how can i get them to nap longer?

on average lately, i cant get my LOs to nap for more than 1 hr and 15mins.
here is our schedule. can you PLEASE help!! im beginning to go mad, lol!

7:00 - wake
7:30 - milk and breakfast
8:15 - 10:!5 - play around the house, go outside, swings, outings, shopping, etc.
10:20 - snack, books, dim lights
11:00 - nap
wake up (around 1:00ish) - lunch
out for the rest of the day! or playing inside, etc.
3:00/4ish - swings and TV (baby einstein time, etc.)
around 4:30/5:00 - dinner
6:00 - bath
6:30/7:00 - bed

does this look ok? is there anything else i can do differently to make the day go smoother? once 4 approaches they are not the happiest of campers and busy to keep entertained.

 

How do they wake up at 1PM? Are they energerized, ready to go, in good moods? If so, you may just have to wait them out and let them start to go longer. If they seem cranky and unhappy when they wake at 1:00, I would attempt to put them down again (after making sure there was no poo or some reason for them being in distress). Other then that, your schedule seems pretty good.

 

YES the same baby always wakes first and he is ALWAYS SCREAMING and unhappy! if i leave him, he will scream and scream. if i rub his head or pick him up he calms down but the minute i leave him, screams galore; he then wakes his brother.

 

We are on a very similar schedule but we are in bed by 6/6:30 latest for now. We were doing dinner at 5:30 (bedtime at 6:30/7)but they were so cranky and that is a long time to stay up until bedtime. I often give them quiet time for 1 hour in the later afternoon in their cribs, even if they don't sleep. They fought me at first, but now they don't at all, even though they don't go to sleep. Until mine nap longer (and I realize they may never) we are doing dinner at 4:30. Sucks because DH not home yet so can't help with that meal, however, changing the schedule has helped the crankiness later in the afternoon significantly. Mine wake perky from their nap. One LO never has given me longer than 90 mins - 2 hrs and the other used to take a 3 hr nap consistently. I still have hope they will move towards a 12 - 3. Sigh...the never ending puzzle. Mine sleep 12 - 12.5 nights so it could be that is all the nap I am going to get out of them.

 

It may be all the sleep they need. If they sleep 12 hrs at night then 13.5-14 hrs is in the realm of normal for some babies. I wonder if the crankiness around 4 might be hunger...maybe try a snack in between lunch and dinner. The other thing might be trying to lay them down a little later. Maybe at 11 they are not quite tired yet. We wake at 7ish and take our nap from about 12-2/3. Do your LO's have lovies/toys/stuffed animals in their beds? Mine will sometimes play with their toys for a good half hour before they fall asleep and then they seem to sleep pretty well. It also helps with their wake up because they tend to not cry unless they have thrown everything out of their cribs and they're bored.

 

Just thought of something. Are you still fighting to keep them awake until 11 am? I have been trying to push mine later but it backfires if they are overtired. Is it possible they are overtired by the time naptime comes? Maybe laying them down 30 mins earlier so see if you get a longer nap? Or, taking them outside and getting them in the sunlight before the nap can sometimes help also.

 

well we put them down at noon today (just a few minutes ago) and they aren't standing, aren't crying, are laying down and falling asleep!!!!!!!!
i hope no one poops. they tend to do that and then wake up!