When your LO switched to 2 naps instead of 3, how did they let you know they were ready? Were they just not tired any more at the usual times, or did they refuse to nap? Daniel still shows all of the signs of being tired, but refuses to go to sleep. Or he will sleep for 10 minutes and wake up crying and refuse to go back. And that's only after I rocked him and put the hair dryer on for a while. If I had just put him down he would not have slept at all.
I've tried putting him down before he shows any sign and waiting even longer after the first sign but nothing seems to work.
Re: When they go from 3 naps to 2..?
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I don't know what's going on with him. He's definitely tired in the morning. Actually he starts looking tired only an hour after he gets up but he refuses to go to sleep. Even if he skipped a nap it wouldn't be the morning one. I guess I really can't do anything but put him in there and give him the chance to nap. It's just really annoying because he's crying and whining and even though I know he won't go to sleep I can't do anything else with him either. He's sleeping at night (only getting up once now) and goes to bed at the same time. It just makes for a long day when I have to wonder constantly about his sleep.
I'm alone with him 11 hours a day and I have to say this BS is really wearing thin.
Sometimes the morning was a hard one. I would usually put him down about 2 hours after he got up in the morning. DOes he lay down and talk to himeslf or does he scream when you put him down? If he isn't screaming, I would let him at least rest. Sometimes a break from the stimulation is what they need. I would then do his afternoon nap 2 hours after he wakes up from his morning nap and then if needed an evening nap 2 hours after waking from afternoon nap. This is what our sleep schedule looked like when Hayden was your LO's age (or as close as I can remember)
7am- Wake up
9am-10 or 10:30 Morning Nap
1-3 pm Afternoon nap
If needed then I would lay him down at 5-6pm for another quicky nap. However once I moved his bedime to 7pm, he could stay awake without it (although he was very ready for bed at that point.)
Lucas would refuse to go to sleep. After several frustrating attempts, I realized that if he didn't fall asleep within 20 minutes of being rocked, then he wasn't tired and I should stop forcing the issue. It was kind of difficult for me to identify when Lucas was trying to tell me what he needed a change. He's not refusing to fall asleep to spite you!...even if it feel like it sometimes
He was about 6 months old when he transitioned from 3 to 2 naps. It was definitely a transtion though. Some days he only wanted 2 naps, some days he needed 3. I would generally try to put him to sleep after he had been awake for 3 hours so a day might look like this.
7am: wake up
10am -11:30: nap
2:30 - 4:00: nap
8:00: bedtime
When he took 3 naps a day, the naps were about an hour. When he took 2 naps a day, the naps were usually a little longer, maybe 15 mintues longer.
ETA: Sometimes it was evident that he wanted his morning nap before 3 hours of awake time. I found that he could be awake the longest right before bedtime.
Hope this helps!