DD's sleep is so different than DS- should I force issue?

NewlyWeds13

My DS is 3 and was a text book sleeper (ie- to bed at 7 PM slept until 7 AM,  naps from 9-10:15 and 1 untl 3 PM at her age).   He would get so tired at night and it was obvious when he was not rested.

She is totally different-- she is very calm and happy.   She sleeps at night well-- but goes to bed much later and likes to sleep in (which seems really weird for a small baby).  I start her bedtime routine at 6:45 and she is in her crib by 7 to 7:15 and I watch her on her video monitor and she plays (sits in the crib, claps and babbles to herself for at least hour every single night).   She is not unhappy and does not cry.    Therefore, by the time she is sleeping it is 8 to 8:15 and it has been as late as 9 PM.  She regularly sleeps in until 9 AM.    The earliest she ever wakes up is 8 AM.  She once slept until 10 Am.

Then for naps it is 1 of 2 ways.   Sometimes she gets tired around 11... if so, she will take a 1 hour nap then and then a 2nd nap from 3 to 5 PM.  Other days up until around 1 and then sleeps from 1 until 3:30/4.   On the days that she is not tired for her 1st nap, she will just sit in the crib and play (I again watch her and if she does not put herself to sleep in 40 minutes, we go get her-- me or the nanny dependinng on the day).

She is always very easy going and happy by nature, so it is very hard to read her signs and I just feel like she is getting less sleep than she should at 11 months.  

If you were me-- would you push her bedtime until 8 PM since she is never tired before then.   Should I force the once a day nap (so I know she does not sleep after 3:30 or so)-- however honestly I have not noticed a correlation between her nap wake time and when she is tired.  It is always at least 8 PM regardless of her naps. 

To me it seems her natural rhythmn is 8:15 bedtime, 9:15 awake.   Nap from 1 until 3:30/4.   I am questioning this however as it seems like such an odd schedule for a 11 month old?

TIA!

BlueViolett

If I'm understanding you correctly, she is sleeping about 12-14 hours per night on average and not always wanting a nap? 

If she is happy I'd leave her schedule be.  If she is overtired during the day, I'd slowly start waking her up earlier until you reach the 12 hour mark (in hopes she will be ready for a nap and recharge for the remainder of the day).  I would push the bedtime to 8pm if she is taking longer than an hour to fall asleep. I don't think there's one 'normal' sleep/awake schedule.  It's tailored to what works best for the babies individual needs. 

I hope you find what works! 

watercolor5

I'd probably shift it to what her natural rhythm seems to be... 8:15 bedtime, 9:15 awake.  I don't know if I'd let her sleep all the way till 10- I may stick to waking her up around 9:15 and not letting her go past that. 

In general I like to gauge things off of my kid and what her needs seem to be, more than comparing it to what's average for another kid or her brother at that age.  However, it sounds like if she's sleeping from 8:15-9:15, and getting a 2.5-3 hour nap in, she's sleeping 15-16 hours a day, which is on the high end for an 11 month-old.  Average for this age group would be 13-14 total hours of sleep per day, so I wouldn't try to push an earlier bedtime, and I might wake her up earlier.  If you're concerned, I'd ask her pedi.

I looked up avg sleep times by age here: https://www.sleeplady.com/baby-sleep/sleep-averages-how-much-sleep-does-your-child-need/#.Uf_sW23OA3g

but I know ferber included a chart like that in his book too...