how do you drop a nap? | ExpatWoman.com
 

how do you drop a nap?

1381
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 18 September 2012 - 22:58

my ds used to take a nap between 7-7:30 for half an hour. but from past 5 days he has shifted all his nap times and now he sleeps at 8:30-9 pm and then goes down for night at 11-11:30 pm!! i have been following no cry sleep solution but that is not helping. yesterday i played with him alot and kept him busy so thst he would goto sleep directly at 9:30. but the little tike after taking feed for 30 min,slept for another 30 min and was wide awake and fresh at 10:30. we didn't talked to him but he kept on charning us and was in a playful mood. finally went to sleep at 12! my idea of not letting him sleep backfired at me only. i want to cut his nap so close to bedtime. but how??

2782
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 18 September 2012 - 23:13
I think you need to cut a few naps! When figuring out my guys ideal sleep schedule I read the book "healthy sleep habits happy child" by Dr Marc Weissbluth. he is of the opinion that you don't really have naps that finish any later than around 5pm, anything after that is bedtime for the night. His ideas of based on natural circadian sleep rhythms with the theory being if you go to bed too late then your body clock gets messed with, you'll be overtired and it will be harder to get quality sleep. 9:30 is really late for a wee one, I forget how old your baby is but consider a "no napping after 4pm" rule and focus on bringing bedtime much earlier, basically doing what you have been. The no-cry techniques are about nap routines and cues, but you really need to get the nap times right and avoid your baby being overtired, otherwise it will be hard to make them work. maybe bring bedtime to 7pm for a couple of weeks and continue to deal with any wakings after that time the same way you would with a night waking at 3am?
 
 

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