How Many Naps Does a 10 Month Old Need?

My son is 10 months and he is on about that same schedule. He goes to bed about 8:30 and gets up around 7:30. Maybe she is teething. I think babies usually take 2 naps until about 15 months. Give it a couple days or try putting her down later and see if you have the same problems.
Good luck!

Hi B.. My 10 month old has been taking one nap for about 5 months. She wakes up around 7 and takes a nap at 12:30 until 3:00 and is in bed by 8. She is a great sleeper, but didn't used to be. I've noticed that she started sleeping through the night more when she was only taking one nap. I'm just dreading the day when there are no naps! She'll let you know what she needs.
~J.

She will go through this every now and then. Yes, she still needs two naps a day. It think her bedtime sounds perftect, but you can play with that and see if anything helps. Other thans that, just give her a few weeks and I'm sure she will go back to normal for a while. Then she will do this to you again a few months later!

Every kids is different. I would keep the 2 naps, and play with bed time a little. Unless she won't go to sleep at 8:00 I would keep 2 naps. My girls did not give up the morning nap until 18 months. I took it away when they laid in bed fo rmore than 30 minutes and could not get to sleep. Do you have any crib yoys with lights or music? Sometimes they just need something to entertain them for a few minutes. Try a little bit of music in the room. I played books on tape for my kids, they are only 10 & 12, and we checked them out at the library from the time they were about 1. Good Luck and trust yourself.

My daughter is almost 2.5 and just now stopped taking her morning nap. She still sleeps about 2.5 hours in the afternoon. And she's would go to bed at 7 and get up at 6:30. Your girl is just a sleeper. Could be that she's teething? Have you tried giving her some motrin before bed? Don't take away that nap unless you're ready for a really grump girl. Sounds like your girl is just a sleeper and she'll get through this weirdness. Good luck.

I wouls suggest you keep both naps but put off bedtime till 8:00pm. My little guy started this when he was close to a year old. It sounds just like she doesn't require as much sleep as she was previously getting. If at 8pm she still screams bump it to 8:30 if she still screams maybe she is starting to fear you not being there with you? Trail and error is part of motherhood so test the waters and see what works for you both :)

Best wishes!

S.
Mom of 2 1/2 yr old Austin

My daughter just turned one year old on the 27th of May and she has gradually weaned down to one hour and a half to two hour nap a day. She used to take two naps, one in the morning and one in the afternoon but started putting up such a fuss taking an afternoon nap we skip it now. I think it helps her to sleep in, in the morning. She usually dosen't wake up until about 8am now. I think it just depends on them, if she's not sleeping good at night or waking up way too early, I would skip the second nap....

Perhaps she is giving you cues by not falling asleep as early as usual. I put my 15 month old down at 8:30 and he is up at 6:00. He was taking only one nap a day around 9 months. Do you have a bedtime routine? My children are used to bath, brush teeth , story , lights out! Good Luck!!

Hi B.,

Generally, babies at this age need about 14 hours of sleep which comprises of 10-12 hours of sleep plus two 1-2 hour naps a day. Usually around 8-10 months, they start to become more aware and have more separation anxiety, making bedtime a struggle. My son went through this exact thing and it started carrying into the naps as well. We rocked, tried music, etc and it was very difficult. The only thing that worked was to let him cry himself to sleep per the pediatrician's advice. Only then, will they learn to comfort themselves. It's not easy, but it works and you get through it. I now put a book and a few soft toys in his bed for him to look at until he falls asleep.

The other possibility is that she may be cutting teeth. You can lube her up with Hurricane gel (available behind the pharmacy counter; 20% Lidocaine) or Motrin if she really acts like she's in pain. However, if she's fine when playing and then starts fighting bedtime, you can be pretty sure she's not in pain.

Lastly, another factor may be that it gets darker later, which may not allow her body to produce Melatonin (sleep hormone) until later. Darkness prompts the body to start producing it which induces sleep.

Use process of elimination and then, when all else fails, let her put herself to sleep.

Hi B.,
I have a 11 mo old who also takes two naps a day that average from 1 to 2 hours each. We usually don't put him down until 8:30, but he also doesn't wake up usually until 7:30. Anyhow- I would say cutting back on the naps probably isn't the answer. At least with our baby, the better he naps during the day the easier he goes down at night. Are you giving her night-time cues- like a walk and/or a bath, a lullabye? Also, we've discovered that any kind of light annoys our baby and once we stopped using a night light in his room he went to sleep fairly quickly.

Just wondering myself!

hi my name is D. and i and 25 almost 26 getting ready to have my second child i work in child care and from all my experiance and training once a chld hits 10 mnths old they need to only take one nap a day do to the fact they are more active and wanting to learn and explore so try just giving her one nap do it for a few days and see how it works for the 2 of you let me know god bless

She may be ready to go down to one long nap - my son did at that age but before you go there I would try starting the afternoon nap a bit earlier so she wakes up a bit earlier. It may be that she just isn't sleepy enough yet at bedtime. Getting her up a half hour earlier from nap (but get her in a half hour earlie) may do the trick. It is hard since the afternoon nap will be the keeper over time. Good luck!

My daughter is 9 months old (well she will be tomorrow) and she sleeps 3 30mins naps during the day about 3 hours apart and finally I put her to bed around 9 or 9:30 and she sleeps until about 7 or 8am. She never wants to go to sleep- EVER for naps I have to put her in the stroller and walk her around the block and at night I just lay with her and let her cry it out until she falls asleep.

So thus far be happy you've gone 10mos with no fighting and be thankful your baby goes to sleep at 8:30!!! If sleeping through the night in a crib- even more gratz to you!

Every baby is different - but my guess would be that your baby gets too much sleep if she is sleeping 2-3 hours in the day and 12 hours at night and is 10mos old.

@}~>~~

The restlessness could be pain from teething - it gets worse when they lie down. A dose of Motrin before bed helps my daughter sleep much better when that's the case. Or it could just be that playing is more fun than sleeping! lol Another possible explanation is that there's something big going on developmentally (starting to walk, perhaps) and that's disrupting her sleep patterns.

I agree she should be taking 2 naps a day, although the times may change. You can experiment a bit with her nap times - maybe wake her up from the afternoon one 1/2 hour earlier for a few days and see if that makes a difference.

When my daughter transitioned to 1 nap a day (around 12-13 months, which was still a bit early) she just wasn't ready for her morning nap until later and later. That made it too late for an afternoon nap of more than 1/2 hour or so and eventually it just became 1 longer midday nap (2-2.5 hrs at first). I'd had her on a pretty firm schedule, like you. That makes it *so* much easier. I do remember thinking she was making that transition at about 10m when she started to walk but then she stuck to 2 a day for another couple of months. Everything was just more flexible than usual for a while until she settled into her new pattern.

Good Luck to you!

An earlier bed time will help. At 8 months a child usually goes from 3 to 2 naps per day but you have to move up the bedtime. She is going to bed too late and is overtired and can't fall asleep.

When my daughter gave up her 3rd nap at 8 months she went to bed between 5:30 and 6PM for the night. At around 18 months they give up the morning nap.
A great book is Healthy Sleep Habits Healthy Child.