Nap tips?

mrssnflwr

DS is 16 months old. He has never been a super consistent sleeper, but he does go down pretty easily when he's tired. 

My problem right now is his naps. He sleeps from 7ish pm- sometime between 5-6am. He wakes up, eats breakfast, plays, and then he's ready to go back down for a nap by 7:30 or 8. I would put him down then, but I have to take DD to school by 9. So, he usually goes down for his nap by 9:30 and sleeps until 11 or 11:30.

The problem is that is usually his only nap for the day. Don't most kids take their one nap a day in the afternoon? He will get really grumpy by 4:30pm, but if I do get him to fall asleep in the afternoon, it is just for 30 minutes, and he wakes up in a terrible mood.

Any tips on changing this?  It just seems like a strange schedule for this age!

JLKillion

My DD is the same age. Back in September, she all of a sudden went on a nap strike, then started the same routine as yours. I started pushing her nap back 10-15 minutes later every day, until she got into the routine of napping around noon. She still seems to get a little sleepy mid-morning, but gets a second wind within 20 minutes and is napping (and sleeping at night) like a champ. Good luck!

thethomps

DD is the same age and will sometimes wake early.  When she does, we'll go in and rock her and turn the sound machine on to get her to go back to sleep.  Or, lately, we've been putting the Glow Worm into the crib with her at night and she'll play with that for a little while before falling back to sleep.  Her usual nap time is 12:30 - 2:30.  There are days when I can tell she's exhausted and I'll put her down at 12 or 11:30.  Can you try getting him to go back to sleep in the morning so he'll be up for a longer stretch and nap later?