Your baby is now more mobile, crawling and pulling themselves up in their crib, and some are walking (by the 1st birthday or so). This milestone does tend to interrupt sleep!
Read 6-18 Month Sleep ~The Basics first!
9-12 Month Sleep
Babies this age need an average of 11 hrs of sleep at night and about 3 hours of daytime sleep. You’ll have noticed the 3rd nap fade either already, or starting to dwindle. This occurs between 9-12mo. A lot of times the 2-nap transition happens closer to 12mo so don’t feel left out! Babies still on three naps usually have two 1-1.5hr naps, and then a much needed mini snooze at the end of the day.
From 9-11mo, babies on two naps are napping around 1.5hrs for Nap 1, and 1.5hrs for Nap 2. They may also sleep 1hr for Nap 1 and then 2hr for Nap 2.
At 12mo, they need just 2.5hr of day sleep, so Nap 1 is closer to 1hr in length and Nap 2 is closer to 1.5hrs.
We pay close, close attention to sleep windows at this age because children are more active, and can get tired out from play, even before we think it’s “time” for a nap! Some will even fight sleep, so it’s important to have wind down time in the bedroom (yes, babies will 100% mask sleepy cues in other areas of the house!).
You may see some signs of separation anxiety at this stage, and it increases when they are overtired. Peaks of separation anxiety are at 9mo and 12mo when babies learn to sit up and crawl, or learn to walk.
Day time sleep
At this stage, sleepy cues can be masked in bright, fun areas of the house, so dedicating 10 min of wind down time, plus another 5-10 min to help the baby to sleep is key to getting them to sleep at the right moment.
Here’s a sample nap routine:
If time for a feed, offer a feeding in the living room (25-30min before they are meant to be asleep)
Move into wind down time: Go into your child’s bedroom, draw the shades, turn on a dim lamp (15-20 min before meant to be asleep)
You might hang out on the floor for a little bit with them with a non-flashy toy.
Read a story or two (you might put on the sleep sack before books, or after)
One last thing (last song or prayer)
Turn on the sound machine, turn off the lights and say good night
Help your child to sleep or coach them to sleep depending on what you are working on for that nap (5-10min before meant to be asleep)
Getting your child into the routine at the right time will help to avoid overfatigue, and it will also make for a better/longer nap!
If you are out of the house for the nap, just be sure the baby isn’t too distracted and that you have your timing correct. It’s okay for them to take a nap in the stroller/carrier/in your arms etc. Just make sure as you are on the move that the baby’s nap needs are a priority. You will be using motion to get them to sleep outside, 5-10 min before the wake window is ending.
Note: The first nap is a great time to practice the crib nap, but please don’t give up a nice morning walk on beautiful days. It’s just that if you are desperately working on crib sleep for naps in general, you’ll want to work on Nap 1 (and Nap 2 if you can) in the crib as morning time is the easiest time to start working on crib sleep (the baby has been there at night, recollects it’s a safe space, etc ;)
Below you will find more on nap and bedtime routines, extending naps, false starts, and flexible daytime schedules.
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