Managing naps, and sleep generally

I'm still reeling a bit from last night.

We have an ongoing issue with Junior in that if he has an afternoon nap, he's cheerful and sociable at tea time, which is 6ish, eats reasonably, and will enjoy a bath, then go upstairs for stories and a bit of playing before I get him to sleep by feeding him. Trouble is that he sometimes won't go down into his cot until after 9, which is frustrating to say the least.

Without a nap, he's usually asleep by 8.30, sometimes quite a bit earlier, but he can be beside himself by 5.30pm, doesn't eat properly, and will protest about every stage of nappy change, pyjamas, teeth cleaning, and going upstairs.

Either way he normally wakes at about 6am.

Last night was the extreme version of the first scenario, where he wasn't down at 10pm, I was aware of the new baby getting increasingly agitated, so I temporarily gave up, paid her some attention, but she didn't go to sleep either, and inthe end I got him to bed jjust after midnight, while the baby was taken out for a drive. I then took her out of her car seat, which woke her up, and got her asleep in her cot, which is in our room, at about 1. Thankfully she then slept until 4, and then managed another couple of shorter sleeps in bed with me before Junior woke up at 8.

No nap today, and he was down at about 7.45.

Any suggestions how to handle this? Naps are usually 90 mins to 2 hours, but waking him early just seems to result in him being cross and clingy for a while then proceeding to normal late bedtime.

What time is an afternoon nap? Could it be earlier with an opportunity to run off some energy afterwards?


I must say we've always experienced some difficult Times like this when working towards dropping a nap. A nap every other day sometimes works or a rest period rather than a nap.


Do you want to keep feeding him to sleep?

It sounds just like my situation. I ve just replied to a bit on my thread
As Ems said perhaps just drop the nap for two out of three days. The only other thing I d say is on the days that he doesn't have a nap move his tea forward to about 4:30. That's what I've had to do with my lot, and even now if they're tired from school we can be starting tea at 4:50pm. Tea is generally 5pm and then bath ( on bath night) and pyjamas all before 6:30.
That bit just before tea is an absolute nightmare but it is worth it when they go to sleep! If isaac hasn't had a nap we try to aim for a 7pm bedtime which is the same as dd2.
If you have chance earlier on in the day to prep for tea so that you only have to put something in the oven that can be handy. I know all of this is not going to be easy with a very small baby and not much sleep though

Afternoon nap time currently depends on when I can get the baby to sleep, since I can't start Junior's nap if she's awake and crying.

We did go through a phase of car naps earlier this year, but that's a less good option in warmer weather, although it's the only alternative I currently have to feeding to sleep... which is going to have to stop some time.

Alternate days napping is more or less the current system, and it's not working brilliantly, as described.

I guess nothing lasts forever. But I do feel sorry for him when he gets so tired, but the late nights are exhausting and frustrating too

I m afraid the dropping nap age it's a pretty painful experience. Early tea early bath and early pjs then keep him going till 7

We vw also found that now even when isaac has had a nap during the day he won't go till nine but he will go in his bed either on his own or with one of us on the floor.
Is hubby about at the later time to help get him to sleep without you feeding him? That at least spreads the burden. Has he got a special toy / blanket etc that he has as a symbol for sleep?
Good luck!

Yes on the toy, which is good.

Not sure he's ever got to sleep without me, or not since he was tiny anyway. Absence of mummy would prob provoke meltdown, or a v late sleep.

Early tea etc would be good, but tricky since the Mr does the cooking, and isn't in earlier than 5.15 at the earliest, or not on a regular basis, so we could do it sometimes, but that's not helpful. Worked when Mr was in Australia, but I was relying on pre-prepared frozen meals, or oven pizza, or fish and chips...

Cooking wise, get him to batch cook for you... Stick it in the freezer and just reheat as necessary... Nothing wrong with a ready meal every now and again!

I hear you ! Leon is on day 2 without naps and its brutal

If he naps then he goes to bed at about 10pm ,without and bedtime is half 6 BUT the whole afternoon is so hard, for both of us. I have had to stay home and keep things low key so he isn't exhausted. We usually do one very active thing like swimming, long walk or soft play, for now I have dropped it.

It's such a hard phase, it means two separate bedtime routines but fingers crossed it works

I was going to say the same as @ems101! Batch cooking and nothing wrong with freezer food especially with a tiny baby. Other things could be perhaps baked potatoes, cheese and beans type meal. You can put them in the oven whenever you have 5 secs ( as long as you remember to take them out!) or I put a couple of potatoes in the oven when cooking another oven dish and then can reheat them the following day or two and or cut them up to use as wedges . Anything to make it easier

Its really hard and just do what you can manage at the moment.