10 Month Old Napping Problems

Perhaps this is simply a hunch, but it seems to me that you're missing out on what being a mother to your son really means. It sounds to me that you don't really KNOW your son at all. Being his mother should come naturally to you, and it doesn't sound that way.

You ended your question with "I'm new to this mommy job"...your son is almost a year old...taking care of him shouldn't be "new"...it should be second nature. Being a "new" mom has a window, I think, of a month or two. By now you should be totally in tune to what your son needs, wants, and can live without.

Many moms seem to want a quick fix when it comes to napping and bed time...the truth is..there isn't one. Children will wake up at various times throughout the night at various ages throughout their lifetime. Likewise, they will also get on and off a nap schedule many times until there well into toddler-hood. This is normal child behavior.

Perhaps you should slow things down a bit and stop looking for a quick fix solution to both nap time and bed time. Your son needs you...I think the best way for you to learn about your son is to spend some more time with him...maybe this is easiest for you when you go to put him down for a nap.

He is fighting his sleep because he isn't comfortable with the way your attempting to put him to sleep...that's what it sounds like to me.

Try lying down with him, or rocking him in your arms. He wants to know and feel his mommy is close. I bet if you tried it, he'd lull himself to sleep in no time.

Good luck.

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Hi S.!

I am so sorry that you are going through this, but like the other moms have said, I think it is normal. As kids get older, their sleep patterns change and even though it is hard and stressful sometimes, it is up to us to figure out what is going on and change things as needed.

Your son is still young to go down to one nap, but it has happened. My daughter just went down to one nap at 14 months--it was a real struggle getting her to sleep and then we realized that she needed to stay up longer to be tired enough to take a nap and then she would take one long nap. Since he is young, you may also want to experiment with when you put him down. Maybe wait longer than 2-2 1/2 hours to put him down--maybe 3 or 3 1/2 hours and see if that helps.

It is also possible that he is going through something himself, such as teething or developmentally. I know these things change my daughter's nap sleep and not her nighttime sleep. Is he getting any new teeth? Or has he started crawling, pulling up, or walking?

I'm not sure that you can force a child to sleep where he/she does not want to. My daughter only falls asleep in the same places your son does--I'm not sure you need to change that...is there a reason you'd like him to fall asleep somewhere else? I'm sure they associate certain places with sleep, especially as they get older, and will sleep where they are comfortable? I'm not sure--sorry!

I know it is hard, but don't worry, things will work out. It may take a week or two, but you'll figure it out and he'll be in a schedule again, at least until the next tooth or developmental change :)

Take care and good luck!

My daughter (10 months old) has went threw the same thing with the napping. She used to only take a 30 min nap in the morning and in the afternoon and she was really fussy all the time because of it. I think it was because she wasnt active enough. If we have a day thats not to busy, She doesnt nap for very long. But on the days her cousin is here or we are really busy she naps a lot better. Usually an hour nap in the morning, And an hour to 2 hour nap in the afternoon. Maybe that could help. And maybe if you start puttng him to sleep a little later at bedtime, Just a little at a time. Like instead of starting at 6 move it back to 6:30. And after that goes ok, Move it to 7. We used to put my daughter to sleep between 9 and 9:30. And she would sleep till 8. Now she goes to sleep earlier around 8 and she sleeps till 7. I hope that helps some! Im new at this too but this is what worked for me. Good luck!

I think my daughter started napping less around this age too. I would try skipping the morning nap altogether in hopes of a long afternoon nap. Maybe if he is more tired by the afternoon then he'll sleep longer. I also have a musical toy in her crib that she likes to play with still (she's 2) and eventually she falls asleep to it. Is there anything that may be waking up the baby after half an hour? Maybe he's a light sleeper and some noise is waking him up.

As far as where he falls asleep, you're very lucky one of them is the crib. My daughter could never fall asleep anywhere else either, even the car she started to fight. Some kids just don't want to miss anything!