8 Month Old and Wonky Naps

[laurab0228]

I have been having some problems with my DD's naps lately. She just turned 8 months old a few days ago. She usually takes the morning nap okay, but afternoon naps have been either 30 min long, or non-existent. See below for my routine:

7am wake-up breast
8am solids (cereal)
10:30-12:00 Nap
12:00 breast
1:00pm solids
3:00-4:30 nap
4:30 breast
5:00 solids
6:30 bath
7:00 Bedtime

She usually had A times around 3-3.5 hours, but lately she doesn't show any signs of being tired until 4, even 5-6 hours, even in the morning. I've tried to lay her down for a nap around the 3.5-4 hour time (I've tried longer A times and shorter ones numerous times) but I am usually only successful in getting her to sleep 30 mins, or not at all (there is the very odd time I can get her down for 1.5 hours). She actually seems fine otherwise, even on days that she doesn't get very good naps. (One day all I could get from her was two 30 min naps). She seems to also be taking her morning nap later and later (today she finally had a nap from 11:30-12:30, no afternoon nap, but she was happy and didn't seem cranky).

She has always been a very good night sleeper, thankfully, she sleeps through from 7:00-7:00, and she seems to be quite good at being able to settle herself. (I've heard her wake a couple of times in the night, she might squawk  for a few minutes, but she goes right back to sleep). I should also mention that she is a very busy girl. She never seems to stop moving and has always been very active. As a result, she sometimes fights her naps like there's no tomorrow, and she can be a real struggle to get her to even just sit still and cuddle, or read a book, she just squirms and tries to grab a hold of something to inspect. It's like she's afraid she's going to miss something.

Am I overstimulating her? Is it possible already that she will drop to one nap a day so early? Am I somehow missing her sleepy signs and she's getting overtired? She's going through a wonder week period now, is this the problem? Could she be getting too much night sleep? I've tried to look at it from all angles but I can't seem to figure it out. There really isn't much of a problem mood wise, most of the time she's a happy baby, even when naps are skipped. Is it possible she just doesn't need the naps as much?   

[weaver]

It sounds like she might be starting to make the 2-1 transition.  Now, this really is a transition for most babies, it's a slow-ish process of switching over.  The first thing I would do, perhaps, is try to distribute her sleep a bit more through the day, so I'd cap that morning nap a bit and see if the afternoon nap improves. Around 9 mos, my LO2, who was about average sleep needs, was on an hour in the morning and the same in the afternoon.  NWs for us generally are linked to OT, if that's the case for you, then it may be that she isn't currently getting enough day sleep.

If she is low sleep needs, and sounds like she might be in that area, you can expect high A times and lower nap needs. Doesn't necessarily mean she should go straight to one nap now, but more about managing your expectations.  Bottom line, if she's happy, you're probably doing the right thing

Have a look here:
From 2 to 1 nap transition (10-12m and older)

And PS Wonder Weeks can be a little mad and generally don't predict any future patterns. If she's in a wonder week now, just roll with it, and reassess when you come out the other side.

[laurab0228]

Thanks a bunch! It really hasn't been too bad for us. Like i said, she's happy the majority of the time and she sleeps through the night which is a blessing.  I just thought it might be a bit too early for her to start Transitioning to one nap.