Seeking Moms on Advice to Get My 8 Month Old to Take Longer Naps

It sounds like she's ready for two naps a day. All of my babies started taking two naps a day around 8 months. If she's only taking two, they're bound to be longer. See how she does skipping her fist nap. If that works, put her down for the second nap, and see how long she sleeps. If skipping doesn't work, try moving the first nap later by 15 minutes a day, until she's ready to skip it. Good luck. :)

I'm in a similar situation with my 4 month old daughter, she does the 45 minute naps. It's like she needs to get over the 45 minute wake-up hump and go back to sleep. I've heard to leave her in her crib until she goes back to sleep, rather than rushing to her. But that has never worked. My son never really took good naps until he was down to one a day, and he started doing that early on, like around 20 months.

Maybe try the 2 nap routine, or that 2, 3, 4 idea sounds good. Also, I don't hesitate to put her down for bed early-like as early as 5:30 if she's had fewer naps.

Hi A., you can increase her activities, 3 naps for an 8 month old is to many, the 8 and 9 month olds in my daycare yake one nap a day and that is at nap time along with everyone else. Nap time is from 12:00 to 2:00. J. L.

Hi A., my name is K. Smith and I am a Sleep Consultant and Parenting Coach. My advice to you is to drop one of the naps. By six months old a baby should only be having two naps a day. One morning nap around 9:00 and an afternoon nap aound 2:00. Any nap less than an hour is not enough, she should be getting at least 3-4 hours of naptime a day in two naps. If you need more help visit my website at www.theindependentchild.com Good Luck!

Don't worry. Your baby has a pattern and a routine. That is good.

Most babies, nap 2 times a day. Morning and afternoon. When your baby is ready, she will switch to 2 naps. That is fine.

It is important to stick to a routine and nap time. Then when they are older, they will still be a "napper." My son is 25 months old, and he still naps twice a day. If he does not, he gets very very tired and can't even hold his eyes open. That is 'his' pattern. My girl, at 5 almost 6 years old, still naps afterschool too.

There is no "rule" on how many naps, or how long nap should be. Each child is different. Except maybe, a baby will nap at earlier times, and a "child" just in the afternoon.

Even in preschool and Kindergarten, the children still have a nap time.

The reason that daycare or babysitters have children naps (regardless of age) at the same time... is for keeping a "routine" and for needs of organizing the day & the kids. I used to do childcare in my home too... and ALL the children napped at the same time. BUT... as a "Mom"... I let my own children nap when it is "Their" time, and per their needs. I know my child's nap needs at at what time they "naturally" get tired.

If you want, you could try and put your baby down for just 2 naps... but this may not work, or it may mess up her great routine now. So that's the risk you take.....

No real right or wrong answer... but your child seems to sleep great for her age. No worries.

All the best,
Susan

Hi A.. I have twin boys who just turned 9 months old and both of them still take 3 naps a day. They take an hour nap in the morning starting at 830. Another hour nap at 1230 and a third hour nap at 400. You could try keeping her up a little later slowly and try to make her take 2 naps and hope they are longer. I've also heard some people suggest a 2,3,4 schedule where the baby is awake for 2 hours takes a nap is awake for 3 hours takes a nap and then is awake for 4 hours and is put to bed. I could never get my boys on that schedule. So I would say shes normal...when she goes through a growth spurt she will probably sleep a little more, but otherwise you might just need to get used to her short nap schedule. I dont know how to make her nap any longer...other than to try and eliminate anything that might keep her up. Both my boys have dark shades in their room to make it dark and have white noise makers and that seems to help them sleep a lot. I should also note that mine sleep about 11 hours each night. I believe at 8 months they are supposed to sleep about 14 hours each day (plus or minus an hour).

Keep her up and active (no stroller or carseat naps) before lunch. Put her down for a long nap after lunch 2-4 hours. Consistency is key till she gets her new schedule down.

It sounds like your daughter is a pretty good sleeper but I fully understand needing some more time during naps if not for her sake, for your own! When my son was around that age, he transitioned to two naps and that helped us get some more time out of him though he's always been a nap-fighter. His pattern has become at-least-three hours in between sleep periods. In other words, if he gets up for the day at 7, I don't even try to put him down for a nap before 10 and often try to wait a bit longer. It makes getting him down easier and he tends to stay down longer if he's more tired. When he wakes up from that nap, however long it turns out to be (sometimes only half an hour) I start the "clock" again and won't try for the afternoon nap until at least three hours after he woke up from the morning one. On those half-hour-morning-nap days, I can get two (more sometimes) out of him in the afternoon which is heavenly for both of us. I'll even wake him up if he's pushing into the three hour window before bedtime (he goes down at 8). Anyway, this is what's been working for us lately - though I'm sure it's bound to change again soon:-) Hope it helps and best of luck!

Don't complain!!!! She sleeps through the night!!!!!! Things will change when she gets more mobile, even with her nighttime sleep, so just let it be. Especially since you have 2 others, can you really afford to be tied to a 2-3 hour nap?? I was actually grateful when my second one gave up her nap, because I always had a hard time fitting it in before I had to pick up my oldest from school, then take her to ballet class, etc and various other running around in the afternoon types of things. I don't think there is a way to manipulate their naps other than consistency, and even then, they might not nap, but they will just get used to their "quiet time" when they know that you will not come running when called.

Hi A.,

See if you can switch your daughter to 2 longer naps. That might help!

Good luck.

