Nap woes at a year

[dahlialia]

DD2 is newly walking, which she is thrilled about. And getting her first molars. The two combined have her down to one half-hour nap most days. Some days I can get her to take a second nap still. But today she resisted the car, lying down to nurse, etc. I finally gave up 1.5 hours before bedtime.

She does sleep 11-12 hours at night, generally, waking to nurse every 2 hours. But the other night she got up for the day at 3 am!!! And still only managed two naps the next day (both 1/2 hour).

I used to be able to resettle her so she napped for longer, but that's not working anymore.

Do I keep trying for more/longer naps? Or is 11-12 hours at night and 1/2 hour nap in the realm of appropriate at a year?

[AndtheStars]

DS is a year and his sleep is puzzling me too. He sleeps for about 9 hours at night and two one hour or so naps during the day. So a total of 11-12 hours of sleep. For us, at least, I think it's about the total amount of sleep rather than when the sleep happens. DS as been regularly getting up for the day before 6 a.m. and its killing me. So I don't have a direct answer to your question, but my one year old sleeps for 11-12 hours too if it makes you feel better.

[thedenverduo]

My ds needs a little more sleep than your dd it sounds like. He sleeps for 11-12 hours at night and takes two 1.5 hour naps during the day. Sometimes he will skip the morning nap and take a 2-3 hour afternoon nap.

Does she seem happy and well rested? If ds doesn't get enough sleep he is fussy and cranky and wants to be held constantly, but if he has had enough sleep he is very easy going and likes to explore on his own a bit.

Dr. Sears says that at 12 months kids get an average of 13.75 hours but that every baby is different. The most important thing is that she looks and acts well-rested.

If she's not getting enough sleep (or you need a longer break) this is what I do with ds. He is a very light sleeper and we had the hardest time for awhile getting him to nap and he was always a bit cranky. So now I do his whole bedtime routine before each nap. Ours is pretty simple so it doesn't take to long: brush teeth, read book, nurse, lay down in crib (he naps in his crib and starts out the night there). So we are brushing his teeth 3 times I day, which is sort of annoying, but for some reason this routine really helps him. We also put up black out curtains because he figures: If the sun is up, it is time to be awake!

HTH