Getting 7 Month Old to Take Longer Naps

If she's waking up happy that is a good sign she's getting the rest she needs. I would just roll with it for now. My son went through a phase like this and eventually (around 8 months) went to 2 longer naps instead of 3 naps. Now he sleeps for 1-2 hrs two times a day. I just let his mood guide me in this. If he could stay up longer without getting cranky I let him stay up. The first signs of sleepiness with him are rubbing his eyes , a yawn, or fussiness. I put him down at the first sign of sleepiness.

I have a 6-month-old son who is the same way. The good news is he sleeps through the night very well, so I don't really mind his short naps. But to ensure he gets enough naptime in throughout the day, I occasionally add in a third nap for him. Typically he takes a morning nap and an early afternoon one, but if either one is really short, I try to encourage him to take a little late afternoon power nap. It seems to reduce his nighttime fussiness.

try keeping her moving more.. to make her more tired.. is she on the floor moving about... put her in the jumpy thing onthe door frame.... and spread her naps out.. llike only 2 or 1 big one.. good luck

Hi - I don't know that there's any benefit in differentiating between naptime and bedtime. We've always done the same routine for both, and it has worked really well. We put the kids in comfortable clothes/PJs, darken the room, read a book, etc., and they both sleep 2-3 hours (my son is almost 2 and my daughter is 4.5). I think your daughter still needs two naps at that age but probably not three. Is she going to bed early enough? I think we did 7-7:30 at that age. I also recommend Healthy Sleep Habits - great book. I think the author says that if they wake up after less than an hour of napping, you should let them try to put themselves back down. Don't go in at the first sound. Good luck!

yup sure my 5 mnths twin babies are now so easy chaps to handle..as they are taking longer naps of 3-4 hrs easily as in night we can full them with little bit heavy diet like apple mash or potato,instant food or whatever u up to....the last diet sud be heavy then they will sleep definately longer..as i think...my elder daughter was habitual of this routine when she was 7mnths...do tell me the changes..

My 7 mo old is the same way...I started taking naps with her in the morning. I get up between 6:30-7 am with her and after feeding her, changing her, doing some housework, getting the other kids to school, and playing in the floor, we both lay down and take a nap around 8:15. She will sleep for about 40 mins and wake up, but if I am there she will go back to sleep for a total of 1.5 - 2 hours....it's great. We will wake up around 10:15....so I get some sleep too....Of course, if I don't lay with her, she will only sleep 40 mins...and a couple times I was lucky she slept for a little over an hour...but that only happened a couple times. The pediatrician said it's actually not too bad if she takes more frequent, shorter naps - it spreads it out throughout the day....but it doesn't give us moms a break, sometimes! I tried the HTTJ (Hold Them Through Jolts) method and that works sometimes...and she is doing better about going down for naps than before - I will play her mobile and she will fall asleep on her own - but still for only 40 mins....but hopefully Jen was right and they will start taking longer naps on their own!! I guess if she is waking up smiling, that is a good sign that she is getting enough sleep....and you can always sneak in a third nap if there's time....our schedule is constantly changing, so that is probably one of the problems I have...but she does a good job adjusting to the family's schedule and does ok at night - some nights better than others, but I tend to spoil her! :)

I think the secret to naps is when you put them down. The Healthy Sleep Habits book really helped me on this one. We put my son down for his nap 1 to 1 1/2 hours after he first woke up for the day and let him sleep for about an hour and a half. then put him down again 2 hours after he woke up from that one. Then sometimes he would get a late afternoon nap. Around age 1 he had only 2 naps 830-10 and 1-3 (I had to coordinate his afternoon nap with my older child's nap so I could have some peace). And yes, babies that sleep more during the day tend to sleep more at night. Check out the book. It was a lifesaver.

5 minutes before you think she'll wake, go in and make a little noise, enough to stir her without waking her. It should help reset the sleep cycle.

Put her to bed earlier at night too. She most likely is over-tired.

I conditioned my kids to sleep longer. I would leave them in their room to nap for 1 1/2 hours. Period. If they woke up, I'd leave them in there until the time was up. It didn't take too long for them to figure out that they may as well just sleep because they weren't going anywhere. My son even used to fight his naps like crazy (he'd sleep for twenty minutes and then scream the rest of the time). Now he sleeps for at least two hours at a time, sometimes more.
This may sound harsh, but I am a big believer in children getting adequate sleep and the mother getting a break. Everybody is happier that way.

Try putting her to bed earlier at night, around 6:30 or 7. She will sleep for about 12 hours, waking maybe once or twice to have a drink. Keep a routine, as babies thrive on things being the same everyday. The longer she sleeps at night, the better she naps during the day. At 7 months she should be napping twice a day.
The book that saved my sleepy life 3 years ago is called "HEALTHY SLEEP HABITS, HAPPY CHILD".

She could just not need the longer naps right now. As great as I'm sure it was that she look longer naps, its a phase. Maybe you could keep her from taking 2 naps a day by putting her down at a time in the middle of the two. But from my experience & doctor's info, children sleep as much as they need, and we just have to adapt. Good luck!

My baby did the same- for the first 8 months, nothing I did would help her sleep more than 30 min during the day at a time. She eventually started sleeping longer at naptime, and is now up to about two hours at a time (10 months old). That seems to be sticking. Just wait it out, it'll get longer soon!

You got some great advice - definitely try some of the suggestions. But, just FYI, sometimes nothing works! My daughter is now 9 years old - she was just like yours at 7 months!! Not to scare you, but she has NEVER been a sleeper. Now, she can go to bed at 10pm, get up at 6am and go strong all day long. Funny thing, too - she is a tiny little thing (size of an average 1st grader and she's in 4th) Little bundle of energy, that one. She literally exhausts me......