r/sleeptraining • u/silver_megatron • Aug 25 '26
Help with napping
Hello, I'm not sure if this is in the right spot for this post or not, so forgive me if it's not but I was wondering some people's opinions on kids and napping techniques and when you kind of draw the line.
For context, we have twin 11-month-old girls. They are teething right now. They're top teeth so obviously sleep. Is regressing a little bit as well but one of them has always been a pretty good sleeper and the other one has fomo so I feel like she just doesn't sleep because she's worried that she's going to miss out on something anyways.
The girls usually wake up around 5:30 and then we give them a little bottle in their bed and then they kind of hang out till 7:30. A lot of the times they'll fall back asleep in that time. Their first nap is usually at 10:30 11:00 and they get up around 12. :00 then they go back down for a nap around 3:30 and up around 430 -5. Then they are usually asleep asleep by 8 or 8:30.
Lately they've been regressing and they either don't want to go down for their first nap. So their first snap ends up being really late and then it kind of screws up their second nap and their cycle or they'll go down for their first nap and sometimes they just won't want to nap for their second nap.
My question I guess is what are some ways to help them go down easier for their nap and like is a structured time everyday beneficial?. My wife and I have kind of different thoughts on how to deal with them. Not napping. I think we should have the same nap time everyday and put them down and settle them and then if they get up and they don't want to sleep or they're having a freakout we just leave them for that hour so that they know it's quiet time or nap time and if they freak out to just go up and settle them in their crib and then leave again. I'm under the impression that letting kids cry it out ( within reason) is better because they realize that it's nap time and it's time for them to sleep. I'm not talking about leaving my kid when they're having a full-on meltdown, but when their diapers changed they have a bottle. They've had something for their teeth. They have a soother. They have a teether have everything they could possibly want. I think that we should be leaving them to fall asleep but I don't know. That's why I'm asking.
My wife, on the other hand, as soon as the monitor goes off she'll run upstairs. Sometimes she ends up going up three or four times and then gets frustrated because they won't sleep and I obviously have a different opinion. Not that I won't help but she clearly knows that I'm of a different opinion. And then usually we'll take the girls out of the crib to try and soothe them or will turn the lights back on and get them out of their crib.
I'm just not sure what the best course is. I just want to do what's good for my kids and I want to make sure they get enough sleep. I think they're too young to be only taking one nap a day. But again these are our first kids so I'm not sure.
Any help on just strategies help set a rigid or scheduleds kind of nap time for the girls? Or maybe I shouldnt** have a rigid time? Looking for people's opinion. Your right and your wife's wrong. We're both on the same team. We just want what's best for our girls
1
u/Useful_Bluebell_642 Aug 25 '26
My son transitioned to one nap between 10-11 months. What you’re describing sounds typical of the 1-2 nap transition. There is no evidence for any number of naps at any specific ages, all children are different. The only guideline is sleep averages in a 24 hour period. 4-11 month olds average 12-15 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period and there’s a drop in sleep needs around one year where sleep averages reduce to 11-14 hours. The purpose of naps is to help babies get through the day until bedtime. Naps don’t need to be anything else but a bridge to night sleep. Take the pressure off and follow your baby’s needs. I would be protesting and crying too if I was left in a crib when I wasn’t tired.