Short nap for 14 month old

[aaahmyeye]

My dd takes one nap a day.  I nurse her to sleep, and she will sleep solo for about 40 mins.  Then she wakes up and I try to get her back to sleep.  Sometimes it works, but many times the only reason it works is because I take her in the pitch black bathroom and bounce her. If that happens, I can't set her down and am stuck holding her  for an hour.  I can't do this anymore; she's too heavy.  When she doesn't go back to sleep, she becomes way tired before bedtime and is a lot fussier than when she naps longer. She will also wake a lot more often than she does if she had a good nap.

Any advice on getting her past that 40 min mark?  She has a dark room (thanks to ghetto cardboard in the window) and white noise.  There is no difference if I lay with her or not.  Part of me wonders if I ought to get a high weight limit swing and put her in it... Do they even make those?

Argh.  Any thoughts are appreciated.

[Asiago]

An infant and young child's sleep cycle is about one hour, and they often wake before going to the next sleep cycle. It takes about 20 minutes to get into a deep sleep and then they begin to stir a few minutes before the next sleep cycle. I have found that nursing baby before they begin to wake is effective. I either then stay with him and nap, or I read, fold laundry, etc, most of his nap.

[MrsGregory]

I have not found a high weight limit swing, and believe me, I'd love one.  So if you find one, please, be a peach and message me!

I also wanted to mention that mine is 16 months, and we've been in nap limbo.  She was sleeping 8pm-8am or 9pm-8am and napping from 2pm-3pm until 5pm and then around 14 months, WHAMMO! nuts to that plan.  I think I've got her nailed down as needing an earlier nap, and to wake up earlier, but it's all a work in progress. 

Try experimenting with when she naps, I guess, is my advice.  The too late nap was also getting too short, the earlier nap has been the 2 hours she needs.

Good luck!

[susanmary]

Would love to be able to offer advice ... A wee glimpse into my world for naps with my 13month old. Dark dark room, heartbeat sounds, wrapped snug in blanket, held and walked/rocked in room whilst nursed to sleep, when he's asleep I get onto bed and sit there (cross legged and supported by pillows), with DS in arms, nipple exposed for him to latch on again when he stirs between sleep cycles usually after 40 minutes. I'm just thankful for my iphone as I use the time to catch up with friends via email and other social media. It's also when I check this forum too. Wishing you the best of luck! Oh to have one of those easy sleeper kids! ;-D
Edited by susanmary - 2/1/13 at 12:20pm

[sassyfirechick]

We are always experimenting with times for our 14mo DD.  I find more often than not, putting her down for a nap before she even indicates that she's tired works best for us.  She's very independent (after having been a super needy baby) and I think for her she needs that down time to herself to wind down, read her books in bed, and after 30mins, sometimes an hour, she falls alseep.  If she freaks out I don't keep her in bed, I figure she will eventually indicate to me that she's ready for down time, but most of the time she's happy in there.  I can get things done around the house and she'll hang out in her crib playing quietly with a few toys or books.  There's no rhyme or reason to the duration of her naps - some days 40mins, others it could be almost 3 hours.  Of course she's cutting 4 or 5 teeth at the moment which is throwing a wrench into the routine but I've learned to just go with it ;-)

[Ratchet]

We had the same issues around the same time- she had been napping at 1pm (wakes at 7-8 am, goes to bed at 8pm) and we moved her nap to 11am and that fixed it (for now).  Naps still vary, from 40 min to 2 hours, but so long as she does some napping she's OK.