Is it time to cut a nap?

[Belle with the bump]

My son is nearly 10 months old and has always been a bad day sleeper... He wakes at 6.45am then I put him down at 9am ( usually takes 30 mins to get to sleep) he will sleep between 30 - 90 mins ( with alot of help by me half way through).
The problem is in the arvo, I try to put him down at about 1pm and today he screamed for 1.5 hours, other days it has taken up to 2 hours to get him to sleep! some days I pull him out of his cot after 1 hour of screaming but i dont want him to think he can just do that and he can come out and play.
Not sure if he is trying to cut a nap out? I have asked Ngala and the child health nurse and they both say he is too young to have only 1 day sleep. Has anyone cut out a nap at 10 months?
It is is getting really bad in the afternoons, I end up crying everyday because I am confused and hate see my little boy so upset....

[visitor1]

Jasmine is 9.5 months and she has a nap around 10-1030 (after gettin up around 8-830) until 12-1230, then another nap around 2pm til 4pm....another round 7pm for about 30 mins then up and bed at 830pm

So a lot of naps.....my 20 month old only went to 1 nap a day when she was around 15/16 months!

[christy]

DD1 went to one nap a day at 13 months, but DD2 did it earlier. She was doing what you described your son doing, and what I would do is try to draw out the first nap, wait 15 minutes or so daily to put her to bed in the mornings. I would read a book, take her for a walk etc anything to get more time. She would often breastfeed to sleep after that & then in the arvo when she got tired & cranky but wouldn't sleep I would walk again slowly around for her to be able to have a rest, or have her in the sling and walk and rock so she would rest but not have to sleep.

[andie82]

my 24mth old is the same .. he refuses day time sleeps & nite time sleeps .. he doesn't sleep enough at night to cut out his day sleeps though.
i put a gate up over the door & we still have some drama's but as much. .. though he isn't in a cot anymore (he was always too busy climbing out).

could always try elminating the morning nap, keeping the arvo nap, & putting DS down later at nites to sleep later in the morning.

[Lady Zaidie]

My DS was one-nap-a-day from just before 10 months and thrived on it. He was 3-a-day at 8/9 months, then 2-a-day for maybe a week then just wouldn't sleep until lunchtime so we just went with the flow. But the one nap was 2 hours or more and the three naps were 2 hours in total if I were lucky, so he hadn't really changed that much.

Sometimes he doesn't have a day sleep at all now, at 18m, but that's his choice. I'm not going to spend hours fighting him when we both want to play. OK, so I want to play while he sleeps but if it's not happening it's not happening .

[andie82]

Yeah I understand bout spending hours fighting. We used to aswell & it would drive me absolutely batty. I was so stressed (and its only me).
He is a very active kid & trying to get him to wind down is almost impossible. Unfort I had to resort to a tv & dvd player but it works (actually his day care mum suggested that aswell to me).
He didn't want to go to bed the other day he started pulling his clothes out of his wardrobe.

[Belle with the bump]

Andie does he fall asleep to the tv?
My boy sounds really similar, he is extremly active and finds it really hard to wind down. I spent 1 hour trying to get him to take a nap this arvo and ended up getting him up as all he was doing was jumping in his cot! we then had to wait another hour and try again.
Last week I tried tcutting down to 1 nap but he was soooo tired by the end of the night, he didnt wanna touch his dinner as he only slep 1 hour 15 mins. We have booked in to Ngala, that is our last resort... its really getting me down these days.....
Any tips would be appreciated....

[andie82]

Big hugs Belle. I know how you feel. It gets me down to when mine act like that. One night i went to bed and cried for hours.
We have been using a TV lately. But not using new dvd's but ones he knows, like Bob that aleready been watched 10times, or thomas, or MASH.
I've got a gate over the doorway so that he can't come out of the room (cause he is in a toddler bed) & it has made things alot easier. He still plays up, like purposely getting himself stuck or falling out of his bed, but bed time is alot tamer now.
Its still hard at times .. but deep breaths help .. rubbing my youngest one on the head helps him & when he is settled, slowly moving out of the room.
have you tried relaxation music?
have you tried a tv?

[KatieRabbit]

Belle my DD (9 months) quite often has one nap a day and even a month ago (and more actually) she went WHOLE days without a nap at all. She has never been within Ngala guidelines for sleep/awake time or any other chart so I just don't bother with them. Some days she will do two half hours naps, other times one half hour or an hour. There is just no telling! What I have found really useful though is to put her into her cot three times a day and if she sleeps good, if not it doesn't matter. At least then she gets a break from me and I get to do jobs/prepare meals etc. Often she just plays, kicks the wall, laugh etc. She only has one teddy in there that stays there so she doesn't think it is playtime. Then I get her up after say an hour. Ngala told us to provide DD with the means to sleep (fed, darkish room, safe cot etc) then it is up to her to sleep. Ngala didn't change DD's habits at all but was a great relief for us. We gave up the fight of trying everything to get DD to sleep and are now much more relaxed about her sleep- even though it never improved. If DD cries in the cot in her rest time I bring in more toys, open the blinds so she can look outside, put music on etc but she still stays in the cot so I can do my stuff and eat lunch in peace!

[Belle with the bump]

I have tried relaxation music, dont think he really cares whether it is on or not!
I dont think a tv would help as he gets stimulated really easily, hence why we have blockout curtains and make no noise whilst he sleeps.
He goes down in about 30 mins in the morning but the problem is with the afternoon nap, we just cant time it right. If we put him down when he first makes tired signs he stays in there screaming ( with us by his side ) for an hour or more! if we drag him out for 4 + hours he is really over tired and then it is impossible... But if he doesnt get a nap then he is sooo cranky and tired for the rest of the day and wont eat....We are just confused....
I think it makes things worse cause he still doesnt sleep through the night and hasnt for 11 months and I am just getting worn down and when he doesnt go to sleep within 20 mins I start falling apart and start crying. I am so obsessed with this now, Im hoping my trip to Ngala on the 22nd helps....

[Lady Zaidie]

Do you have anyone else who can help put him to bed? I do four nights and DH does three and that has REALLY helped me. Just knowing that I don't have that fight every night.

Oddly enough, DS's favourite sleep CD when about 5m old was a REALLY loud, busy one (The Cat in the Hat). I couldn't sleep through that so played relaxing music really loudly. The louder it is, the better he sleeps. But if upstairs flush the loo, he's awake. Really annoys me if they go to bed the second after I fall asleep!

He doesn't HAVE to have a day sleep in his bed. You can try in the pushchair or the car if he will sleep in those more easily, DS's day sleeps are in his pushchair still, although he will accept a cot at Nursery IF he chooses to sleep there.