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@Goldengirl: if it is any consolation, DS2 became an EXCELLENT napper after he was solidly on 2 naps. He would usually sleep 1.5 hours in the morning and often 2 or 2.5 in the afternoon. He was a terrible sleeper as a young baby (and didn't STTN until 14 months), but became a rockstar sleeper (night and naps). At 27 months he is still a great sleeper and napper

This isn't what you want to hear, but my cat napping, nap hating kid didn't really take longer naps until 14 months. The only long naps she took before then were every once in a while she was being worn in the baby carrier or on long car trips. She's 18 months now, and most days takes a 45 minute to 2 hour nap. This is the best she's ever napped.

6 months old. We had a horrible 4-month sleep regression for both nights and naps with my son. Nights resolved themselves within a few weeks, but naps took a full two months to lengthen . Sorry to have to report that, but I tried EVERYTHING to lengthen those naps and it just naturally happened when he figured out how to link sleep cycles. Hope your baby does it more quickly than mine did!

You're not going to like this, but until she turned 1 DD wouldn't nap for longer than 40 minutes unless she was held. But since she turned 1, she's been a great napper most of the time!

My son did this until a year (save for a few stretches where I thought we had grown out of the thirty minute on the dot naps).

My daughter is 8 months and 70% of her naps are 30 minutes on the dot.

Cat naps suck! I only had one LO and I was a SAHM so I had the ability to literally rock LO back to sleep when she woke up from a nap 3 times a day. It worked maybe half the time. I read up on "nap extensions" and I would watch the monitor like a hawk. She always stirred at the same time (I think 25 minutes but I can't remember now) and I would bolt in there, try to pat her back to sleep, and if that didn't work I would rock her. Sometimes that didn't even work, but if I could get her back to sleep, she would take a really long nap and wake up happy so at the time it was worth it to me.

Looking back though, it was crazy how much time and energy I devoted to managing her sleep. I don't think I will be able to do that with #2! I think sometimes the cat nap phase is something you have to suffer through. I did read something on some sleep website that said to aim for one long nap per day, preferably in the morning. So maybe see what you can do to extend just one nap even through patting/rocking/etc. and see if that helps overall?

I will agree with what others have said that this too shall pass. My LO eventually went to two 2-hour naps consistently and then dropped to one 3-hour nap that she still takes almost every day at 3.5 years old!

What's your nap routine and where does he nap?

@Shantuck: that's what my daycare does, basically forces him to nap longer. I have no luck doing that but he will cry and fuss for a while with them then go back down, usually as long as 2 hours these days.
@Goldengirl: daycare was awesome in that it got him on a routine that he does really well with. Phew!
@Mrs. Turtle: How is T? That's your foster cutie, right?

@Daniellemybelle: I second the sentiment that at least one long nap a day really makes a difference. Even though she still catnaps sometimes, my LO is much much more cheerful and focused if she's been able to get through one decently long nap in a day.

@Goldengirl: I tried to keep up all the good sleep habits you hear about, so maybe that had something to do with it, but honestly I think the main reason she consolidated to two good naps and then one was just the passage of time. Hang in there!

Lo1 took 45 minute naps only in the stroller from 3 months to 17 months when we switched to one nap and he moved to the crib. Lo2 is 5 months and gives us one long one and two 30-40 minute naps a day. The sort ones are often in the stroller or the Tula while chasing lo1 around. With my first I really worried about his too short in the stroller naps. Everything said I was doing it wrong, but he was happy and rested and sleeping fine at night so I finally stopped reading books about baby sleep and my life got way better.

@pachamama: T is great. He's our foster baby, yes. We've had him over a year now! He's a smart, shy, GOOFY, thoughtful little toddler now. He adores his foster sister and his current favorite things are shoes, chickens, goats, bags, hats and shoes. Did I mention shoes?