Hello mommies! I need some suggestions on prolonging my 8m old son's second nap. I have had to push out his naps because of my older son's school drop-off and pick up times. He is now waking up at 7ish and his first nap is around 9:45ish. He'll sleep anywhere between 1-1.5 hours. He'll then go down when my older son goes down around 1ish and will only sleep 1-maybe hour and fifteen min. I really want him to give up a 3rd nap as he is very very fussy when he does go down for a 3rd nap. I would love for him to extend his second nap and sleep at least until 3. This would ensure that he can get through the afternoon and then go to bed @ 6:30ish. I have tried leaving him in his crib 15 min, 30 min up to 45 min and this doesn't seem to help. Any ideas? This past week he hasn't taken a 3rd nap and he is doing fine but very very tired early evening. The ultimate goal is to push his bedtime from 6:30 until 7ish as he is still getting up twice usually around 10:30/11 and again around 4ish. I know if he was fed later then he would not get up twice but just once to feed and go back down until morning. YES I have read Dr. W's Healthy Sleep Habits book and yes tried it w/ my first and was perfect however this child is a very different sleeper. Any ideas?
Thank you!
I have a very similar situation. As someone else wrote, I found that putting my little one down later (1:30/2pm) for a second nap works better than 1pmish. I also found that putting her to bed earlier ( 6pm) resulted in her waking up less at night (eats around 11:30pm and 6am).
My son is not a good napper. I cant get him to sleep for longer than an hour each time. I have no idea how to get him to sleep longer either. I have tried everything.. trying to tire him out..Leaving him in the crib for 15-30 minutes...putting him to bed earlier.. nothing works. I have also ready the Healthy Sleep Habits book so I am curious to know if anyone has some advice we havent tried.
This is so similar to my experience with my son that I wanted to chime in. He actually did better when his second nap was pushed back a little bit. Can you try to put him down at about 2/2:30ish? I'm not sure how that will work with your other son, but that helped our lil guy sleep a little longer. Good luck!
might be easier to find a carpool. You take in the morning and another mom pick up!
Personally, I wouldn't feed an 8 month old at night anymore. I would gradually decrease the amount and then stop altogether and get them sleeping all the way through the night. We use The Sleep Easy Solution. Better night sleep will help him nap better during the day, and I think he should only have 2 naps - like around 10am and 3pm. Good luck to you - it seems like we all struggle with this!
If his night sleeping is not a concern and you want to push his naps and bedtime later, I would try to limit is a.m. nap to an hour (or less) and have him sleep from 10-11, and then try putting him down at 1:30 or 2pm. As you get rid of the a.m. nap, you'll probably have to move his afternoon naptime up to 1ish, but he'll probably sleep better at night and take longer afternoon naps.
It sounds like he's sleeping too much in the morning...
put him down before your older son, instead of 1 try 12:30- 12:45.
Dear T B,
I don't know your specific child or schedule, but it sounds to me like you're trying to get him to sleep too much during the day. Not necessarily too much, but too often. He gets up at 7 and you put him down approximately 2 1/2 hours later. If he sleeps until around 11 and you want him to be ready to go back to sleep at 1, that sounds like to much, not to mention that he wouldn't wake up from his second nap until after 2pm. Where is there time for a 3rd nap before a 6:30 or 7pm bedtime?
I would try splitting it it into 2 naps further apart.
My kids were the worst nappers on the face of the planet as far as actually sleeping during the day. But, they slept all night. They did have quiet rest time everyday, and some days they liked it better than others as far as fussing, but the emphasis was never on them sleeping. They had music boxes and soft lullabyes they liked. I didn't want to force the issue either since they slept so well at night.
It just sounds to me like you are wanting him to sleep too much during the day and that will lend itself to him wanting to be awake at night.
I wish you the best.
Of course, I'm not as aware of your son's needs as you are, but my thinking is that he's probably ready to go to one longer nap per day rather than so many naps. By 8 months of age, that seems to be the norm.... and I'm speaking from the standpoint of a daycare provider who has taken care of many children at this age. I'd try keeping him up until the brother goes down in the afternoon and see if that works better.
