nap help!

[sarahr]

My 11 month old has decided that he doesn't need to sleep anymore.

His typical schedule is: wake up around 6. Take DD to school at 9. Fall asleep as soon as we come home from taking her to school. Wake up around 11. Pick up DD at noon. Refuse to fall asleep when I try at 3. Refuse when I try at 4. Fall asleep for the night by 6. Wake up many, many times at night.

This schedule definitely isn't good for me, and it's hard to believe it's good for him. He seems too young to go that many hours without taking a nap and it's not good for our family for DD and me to have no time alone together or for him to go to sleep so early (DH doesn't come home until 5:30!) And I wonder if he's waking up so often at night because he's overtired when he goes to sleep.

Any ideas? He's usually in a fine mood until 5 or so.

[Oliver's Mama]

Some kids pare down to one nap around their first birthday.. could you try out postponing his 9am nap until 12 when you're back home from school? He should be plenty tired by then and maybe sleep awile. Sleeping early in the afternoon may also help him stay alert and happy til a more reasonable bedtime for your family.. maybe 7.

We had the constant waking issue at night too.  I decided at 9 months he really didn't need to be nursing every 2 hours still, and it was burning me out and making me resent him at times, which I felt bad about.  I tried letting him settle down on his own- not total abandonment CIO, and that helped him learn to go longer stretches, and also postponed wake-up time.

hope it gets sorted out soon for you.. its frustrating when you think those sleep deprived days were just for families with newborns..

[mum5]

Hi tbhere. Why don't you try a short nap, when you get back from taking the older child to school. Like a 20 - 30 min nap, waking by 10. Then having a longer nap 2-3hrs at about 12.30? would that work for you? My ds is kind of into that routine, it seems to allow them to get enough day time rest, without getting too tired and not settling properly. Good luck

[Knitting Mama]

That's a great idea! That is what I would try first, personally. While I hate waking a sleeping baby, it might be the best thing in this situation.

[Unlikely Mama]

OP, I think you hit the nail on the head when you suggested that he might have a hard time going to sleep because he's overtired.  My DD is 10mo and her first wake time of the day is 3 hours.  If I go past that, almost without fail she will either take a crap nap or refuse the nap altogether because she's already overtired.  If that is the case, I take her out for some quiet play and a snack and try again in under an hour.  I would also suggest that DS is probably not ready for the 2-1 nap transition.  While a few babies might make the transition this early, more average is 15mo. If you have crap or no naps all day, I would aim to have DS asleep no later than 5pm.  My DD was a horrible napper and nighttime sleeper until I gave up the fantasy that she would "let me know" when she was ready to sleep, did some reading and started following age-appropriate wake times and utilizing an early bedtime when her naps were poor (i.e. less than an hour). When I waited for her to "let me know", it was already too late and she had entered the overtired state, making sleep even more difficult.  It may sound "scheduled" but it changed our entire sleep life, which obviously included mine making me a much happier mom because I'm no longer a total walking zombie.  GL!