What to Do for Short Naps.

At 7 months, he may be getting ready to drop one of those naps.. Just be ready.

It sounds like you are doing very well. But it also sounds like he is also ready for some extra exercise and movement. .

Make sure he is getting some good tummy time.. and that you allow him to pull up to a sitting position with him grasping your fingers. Is he trying to get up onto his knees? More playtime, encouraging his moving around. Rolling.. Placing things just outside of his reach.

Does he sleep well on his tummy? I noticed if I placed our daughter in her crib on her tummy, with her head up against one of the corners of the bumpers ( I actually rolled up a towel and had it placed there)
She would kind of scoot into it and it seemed to calm her.

I played quiet music like Vivaldi, "Four Seasons"..The Wyndam Hill collections are great. I also made sure there was a fan lightly blowing. Our daughter tends to be warm, so the coolness was great for her,

I also made sure she had a really good burp.. sometimes rubbing her back or tummy with a bit of a pressure in upward strokes.

Sometimes, I would pat her back as she laid there. but only for a few minutes. No talking or conversations. I used touch instead. My voice seemed to perk her up..

When we used the white noise , it was just enough to cover most of the outdoors noises. In the late afternoon, lots of car doors opening and slamming closed and car alarms being set. I wanted her to be used to conversations, the phones ringing,. etc.

But voices always caught her attention.

Two naps per day at this age is fine. In a child care setting we start around 10-10 1/2 months working to get the baby's down to one long afternoon nap per day because when they move to the toddler room they are active and busy all morning then they eat lunch and go down until 2 or 3 in the afternoon.

So to me it's probably time to get rid of the morning nap and just do a longer nap, perhaps still before lunch but then don't do another until later in the afternoon or early evening. Basically 2 little bit longer naps without that 3rd short one. This will make your nap times easier. Then as he gets closer to a year old you can drop the 2nd nap all together so you can have a solid chunk all at once.

My 6 month old is a troubled napper as well. He is our fifth child, and I thought I had this nap and bedtime thing figured out, but alas, each child is different.
My advice is, first, DO NOT give up that morning nap! He may be ready to cut to 2, but you drop the EVENING nap, not the morning! You would have a beyond-fussy baby on your hands until 1p. Not good for mommy. Our babies have all taken a 1-2 hr morning nap and the same for an afternoon nap until at least a year old.
I am trying not to do CIO, but we are getting close to not having another choice. Baby naps about 1 hr in the morning, 45 minutes in the afternoon, and 30 min in the evening. This is not good for us or baby. He is tired about an hour after waking each time, and makes it hard to have good play time. He is a little insomniac! You can't go by anyone else's advice on what feels right when it comes to listening to your baby cry for you. If you can handle it, fine. But don't clock-watch if you (or baby) is a basket case and needs held. Sleep will come eventually; it always does.

We keep the room night-time dark at all times, and play soft music at all times. Baby is never in room unless it is to sleep. This helps promote a sleepy environment for him.

Good luck-this too shall pass. And you will miss it.

Sounds like he's ready to give up a nap, try to make it the middle one. He needs the morning and later one. Shorten the middle one by putting him down a bit later, and letting in light and talking to him a bit earlier to see if he'll wake on his own from it. This should begin to lengthen his last nap and if you continue to encourage it he may drop the middle one.

1. 30 minutes if he's fussing, longer if he's playing, cooing, not fussing, play it by ear. Quiet time in his crib and room won't hurt him, it teaches him to self-soothe and be content on own, something you will appreciate more as he gets older and is sleeping in a bed and playing in his room during the day.
2. An hour.
3. Dark as with blinds or shade drawn, white noise on low so he doesn't depend on it. I'd start the nap with it and and have it go off after 30 minutes.

I am the oldest of 11 children, mom to 2, Gramma to 7, have cared for countless babies, and I have never heard of nap training. I always put a baby down when they were tired, recognizing as they grew they required less sleep so naps would lessen in number and length. Bedtime has always been different, a set routine at a set time, times changing as a child grows from baby to toddler to preschooler, etc., and their sleep requirements change. Naps have always been flexible as required.

Train your son to sleep in his crib, not a stroller or car seat or he may choose those and you'll find yourself trying to cater to him. Give him the tools he needs to be a good sleeper and they'll stay with him. Remember he will have his own sleep style, you need to respect it, not fight it.

Hi O.,

First of all, I have to say, you are so lucky that the first two naps are so long! When my kids took three naps, their naps were 20-45 min. All of them!

I'm sure others have said this, but it sounds like he may be ready to go down to two naps. Mine both did around 9 mos. And then they started taking actual naps of about an hour.

My favorite sleep book is "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. Check it out, if you haven't already. I found it immensely helpful, and it is supportive of nursing to sleep or crying-it-out -- whatever works for you.

Good luck!
R.