questions on sleep and weaning my 11 month old

[molly]

we have cut nursings down to twice a day (first thing in morning and just before bed), previously i would nurse after the two naps as well, then i gradually eliminated those two sessions one at a time, we've only just been on the two a day for three days now and we are starting to have some nap problems. william usually naps at 9 and 1, however, the last couple of days, the naptime routine (book(s), sippy, rocking till eyelids drop), is dragging out into squirming/scream-crying marathons. it's so hard not to just nurse him when i know that will get him drowsy in a few minutes, but i'm trying to stick to our plan.

here's my question (finally!) - how long do you try to soothe down for a nap? as long as it takes is what i have been doing, but yesterday afternoon, i spent an hour rocking/bouncing/singing, just every trick i know and finally i threw in the towel (no nap) and just put him to bed early last night - then this morning, first nap of the day goes roughly the same way, except my hubby is home and we were able to tag team him and finally got him down after about an hour. is this a result of weaning? if so, how can i comfort/soothe him without nursing? is this an age when naptimes typically shift? i had thought i had a few months before that would start happening. we have a lovey for him but he seems to have no interest in it, he's never taken a pacifier either. i'd love any insight/thoughts on this. thanks.

[Momof3Labs]

It could have nothing to do with nursing - he might be transitioning to one nap a day. Colin did at 11 months of age!

[cinrein]

We experienced the same thing at around 11 mos. At first the nap-fighting would be sporadic. Then at 12 mos the nap-fighting was more the norm. Anna is now 13.5 mos and just last week she officially went to 1 nap per day (not that she doesn't NEED another short nap). I started weaning her the exact same way you did and I really think it was just coincidence that the nap-fighting started at the same time as weaning. I know this because I did "give in" a couple times and it didn't help her get to sleep. :)

For us, 11 mos was the point where Anna really got into the sleep routine. We had a good bedtime routine, but not a nap one. We instituted a nap routine when the fighting started and after a couple weeks she knows the drill. We go upstairs and change her diaper, pull down the blinds a little bit, read a few books in our rocking chair and for bedtime and naptime we always end with me singing "Snuggle Puppy". Anna now knows when she hears me sing "Snuggle Pupply" that it's time to sleep and she snuggles right in. We still have some squirmy days, but now that she knows what's going to happen (and that it's inevitable) she's really pretty good about napping.

Cindy and Anna 2/11/03