14 Month Old Napping Issues!

[Unregistered]

I have a 14 month old that has always been a terrible/inconsistent napper! When he was a baby, he would only sleep 20-30 minutes twice a day. Now his "consistent" nap schedule has been, a great 2-3 hour nap on Mondays and then the rest of the week he wakes after 20-30 minute naps. On those days he wakes crabby and stays that way for the rest of the day. On the short nap days, I leave him in his crib to cry for the entire nap/quiet time to try and sleep train him.
At home he goes down for the night at 6pm and sleeps until 6-7am uninterrupted. He also takes a morning and afternoon nap on weekends that are 1-2 hours each. DCM thinks that he takes two longer naps on the weekend because he is so worn out from not getting good naps the rest of the week. She also said that they have tried holding him off going to bed at night longer, but he is so worn out and crabby that they just put him to bed and he falls right to sleep.
I am at a loss as what to try next or do differently. I have been very consistent with his nap schedule since he was an older baby (around 9-10 months). I lay him down within the same 15 minute time frame for nap every day and leave him in his pack n play for 2 hours whether or not he sleeps the full time.

[Cat Herder]

What time does he arrive?

What does his diet look like?

How much physical activity is he getting?

How much of his awake time is spent in confinement equipment?

How much awake time is he getting with his parents each day?

[Miss A]

If he is napping twice a day at home, try napping him twice at daycare. I have almost 2 year olds who still need 2 naps a day most every day. Watch for his sleep cues and follow what he is showing you.

[Unregistered]

He gets here between 7:30- 8am. He LOVES to eat (always wanting more) so I have to cut him off after I know he has had enough. He crawls and is starting to walk now. He is confined while eating, during our curriculum time (up to 30 minutes) so I can focus on the older kids, and nap time (2 hours). He spends only about 2- 2 1/2 awake hours with his parents each day. Anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 1/2 in the morning and about 45 minutes between leaving here and bedtime.

[HappyEverAfter]

Have the parents tried waking him up earlier? You mentioned they'd wanTed to keep him up longer in the evening but he was so cranky they were putting him down at 6 and then he would sleep 12 hours uninterrupted. What if instead of letting him sleep until 6 or 7, they tried waking him at 5am for a few days? This way he might be more likely to nap with you during the day and then stay up a little later in the evening and then eventually he could sleep later in the mornings once he got used to napping properly. Sure it wouldn't be fun getting him up at 5am but it could be worth it in the long run. I've got a 15mth old that has a sometimes irregular drop off schedule. On the days she comes early, she is my best napper ever. On days she comes later (meaning she slept in longer) she fights me on naps. And it's only a difference of maybe an hour and a half that she gets to sleep in on her late arrival days but it sure wipes out her napping abilities.

[Mom2Two]

1. I would love to have a dollar for every thread that is about a 14 month old who is having issues. There is just something about that age!

2. So my 14 month old who just finished his third week here began as a napping disaster. Major separation plus no naps...it was horrible. He was having problems at home too--waking up every hour or hour and a half during the night.

A huge part of the problem for him was that he had never learned to put himself to sleep. He was cuddled or nursed to sleep at home, and his previous daycare had apparently just let him pass out on the playroom floor.

Mom and dad began working on having him go to bed a little bit later, and also having him be more self-suffiecient in putting himself back to sleep in the night. And at the same time, I began watching for good tired cues (I had been a bit faked out by morning eye rubbing and I had been expecting two naps a day). I began putting him down for a nap a bit later, when he was very obviously tired. He cried for a while the first day, but since then, he has peacefully taken at least 1.5 hour nap here. Sometimes more like 2-3 hours. But I'm trying to keep it to two hours so that he sleeps at a predictable time for mom and dad at night.

But for me with him during the day, the most important thing has been to wait for clear tired cues--that real tired look around the eyes and body language.

I don't know if this matches up at all with your dck, but i thought I'd put it out there just in case.