Need help with naps

amother

Mon, Jan 22 2024, 8:38 pm

My 10 month old baby has always been a good sleeper lately he will not take a nap, sleeps 12 hours at night but barely anything during the day. (Although putting him down at night is also getting harder, taking longer to fall Asleep and won't let me leave the room) He definitely needs the nap he's cranky when he doesn't. The other day didn't know what to do anymore finally let him cry he finally fell asleep but 20 min later was up. This has been going on for few weeks now. Any ideas???
Fyi I have a very hard time letting him cry.

amother

Dodgerblue

Mon, Jan 22 2024, 9:41 pm

Tell us more about his schedule. What time does he wake and what time are you napping him?

amother

Tue, Jan 23 2024, 8:06 am

Sleeps usually from 7-7 I tried to put him down about 12 for a nap he's exhausted by then, I've tried earlier and later none of which seems to make a difference

amother

Dodgerblue

Tue, Jan 23 2024, 8:21 am

I assume he has 2 naps a day. Why are you waiting 5 hours for his first nap? He ends to go down at 10 the Latest

amother

Brickred

Tue, Jan 23 2024, 8:28 am

Agree most 10 month olds need 2 naps. My 10 month old is having some kind of nap regression, which seems fairly common.

I just keep consistently putting her down at around the same times every day. First nap is around 9-10 am (maybe 3 hours or so after she gets up). Second nap is around 2 pm, but can vary by time in either direction, I usually do it about 2-3 hours after she wakes up from her first nap. If she didn't take a first nap, I try to get her to hold out anyway to keep the schedule.

amother

Tue, Jan 23 2024, 8:43 am

amother Dodgerblue wrote:

I assume he has 2 naps a day. Why are you waiting 5 hours for his first nap? He ends to go down at 10 the Latest

He used to go down about 10 but lately fi d spend 2 hours trying to get him to nap so gave up and started trying about 12

amother

Tue, Jan 23 2024, 8:45 am

amother Brickred wrote:

Tell me more about schedules I never really did schedules just tried to see when he looked tired, think it's time to try something more concrete. Even nighttime he just kind of got himself on a schedule I never really did much other than put him to bed when he looked tired. Now even nighttime are getting harder and harder and I know he's exhausted

amother

Tangerine

Tue, Jan 23 2024, 8:58 am

amother OP wrote:

10 months old usually still nap twice. Try 9:30 am

amother

Brickred

Tue, Jan 23 2024, 10:12 am

amother OP wrote:

Routines are really important for schedules. The baby anticipates what will happen next and that makes the transition easier.

So we start the bed time routine around 7 pm - bath, pajamas, dim the lights, shema, nursing, songs (used to read a book, but she doesn't have the patience at this hour), rub stomach and place baby in crib, turn off lights, close the door leave the room. Once I put her down, I leave right away. Often there is crying when I leave the room (and she didn't always do this, but it is normal at this age because of separation anxiety), but it usually doesn't last long - even if she sounds hysterical when I leave, she usually quiets down within several minutes. Baby is usually asleep by 8 pm. She wakes up around 6 something in the morning. If your baby goes to sleep at 7, the routine should finish by 7 pm.

Another important tool for schedules is set meal times, this helps the body clock regulate. So breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the baby are at roughly the same time every day. She also nurses in between, so if she is hungry when it isn't meal time, she can still nurse or have something small to eat or drink.

We have mini routines for naps too. Dim the lights, nurse, songs, rub stomach and place in crib, turn off lights (not pitch black during the day, but some babies do better with blackout curtains), close the door and leave the room. We do this for both the morning and afternoon naps.

Morning nap should start around 9-10 am, even if baby doesn't look tired (if you catch them before they are acting tired, they fall asleep more easily). I use the mini routine above, making sure it finishes by the time I want her to go to sleep, leave the baby in her crib, even if she cries. I usually limit this to 20 minutes, but some people do longer and some do shorter. If she falls asleep at any point and then wakes up and cries, if the nap has been less than 1 hour, I will wait another 20 mintues to see if she falls back asleep. If she doesn't fall asleep within 20 minutes but is babbling and not upset, I will leave her there for up to 1 hour or until she starts crying a lot more. If she cries a lot for 20 minutes from when I put her down, I take her out and go on with our day as normal. If she falls asleep and stays asleep, her nap can last from 1-2 hours on average. I never wake her from a nap. If she sleeps longer than 2 hours, she needs it!

Afternoon nap should start between 1-2 pm, depending on how long the morning nap is in general and how tired your baby gets. But even if baby doesn't look tired, I use the mini routine above , making sure it finishes by the time I want her to go to sleep and put her down in her crib using the same guidelines as above for if she cries or not. If she doesn't sleep or her nap is too short, we just go on with our day as above. I find that the afternoon nap is also between 1-2 hours, but length also depends on how long the morning nap is. Again, I don't wake her from the nap, even if she sleeps more than 2 hours, there is still enough time to be awake before bed.

It could alsobe that your baby needs to go to bed at 6 pm, my oldest used to go to bed at 6 or 6:30 at that age, but my current one goes to sleep around 7:30 or 8, she doesn't need as much nightime sleep.

At this age, they average 14 hours of sleep (some babies more and some less). My 10 month old does about 11 hours at night and then about 3 hours during the day. If yours sleeps 12 hours at night, he might only do 2 hours during the day, but it would still be 2 separate naps. Their wake windows - how long they can be awake for before they get overtired or super hyper, tend to be around 3 hours or so. The wake windows are shorter earlier in the day, so baby should go for a morning nap about 2-2.5 hours after waking up. There should be at least 2-2.5 hours of awake time between naps as well But between the afternoon nap and bedtime there could even be 3-3.5 hours of awake time.

At any rate, that's how we do schedules. It is important to watch both your baby and the clock. Don't be rigid down to the minute, our schedule can fluctuate by 15-30 minutes on an average day for every naptime and meal time. However, my oldest needed an exact schedule, so we really had to keep it down to the minute or she would get hysterical (she is totally not like this now but when she was a baby/toddler). My current baby is more flexible but also less consistent. So see what works best for your baby.

amother

Dodgerblue

Tue, Jan 23 2024, 11:04 am

amother OP wrote:

Honestly this is your issue. Schedules are key. He will learn that after breakfast he goes on a walk and the. He comes in to play and then he has a nap. (For example) Hell be expecting it. You need a schedule. Google sample 10 month old schedule or ask people for theirs

amother

Dodgerblue

Tue, Jan 23 2024, 11:07 am

amother OP wrote:

amother

Midnight

Tue, Jan 23 2024, 1:00 pm

Yes I also like to do things "on demand". But as they get older schedules become much more important. You don't have to be rigid but kids need to know when and what to expect. And their body adjusts to falling asleep at the same time every day.

amother

Tue, Jan 23 2024, 4:03 pm

amother Brickred wrote:

Thank you so much! this is incredibly helpful