9 Month Old Having Hard Time Napping in the Morning

If 30-45 minutes is all he's sleeping, it's probably a single sleep cycle, and likely all he needs.

It may be that the first nap is too close to waking after the night, and the second nap is too far away from the first one.

Babies' sleep needs --like adults'-- change from day to day based on variable factors like current growth speed, what the immune system has encountered and energy expenditure, including thinking time.

It's slightly easier to avoid going crazy by following the baby's cues in terms of sleep needs: you can see when he's tired, until then he won't happily nap, and after that point he'll be getting overtired and stressed. Watch him daily and expect the needs to shift a bit each day. There is nothing in a baby's body that comes prepared for the existence of clocks, so clocks don't need to determine when he's tired (or finished sleeping).

Hi.don't be so quick to think the morning nap is gone. Some babies, when they are still establishing their sleep patterns. The more active your baby become (and it will happen) the more they need the nap. Stay strong and stick w the two naps for as long as you can. Three of my kids napped twice a day until 18 months. One until 15 months. You may also want to try the morning nap a little closer to the morning wake up. You may be waiting a little too long to put the baby down, losing part of the naptime. Good luck and stay strong!

I think all kids are different. My son started taking just one nap a day when he was just only 4months old. He generally goes down between 11:30-12 and will sleep for 3 hours. Give it a try and go with what works for you and your son. Good luck!

From my experience with my two girls, 9 mo. seems a bit early to drop the first nap, but I have heard other moms say that it has happened...

that said- my 9 mo old wakes up between 7-7:30 and we put her down for a morning nap around 9:30. She usually sleeps 1-1 1/2 hours in the am. She does wake up after 30-45 min sometimes and I have gotten in the practice of going in and laying her back down (I put her binky back in, her lovey by her face and recover her w/ a blankie) without talking or saying anything- oftentimes she goes right back to sleep for another 30+ minutes...sometimes she's up and that's fine...give it a try.

my daughter would take one nap.. at around 11:30 or 12.. and it would last 2 - 3 hours.. if i gave her two naps.. they were only 20 minutes or so... so the one worked best for us.. good luck

He is changing, try to adjust the morning nap to a little later and he will probably sleep longer...Dont focus so much on what the books say, go by what your child needs and your "feelings of what is right" as a mother..I read all the books and they did nothing for me. good luck!

blend the 2 naps for 1 really long one. hopefuly it'll work. take the first nap later and the second nap earlier for only one nap. somethimes that's all that's needed. then bed time is earlier too. but usu. sleep time at night stays the same. good luck.

I don't think he is dropping his first nap already. My daughter was a light napper until well after her first birthday so that may be what's going on with your son. My pediatrician suggested letting them cry it out for an hour but that never seemed to work for us. One thing I might suggest is trying to put him down for his nap before he seems tired. If he is tired 2-3 hours after he wakes, try starting your routine for putting him down 20-30 minutes prior to his nap time. If the time varies take note for a week of what time he goes down in the am and pick the earliest time as a starting point. Some days you may end up reading a little bit longer or whatever you do to put him down but by waiting until you are sure he is tired you may be actually be putting him down after his body has hit the sleep cycle. Putting him down a little early might help his naps be longer because he able to fall asleep.

Hope this makes sense. I believe this is what Dr. Weissbluth recommends. I think his book is a good resource. Good luck.

My son gave up his morning nap around 11 months, but still takes a solid nap (2+) hours in the afternoon. Try some down time in the morning around that "sleepy time" and see if he just needs to relax or if he's really tired. Taking a 45 minute nap that gets him going for the afternoon is great!

I was at my wits end with my almost 7 month old daughter's horrible sleep habits (I actually posted something a few weeks ago looking for help!), so I hired sleep consultants last week. Within one night, she is an awesome night and naptime sleeper. One of the things that surprised me was that, even though my daughter is now sleeping from 730pm-730am (or sometimes 8am), her first nap is scheduled for 930am-1030am (with an extra 30 min if she's still asleep). We used to wait 3 hours in the morning for her 1st nap, but now I realize that was WAY too long. I was shocked the first time we put her down at 930am, that she actually fell back asleep within 5 minutes. Good luck. Hope this helps.