your kids natural sleep patterns.

Lo1 gave up his pm nap at 16m and we just slowly pushed his am nap later. He still prefers an earlier nap than most kids his age (3.5yrs) and does better napping if he's asleep by noon.

Most days routine wise, he gets up between 630 and 730, breakfast, playtime - then he starts acting like he's ready to go down around 930 or 10. Sometimes he goes down without a fight, other times well put him down and he screams bloody murder.

My mom watches him Monday-Friday while I work but because I wah I can put him down for his morning nap most days on my lunch which is either at 930 or 1030 depending on my schedule. Last week I pushed for him to go down a little later in the hopes that maybe he'd take a longer nap - didn't work.

For the past few months it's always been up for 2-3 hours, nap which would last 1-2 hours then the nap later in the afternoon around 2 or 3. Bedtime is pretty regular between 7-8 depending on when nap time was. He's become a pretty solid sleeper at night so I'm not sure if that is playing into it?

Maybe being more consistent and set on times might work. 
For us, LO gets up between 6-7 am. She goes down for her morning nap at 9 am. Even if she's playing or crying in her crib, she usually ends up falling asleep after a few minutes. Her 2nd nap is at 1 pm. For both naps, she'll sleep between 1- 1.5 hour. Bedtime is 7 pm. I try not to deviate much from these times, but especially bedtime. 

Do you have any type of bedtime of 'nap time' routine? For naps, I'll tell her it's time for a nap. We'll go change her diaper and I'll repeat that it's nap time. I'll bring her upstairs, put her in her crib, put her blanket over her, give her lovey, turn on her sleep sheep and tell her to have a good nap. I do the same for bedtime except add a bottle after diaper change. 

[moxy]

MadisonPenny that's pretty much our routine as well. I'll try starting with a set time to see if that works.

[monkey1980]

We had a few weeks where M's afternoon nap was disappearing. She slept really well for her morning naps (almost 2 hours) and we would get a 15 - 45 minute afternoon nap. The issue was that her morning nap was too long. I shortened her morning wake time (she gets up at 6, down for nap at 9), I woke her up one hour after she went down. She's been taking decent afternoon naps since then (1 hour, 1.5ish).
You could try shortening the morning nap so maybe your LO will be more willing to take an afternoon nap.