I would love to give you words of wisdom. But this is all i got.
I have four kids and all were so different in their schedules. Each child is so different from the next. I just wish my 3 year old would sleep all through the night in his own bed. :)

Take care

Be happy that your little one takes more than one nap. I am lucky if my son will sleep for longer than a 1 hour nap daily. I have some luck with playing with him until he is nearly sleeping standing up. My son seems to have the mind set that if he sleeps too much he will miss something! I have been told that with age it usually get better. I hope for us both that others are right! ;)

My almost 11 month old was/is the same way. Your baby will get the amount of sleep she needs. I had a hard time adjusting to it because my son would nap for 2-3 hours when he was my daughter's age. She, on the other hand, naps for shorter periods. Rare is the nap that goes over 1 hour. As long as she is not fussy, she is probably getting the right amount of sleep she needs.

My son always only took 30 min naps, then one day they started getting longer, all on his own. Your 8month old is probably ready for only 2 naps, by 12 months my son was only taking one nap, but it was about an hour. Now at 16 months it is 2 hours. I would offer an appropriate sleeping environment for your daughter, and she will sleep when she needs to, don't get caught up on the numbers yourself!

Hi A.:
I'd count my blessings,and allow her to stay on her normal schedule. Yes, it would be nice to have a little more free time,and have her nap a little longer,but she appears to feel comfortable with taking the three short naps, and shes sleeping through the night for you,Give her a little time. She will change,and with that her naps as well. so ...Like they say...."If its not broke, don't fix it" I wish you and your darlin daughter the best

I consulted w/a sleep expert and she said almost the same thing Eve said - at 30-50 min, the infant is transitioning from sleep 1 pattern to sleep 2 (REM).....they usually wake up themselves by 'jerking' their arms and then have a hard time going back to sleep. If they wake up crying, the aren't ready yet to get up - give them a little time to try to get into that REM sleep. If they wake up happy then they are probably good to go. Her rule was, if they napped less than an hour, give them another half hour in their crib (don't go in the room - unless you think there might be something really wrong).......We did this w/our son and within a few weeks, his 40 min naps went to 1 1/2 - 2 hrs..... Go to www.3daysleep.com if you would like Davis' video -it's amazing, quick to watch and has a TON of information.
Good luck! :)

sounds normal... the only thing I would attempt to change is taking one of the naps out and maybe the other two will get longer. Or maybe, once she is up from the nap, let her play with some toys in the crib (small ones so she can't attempt to climb out) while you finish what you are doing. That will give you a little more time of your own.

I would hold her out at her first nap to combine the first two. Then she will hopefully take 2 longer naps. I did this with my 8 month old when she was 7 months and it has been working great. We now get 2 two hour naps...one mid morning and one early afternoon and she still sleeps 12 hours at night. Good luck!

Hi A.! I to have an 8 month old daughter. She used to take 2 hour morning naps.......i loved it! But now that she is more active, curious.........her morning nap is now aabout 1/2 hour, 45 min. Everything changes as they grow. The only tip i have is do something fun and stimulating an hour before nap, sometimes it poops them out! I know if i go run errands by the time we get home she is out!

Sounds perfect to me. I wouldn't change a thing. At the most, maybe just make sure her room or where ever it is she sleeps is set up for sleeping - darkened, white noise, comfortable temp.

M.

I just thought I would share with you what I learned when I was going through this with my second baby. I read a book from an infant sleep expert and I also heard from other sources, that babies go through sleep cylces every 30-45 minutes or so. Many babies will wake while trying to pass through sleep cycles and they have trouble going back to sleep. The best way to tell (I think) if your baby is only waking because it is the end of a sleep cycle, is if she is crying. If she wakes up happy and cooing, then she is probably getting all of the sleep she needs, but if she is crying, it is probably because she is still tired and needs more sleep. That's how it worked with my babies at least, and it matched with what I read from the "experts." Unfortunately, the only way I was able to get my second baby through this was to let him cry until he went back to sleep. I tried going in and patting him, or giving him the pacifier again, or just telling him it was still time to sleep, it would only get him fully awake and impossible for him to go back to sleep. It took a couple/few weeks of this (my memory is failing me!) but eventually he got through it and started sleeping longer, about 1 1/2 - 2 hours. He has never slept as long as my first baby did for naps (he spoiled me with 2 1/2 - 3 hour naps), but once we got through that sleep cycle trouble and he slept for about 1 1/2 hours for naps, he has always woken up happy. If your little one is already waking up happy from her short naps, I think she probably only needs that little bit of sleep and there may be nothing you can do about that.

Good luck!

Hi A.... I don't have any advice for you but if it helps, my 8 month old does the exact same thing. He takes 3 half hour naps but sleeps all night long. Thanks for asking the question. I'm sure you'll get some good feedback.

I have four kids, and two of them were never long nappers. Every child is an individual with their own unique body rhythms. My second child would never sleep longer than 45 minutes, from the age of about 6 months. He is now 23 years old, and he still needs less sleep than the average human. :0) It is just who he is! He sleeps great at night and functions well. Drove me nuts when he was small, because we are told that babies of a certain age should do this and that and take so many naps of a certain length. Baloney! Allow for your child's individuality, and understand that the info in books and what you hear from others is just a representation of "average". Your child is obviously exceptional in many ways. :0)

Hi A.,

I just wanted to give some input with my experience with my son and that is that he is just naturally a short napper. I've tried every method other mom's (whose kids nap 3 hours straight) have told me they use and none of them have worked on my son. His natural rhythm seems to be around an hour (sometimes only 45 minutes) to an hour and a half. There have been rare occasions he'll sleep two or more hours, but hardly ever. He is creeping up on 20 months now and I still haven't completely transitioned him to one afternoon nap because every time I try it usually ends up being that his nap is shorter than if I give him two. The funny thing is, he usually takes a longer morning nap and then sometimes he will take an afternoon nap and other times he just plays and talks for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes and decides he's done. I just try to get him down earlier for bed on those days. I say if your baby is thriving and sleeping through the night, then keep doing what you're doing!