Sam is just under 11 months, so am interested in experiences roughly around his age or a few months older - I don't think it changes too much now in amount of total sleep they need until about 18m though? How many naps did / does your LO have around this age? How long do they sleep for in the day in total? When did they drop their morning nap if applicable? Did this impact on their second nap - time of and duration? How many hours do they sleep overnight? Sam is having about 11 1/4 overnight which I think is pretty text book? It isn't usually straight through though!! He doesn't feed or have proper awake times as common practice, but does need a pat on the back, an occasional cuddle and his dummy replacing more often than not, so is a bit of a pita! He seems to be needing lots of day time sleep though - mornings have changed from 40 minutes to 1.5 hours and afternoon is usually 1 - 1.5 hours. He's currently at 1.40 which is why I've got time to post this! I don't like to wake him as it goes against every instinct I have ha ha, but I am wondering if it is making his sleep more disturbed at night. Even though he isn't waking for a play or anything, could this still be a problem? I have assumed his wakings are teething / needing dummy / ss issues rather than not being tired. HV said 3 hours sleep in the day is still fine but it seems like maybe slightly too much? Also, he has been waking up earlier in the last few weeks as previously he would sleep 7-7 (again, not straight through!) it's now usually 7-6ish. This has coincided with him having longer in the day, like he isn't quite getting enough at night and is making up for it. Obviously, I would rather he be sleeping better at night, as nice as it is to sit down with a cuppa after doing the housework. I'm not sure if I need to be tough Mummy and cause some initial day time grumpiness in the hope he will sleep better at night, by making day sleeps a max of 2.5 hours, or if I should trust him to take what he needs and be grateful that he's sleeping enough overall. Could anyone shed any light, or shall I just roll with it? TIA!

Hi Lamby

E is now 11 months old (how on earth did they both grow up so quickly!?!) and she has a short morning nap of 30 minutes from around 10/10:30 (we wake her if needed), and then a longer afternoon nap of around 1.5 hours from 2pm ish.  We started capping the morning nap, as she was fighting her afternoon nap (she just didn't seem tired enough for it, but then got overtired, because she wasn't sleeping well in the afternoon), and we preferred having a short morning and longer afternoon nap.  She sleeps 7pm - 6.30/7am.  

I am guessing that we will end up dropping the morning nap over the next few months. I think we will gradually reduce it shorter and shorter before cutting it out completely.  Her afternoon nap will then move forwards in the day.  Talking to my sister (who has 3 children and is a nanny), she said that most kids drop to one nap at around 12/15 months, but they are all different.

 

Al x

Thanks Alocin, that's really useful (and how handy having a nanny for a sister!) I wondered if I may need to do some capping. I find the balance really tricky as if he is at all short on his day sleep, even by 15 minutes he is such a grizzle bear and the night is often worse for it. I so wish it was as simple as switching day sleep for more at night! However I also think if he isn't really tired at night, when he wakes, it's obviously going to be harder to nod back off so know he shouldn't have excessive amounts in the day. Yesterday wasn't typical I'm sure because he's getting over being poorly, but he ended up having 4 hours in the day - which I went with due to illness, and then an almost solid 12 at night which is pretty unlike him!! Sleep definitely bred sleep yesterday but who the hell knows what today will bring ha ha!

Thanks again, and I have no idea how they are almost 1. Yikes!

Hey Lamby. and Al...wow birthdays fast approaching! Lamby, hope S is feeling better today.

Sleep... B goes up to bed at 7 pm and sometimes drifts off during her BF, sometimes not. She's usually asleep by 8 pm at the latest though, and wakes 6.45-7.45 am as a rule.

Daytimes are a nightmare and I would kill for her to have a proper nap in her cot! She only has maybe half an hour in her pram if really tired, or more normally approx an hour on me during her mid afternoon BF. I've tried her in her cot but she gets upset :-( Now she's on the move she's definitely getting knackered and grouchy by bedtime.

Sorry I can't help much with the 'knock on' effects of naps. I think B only needs one snooze though, I would just rather it was earlier in the day and in her cot.

I imagine S thinks he needs the sleep but it could be worth trying a gradual limit and seeing if nights and early starts get better? Good luck!

Seb is 11 months now. The last few months he seems to be dropping to one daytime nap of about 1-2 hours. Depending what time he's woken in the morning that might be 10ish or sometimes midday after his lunch. If we're out and about he'll nap in the car mid morning and mid afternoon though. At night generally he goes 7-5ish sometimes stirring in the night. This week he's been awful at night though! My eldest had 2 long naps til he was about 18 months iirc

Thanks Gopher and WH, it's interesting to see other babies patterns. B and Seb are both quite different which is kind of reassuring, I wasn't sure if they were all like the books say they should be with naps! I almost feel like Sam should want / need less sleep in the day, but he really doesn't do well without it! I'm tempted to go with what seems right for him, but obviously I don't know if this is affecting the nights and I'm doing us both a dis-service. I guess I could try to cap it a little, or try and make it exactly the same each day and see if it changes the nights. It's just a risk isn't it as I could end up with a very grumpy, over tired boy, both in the day and at night! If he was up awake and babbling at 2 a.m. it would be a clearer picture (not that I want that I hasten to add!)

WH - With your eldest S, did he just alter his nap pattern by himself and gradually reduce naps and their length? Did he still sleep well at night? Hope Seb's bad week is a one off!

Gopher - It's fab that B sleeps through, hope the day times get a little easier and more consistent for you nap wise though. It is lovely when they are tucked in their cot and you can have a bit of peace!!

B is 15 months and desperately needs his sleep usually he has 2 naps a day. One about 2/2.5 hours after he wakes up so anytime between 8.30&10 for about an hour an hour and A half. The second in the afternoon usually around 2, sometimes later and this can be anything from an hour (this is usually too short and he ends up grumpy) and 3 hours. I always just let him sleep. His bedtime is usually between 6.30&7, sometimes he takes a while to go down but he's pretty chilled in his cot. When he's not teething he'll usually sleep through - not at the moment tho! With B I find sleep during the day = better sleep at night. Hopefully that helps. Oh and he won't sleep in his cot during the day. He naps in his buggy!

Thanks for this Noodle, that made for very interesting and reassuring reading. What a lovely, sleepy boy you have! Sam definitely seems to suffer if he doesn't get enough in the day, I hadn't considered the dodgy nights could even be down to not having quite enough at naps, rather than too much! Hmmm, I think i'll have to keep a nap / sleep diary and see if I can find some consistencies. I can definitely see that capping day sleep could be an answer, but the last two 'good' nights we've had, have followed very decent day sleeps, so maybe S is just a B in disguise. Here's hoping!!

At that age Isla was having two naps a day each 1.5 hours long (sometimes 2 hours) going to bed at 7 and waking between 5.30 and 7. There was no way I'd cut either of her daytime naps as she was a right grump without them. We were lucky that it never affected her night time sleep. She went down to one nap at just over 18 months and she'd sleep for 1.5-2 hours.
We still put her down for a nap now and she's almost 2.5 years old.

At that age p was still having at least two 2 hour naps a day and doing 12/13 hours a night. She has always needed a lot of sleep only dropping to 1 nap at 18 months and now at nearly 26 months still having 2-3 hours a day. Try not to sorry about the numbers and I definitely wouldn't wake him.