Naptime - what to do

[L'sMommy]

DS is 8 mo and good, bad, or indifferent we have been fairly regimented about his naptimes and bedtime. Now, because he can sit up and has more "freedom" to move about he has decided not to nap. Instead, he has been playing in his crib for the last hour! I went in there once and told him to go to sleep but obviously that didn't work. He's not crying, just playing....but this will mess up the rest of our day. How am I supposed to handle this? Normally, we never have a problem with his naps/bedtime.

[gatorsmom]

DS is 8 mo and good, bad, or indifferent we have been fairly regimented about his naptimes and bedtime. Now, because he can sit up and has more "freedom" to move about he has decided not to nap. Instead, he has been playing in his crib for the last hour! I went in there once and told him to go to sleep but obviously that didn't work. He's not crying, just playing....but this will mess up the rest of our day. How am I supposed to handle this? Normally, we never have a problem with his naps/bedtime.

All babies are so different and can change so quickly in such a short amount of time like one day they are napping and the next day they aren't. Maybe it's taking longer for him to get to sleep. I remember Gator would play in his crib for like 2 hours before he'd finally fall asleep at 3pm and sleep til 5pm. I kept thinking from 1pm-3pm that I should go in and get him if he wasn't sleeping but he was happy and not crying. And I kept thinking, "he should just be on the verge of sleeping any minute...." He did that for a couple of months. Maybe 1pm was too early of a naptime for him and 3pm was better. Maybe he liked having downtime in his crib alone (he still likes some alone time quite frequently). It's also possible that he was digesting his lunch and couldn't get to sleep since sometimes he'd wake up with a full diaper. Hard to tell.

Can you put your son down later and try to increase his activity beforehand so he's tired? Or, if you need him to sleep at that time, you could try walking him in the stroller (if he'll transfer to the crib well). Is your house noisy? Maybe he can hear activity in the next room. You could try a white noise machine in his room. Does he take a morning nap? Maybe it's time to decrease his naptime in the morning just a bit by waking him earlier? Or, put him down for his morning nap earlier?

Hope things work out for you.

[tiapam]

Babies naps evolve over time. He will not keep the same number or schedule indefinitely. If you post his nap and bedtimes, it would be easier to make suggestions.

[geochick]

What's he playing with? Make sure there aren't any toys/strings/blankets/pillows to play with. Use a big sleep sack if you have to. We got room darkening shades. I'd lower them for naps. If there's nothing to play with or see, my babies slept better at nap time.

[L'sMommy]

He goes down at 9 am and 3 pm. Bed at 7 pm. He has a couple of musical toys attached to the crib, but he doesn't play with them (we put one on when it's time to go down). He plays with his small lovey which we've had in the crib since 4 months. I was talking to a friend yesterday and she was saying let him play and he will fall asleep on his own eventually. It messes up the schedule for the day but they do this more and more as they obtain more mobility (able to crawl, stand, etc). Yes, we lower the shades and put the white noise on so he knows it's naptime/bedtime.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I let him play!! Quiet play time is always encouraged here!!

If I put ds down for a nap at 1:30 I can usually count on him playing for at least an hour then napping 2 hours after that.

You could try keeping him up another hour so he might be more tired but you'll have the same scheduling issue.

Personally, I would just accept that nap time is longer and live with altering the rest of your daily schedule.

I have no problem with toys in the crib (attached to the sides for the little ones) because it sure is nice when they wake up in the morning and play for a while!

Beth

[geochick]

It messes up the schedule for the day but they do this more and more as they obtain more mobility (able to crawl, stand, etc).

I can't tell you how many times my kids' schedule has changed over the years. As they get bigger, they can go longer and longer between sleep periods. He won't always be sleepy when you need him to be. Put him down for a nap later.

[KpbS]

Which nap is he playing before 9 am or 3 pm or both? If he is going down at 3pm that seems pretty late to me to also be going to bed at night at 7 pm.

I would think that if he sleeps for 1-2 hours at 9 or 9:30 that he would be ready to go back down again around 1-2 pm.

My DS2 started to give up his morning nap around 10-11 months. He would play and throw his loveys out of the crib for 30 min. to an hour. At 11 months he was done w/ the morning nap and I just started putting him down for 1 nap about 11:30 or noon. It took a little while but he eventually was able to consolidate his naps and sleep for several hours.

Personally I don't allow toys in the crib. We have our lovey and a stuffed animal tied to the crib. For my kids it makes it harder for them to settle down.

[L'sMommy]

Playing during the 9am nap. I hear what you are saying about a 3pm nap being too late, but because he's up from 11:30 to 3 and we have him out of the house, he's exhausted by 3. Surprisingly, he's ready to go back to bed for the night by 7pm....he sleeps 12 hrs straight through...the schedule is working so I don't want to mess around with it.

[KpbS]

Playing during the 9am nap. I hear what you are saying about a 3pm nap being too late, but because he's up from 11:30 to 3 and we have him out of the house, he's exhausted by 3. Surprisingly, he's ready to go back to bed for the night by 7pm....he sleeps 12 hrs straight through...the schedule is working so I don't want to mess around with it.

Well in that case, I would either let him play (esp. if it is quiet, calm play) or take out some of the toys and see if he settles down more easily. Kiddos keep you guessing ;)