12 month old waking and crying during pm nap.

I have a little one who started the beginning of Nov., he has 2 naps a day. Up until today he would cry for 20 minutes, sleep for 30 minutes and wake up crying again and not fall back asleep. This morning he cried for 2 minutes and slept for 70 minutes. This afternoon he fussed for a few minutes, slept for 30 minutes and has been crying for 25 minutes. He is so tired when he gets home, that mom and dad can barely get supper in him without him falling asleep on them.

It has been a few years since I have had one this young. Any hints on what to do would be welcome.

1. First, does he do this at home? if he is sleeping well at home, find out from the parents what they do. If you can repeat any of the steps they do, then that could help.
2. Consider his position in the bed. I have a 7 month old who was always crying for 5-10 minutes when I would put her down (on her back) in the bed until yesterday I found that if I put her on her side, she doesn't make a peep! Why? Who knows, she's on her back at home, but it has worked for 4 naps so far.
3. Consider noise level. If there are big kids playing in another room that may be interfering with his ability to relax, (wanting to be where the action is.) I use a CD of white noise in the sleep room. It is not very loud but it does help to drown out the noise of the other kids, (or me doing dishes, etc. during afternoon nap.)
4. Consider clothing. If he is used to sleeping in pjs at home, and he's wearing jeans or something equally bulky at daycare, he may just be uncomfortable. Perhaps just taking off the jeans and leaving him in a fully snapped onesie could make him more comfortable.
5. Consider temperature. Is his room at home warm or cold. Is there a humidifier, or heater? I like to keep the sleep room cooler than the rest of the house because after a 2 hour nap with 6 kids sleeping in there, it can be quite warm and humid if at nap time it starts at 20C.
6. Consider bedding. Does he have a blankie/soother. Is there a soft sheet on the bed or straight on the bottom of a playpen? I have done both. Some like to sleep on a blanket, and others like it better on the smooth cool vinyl of the playpen bottom.
7. If he wakes after 30 minutes, can you go into the room a bit before that, be right there (if you time it right) when he wakes up and "tuck him in" again quickly. It isn't something I would want to be doing long term, they have to learn to self-soothe, but a couple of times, just so he can get the idea that he can go back to sleep.
8. Lastly, whatever you try, my best advice is to stick to a schedule as best you can. He hasn't been coming to daycare for very long so it is all still new to him. I find that kids can be quite overwhelmed with daycare their first few weeks, even if they are enjoying it and want to come, it is tiring to be around all the noise and excitement and new people.

Good luck!

When I have young ones, I nap them pretty much as soon as they get here for a 30 minute morning nap. Then they have a good 3-4 hours to play hard (and they don't get grouchy!) before their 2-2.5 hour afternoon nap. It works great for me and I haven't had any parents complain about nighttime issues.

Drop the am nap to 30 mins and as soon as he arrives and then the afternoon nap should lengthen naturally .... He's sleeping too long in the am

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Originally Posted by Crayola kiddies

Drop the am nap to 30 mins and as soon as he arrives and then the afternoon nap should lengthen naturally .... He's sleeping too long in the am

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I would not conclude this without further investigation. My daughter did two 2 hr naps until she was 18months then switched to one 4 hour nap. This was on top of a full nights sleep. I don't get the sense that this child is sleeping too much. That's not to say a 30min morning nap won't help things but as listed above there could be MANY factors in play here.