8-month-old, short naps

[IWU2000]

My 8-month-old daughter has been a good sleeper most of the time, but recently started taking only 1/2 hour naps. She wakes up talking and ready to get up and play. It think it's too short; she often tires quickly after these short naps. She seems to take longer naps (1 1/2 - 2 hours) for her babysitter who watches her 2 days weekly. One difference is that I nurse her; whereas, the babysitter bottle feeds breastmilk. With her longer wake times, her schedule now has a feeding right before naptime. She usually falls asleep at the breast and then I lay her down. Any ideas? (I've read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby.)

[resipsaloquitur]

We had the exact same situation. Turns out the baby sitter was letting her fuss for a few minutes and she'd put herself back to sleep while I'd just up and get her at the first sound. So I started letting her fuss or cry for 5 minutes after a 30 minute nap and she started sleeping much longer. Good luck.

[IWU2000]

When she wakes up after a 1/2 hour, she will lay and talk in her crib for as long as I leave her there. I have left her up to another 1/2 hour, and she doesn't cry or fuss, she'll just lay there awake and talking. But she won't go back to sleep either.