Lengthening Naps in 9 Month Old

Hi S.:

His schedule (as described in the last two sentences) sounds balanced. He's growing and body is changing; he won't require that much sleep time as he gets older. As he's sleeping, are there any noise or other distractions? Was he given antibiotics for the ear infections? That could have altered his body's rhythm. I question if he needs to nap longer. If you are still in search of professional suggestions, please feel free to schedule a consultation with my clinic.

All the best,
N.
www.wholecreations.com/wombfull.html
###-###-####

I'm wondering if he is getting enough sleep at night as sleep begets sleep. I don't know if 9 mos is the right time to drop to O. nap. What time does he get up? If it's at 6 am, I'll bet he could sleep at 10 or 11 for an hour then again at 3ish or so. Is he going to bed by 7:30 every night?

Hi There,
I feel that most kids still need 2 naps until about 1 year old... However, 6:30 is really early for anyone to go to bed, you can't expect a child who naps to sleep more than 11 hours per night. (a child this age should get about 13 hours of sleep in 24 hours including naps). Maybe push bedtime back until about 7:30... she will probably still get up around the same time, maybe a little later. Then, just be consistant with the napping thing....make sure she is getting enough physical activity when she is awake, then just be consistant. Put her down to nap when she is sleepy, but try to avoid rocking her to sleep, that will make her dependent on you. Eventually her naps will get a little longer (is she crawling yet? when they start moving, the naps start to get longer). Also, it could just be a phase. When kids learn new skills, they often go through changes in sleep. My last piece of advice is just be sure they ear infections are cleared up. My son had 8 ear infections between ages 7 mos and 15 mos. It definately effected his sleep... even if their is no infection, but still fluid, it could make lying down uncomfortable. Good luck!

Dear S.,

I understand your frustration about naps. I have two little girls (almost 3 years and almost 7 months) and luckily both have been phenomenal sleepers. One thing I can say for sure is that making them go to bed later is NEVER successful in getting them to sleep longer. Sleep patterns can change based on a number of issues i.e. illness, teething, growth, etc. My daughter was consistently sleeping 45 minutes for her first nap and then 1-3 hours for her second. Suddenly, she was sleeping no more than 30 minutes and it was a struggle just getting that amount. In a few days she is back to her schedule. This will happen and you just have to ride it out and keep as closely to the routine as possible.

I would also advise you to keep the 2nd nap. Nine months is still too young to only have one nap a day. Kids these days are way overtired and bad sleep habits start very young. To me it seems like the time between wake up and naps is way too long. Naps should be no later than 2.5 hours after wake up. He could be overtired and unable to sleep. Plus, that bedtime is not too early. My youngest daughter goes to bed between 6-7 every night. I followed the same pattern with my older daughter and she would sleep 11-12 hours a night. This bedtime is also dictated by her last nap and what time she wakes up. If she wakes up too early from her 2nd nap I always try to put her down for a third time so there is not a huge amount of time before she goes down for the night and is too overtired to sleep.

I swear by Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child written by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. He is a pediatric sleep specialist and his advice is incredibly helpful. His method has worked for us! P.S. His suggestion for the perfect bedtime is between 6-8 pm.

Good luck!

I agree with Brie. You need to try only one nap a day. My daughter dropped her morning nap by 6 months. Also consider what time he is going to bed at night and waking up in the morning. You might need to keep him up 30 minutes longer.

hi S., well it is normally for them to take lesser naps and even shorter naps its a good thing it jus shows that he is active and wants to be up to expoler more of his world and play. my daughter did the samething. if you want him to take longer naps limit it to one nap a day and play with him and when you see he is getting tired keep playing til he cant keep his eyes open and he'll just fall a sleep and hopefully stay aleep longer this worked for my daughter but once again her sleep has changed now she gets up every moring around 6! and i cant get her back to sleep so maybe the short nap once a day will help if you get the problem of him getting up to early, i'v been trying this and she is slowing getting back to the normal time of 8 - 9....hope this is helpful!!!

i think bed between 6:30 & 7 is way too early o do the nighttime bedtime. Te earliest bedtime should be 7:30-8 pm, so that a full 10 hrs of sleep would leave them waking at 6 am or so. i think you'll find that holding off they're bedtime an extra hour or so will result in better and posibly longer nap times