8 month old nap question

[mommariffic]

Lately DS has been rejecting his afternoon naps

A typical day for him is a longer morning nap (at least 45 minutes up to 2 hours) and a short 1hr afternoon nap which just refreshes him for the 3 hours before bed time (he has bath at 630 and is sleeping by 7:15 most nights..) lately though he's been taking that morning nap later, and completely rejecting the afternoon nap! I eventually give up trying at 4pm because I want to stick with his bed time, but today he's already sleeping (it's 7pm technically but because of time change it's 6pm..) 

Should I just aim for a longer mid morning/early afternoon nap and put him to bed earlier? 

Does he NEED those two naps?

[MJB]

Daylight savings has my ~8 mo. old all off. She usually takes a 3 hour nap, going down between 12 and 1. Last night she stayed up until 10pm (instead of 8:30), she woke up at 7, went back to sleep from 9-10:30, then slept 1:30-4:30. Our morning plans were ruined! She has seemed to be moving back to two naps and pushing her afternoon nap later, but one nap worked for us for a couple months. I think as long as the one nap is 2+ hours it's fine to drop the second. 

[SeattleRain]

Originally Posted by mommariffic 

Lately DS has been rejecting his afternoon naps

A typical day for him is a longer morning nap (at least 45 minutes up to 2 hours) and a short 1hr afternoon nap which just refreshes him for the 3 hours before bed time (he has bath at 630 and is sleeping by 7:15 most nights..) lately though he's been taking that morning nap later, and completely rejecting the afternoon nap! I eventually give up trying at 4pm because I want to stick with his bed time, but today he's already sleeping (it's 7pm technically but because of time change it's 6pm..) 

Should I just aim for a longer mid morning/early afternoon nap and put him to bed earlier? 

Does he NEED those two naps?

He only NEEDS two naps if he's tired and cranky. If he's taking his morning nap later and then crashing at 6pm, I'd go with it. Between 6-8 is the ideal bedtime for our age babies, so you're on the early side, but you're totally good. He might wake up a little earlier, but I don't think it's a big deal. If he's really tired and cranky in the afternoon (especially around 4-5) then it's a sign that you really need to perservere with the 2nd nap.

FWIW, my son is the same age and takes a morning nap really, really easily but takes an afternoon nap with a little more of a struggle. I think it's because he's just so BUSY at this age that its hard to settle down in the afternoon. It can be helpful to start winding down activities an hour or so before naptime. So switch to quieter activities like reading books, watching a mobile, or hanging out in a sswing.
 

[mommariffic]

Seattle  - yes! The afternoons he wants to play play play. He actually remains pretty cheerful, especially if we end dinner time with a nice warm bath/massage. I'm going to do a day or so of trying to do one long nap and we will see how it goes!