My 10 1/2 month old has never been a good sleeper. We finally have him sleeping through the night (almost) - he still wakes up and fusses once or twice a night for 5 - 10 minutes, but then falls back asleep on his own. He usually sleeps 11.5 hours at night.
The trouble is with naps. Somedays he will only sleep for 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the afternoon. He goes to in-home child care 3 days a week, and the report is he always takes a "great" nap in the morning (1.5 - 2 hours) and an hour in the afternoon. I can't figure this out and I've tried everything to replicate what the child care provider does. But nothing seems to be working. Any ideas or recommendations?
I don't have any recommendations--other than to say I have the exact same situation with my 10 month old daughter. I chalk it up to her wanting to spend more time with me, so she doesn't sleep as well when I'm around! Maybe he would rather be with you than sleep!!
It sounds like he may be ready for a one-nap per day schedule. Is he crawling? Once he really gets moving - crawling, climbing and walking, he'll sleep better. Do your best to really wear him out.
I sympathize with you. My daughter doesn't sleep well either. Sometimes I feel like I need more sleep than she does! Good luck.
How does he act when he's home with you taking the shorter naps? If he's fine, he may be ready to go to one nap a day. He might be sleeping longer for the babysitter since he plays harder and has more stimulation while he's there. That kind of hard play would be hard to replicate at home.
If he seems to need more sleep, you might try getting him to sleep longer at naps the same way you got him to sleep through the night. I know our older on when through a stage where he woke up, but really wasn't ready to get up. It was tough to get through, but I just didn't let him get up. Interpretted that means a lot of crying for about a week.
I hope you get something that helps!
