Afternoon Nap Disaster

Okay, so here is what I think you should try, and give it a good week to work, and stick with it! If he hets up from his morning nap at around 11am, put him down for his second nap no later than 1pm. He should only be awake for 2 hours after the first nap, and then need a second nap. Do this for a week, and BE CONSITANT! Continue to put him down for bedtime between 6 and 7pm. The earlier bedtime the better. He needs to catch up on sleep, and the more sleep he gets, the better and longer he will sleep! Go out and get the book, Healthy Sleep Habbits, Happy Baby, by Dr. Marc Weisbluth! This book help my family SOOOO MUCH! I don't know what I would do if I did not find this book, it was and continues to be my saving grace! Good luck, stick with this schedule, and YOU WILL SEE amazing change! Good luck:)

has he always had this or just till you added food?? stage 2 food sounds a little early for 8 months and he may have good issues. My son was tough when it come to adding food. He was big so the DRs wanted to add protein to his diet but his little body could not handle it and he would get very gassey and just cry. so. what I did. Stuck to rice and sweet potatoes. He could not have bananas or oatmeal. too binding.. if he just started the crying I would look at everything you have changed in his diet and or atmoshpere. Good Luck!!

Hello,
I think what you are going through is not uncommon. Have you tried having low volume music or white noise of some sort in his room. Even having a toy attached to the side of his crib so if he does wake up he may become distracted by that and at least have down time. He may just be cutting some teeth and they are more bothersome at that time. Good luck! S.

It sound like he might be going down to one nap, which some babies do at this age. It is a rough adjustment, but gets better over time. What I would do, is try to delay his morning nap a little. Maybe half an hour later for a couple of days, then push it back 15 minutes or so until he has been up for 3-4 hours. Then, put him down for his morning nap. Maybe he will sleep a good 2-3 hours, which is fine for that age for naps. Maybe this will improve his mood. You may have to play with nighttime bedtime as well. Going down to one nap is rough, but he will get used to it. My second son only took one nap a day from about 2 months on, and my pediatrician said as long as it was a 3 hour nap that was fine. Now, he's 19 months and only sleep about 2 hours for a nap.

Is it possible that he may have some food intolerances? If he naps well in the morning and not in the afternoon, maybe you could change what he's eating at lunch and see if it makes a difference. Check with your child's doctor as well to rule out anything medical. That being said, 2:30pm sound pretty late to me for an afternoon nap. You mentioned that you've tried earlier, but just curious as to how early? Also, is he getting lots of exercise crawling around?

Try putting him down earlier for afternoon nap - at 1pm. Or, even try not letting him sleep longer than 1.5 hours for morning nap. Also, may try burping him if he wakes up from afternoon nap - maybe lunch is making him gassy? If he's pretty good overall with sleeping and his schedule, it's probably just a phase and will likely work itself out within a week or two.
If you think teething too - try the Little Remedies teething gel. Good luck!