Sleepy Nine Month Old

For the past month it has been hit and miss as to whether my 9 month old DD would have more than one decent daytime nap. She'd have one in the morning and then be up from about 10.30am till about 4pm where I might get another hour's nap out of her before dinner. (This was even though I'd try to give her another nap in between but usually she'd resist).

In the meantime, she would be perfectly happy and contented.

But in the last two days all she seems to want to do is sleep. Yesterday for instance she had a 3.5 hour 'nap' in the afternoon and that was in addition to her morning nap. Today she's on her THIRD nap and it's only 2pm.

As much as I kinda like it, I'm wondering what's causing this increased need or want for sleep? No sign of teething though I could swear she has a lot more hair than yesterday LOL.

Any ideas?

Maybe a developmental shift? Perhaps she has a little bit of something (like a cold?) that's making her body want to rest in order to get rid of it? Maybe she's having a growth spurt or learning HEAPS at the moment and its making her tired... Has she been eating more too? Maybe its a freak couple of days and she'll be back to 'normal' again next week? Just some ideas.
Natty's sleeping patterns changed pretty dramatically at around 7-8 months, but that was when we night-weaned, so I put it down to that... Which isn't much help to you, sorry!
Is she otherwise well?

I guess it depends on how she is inbetween sleeps. If she's sleepy & lethargic, then it could be illness, but if she's still bright & playful my first thoughts were growth spurt. DS tends to have more sleeps and longer ones when he's growing. And he doesn't stop eating either! hehe.

I would say she is growing, I have a 9month old DD too and she is also sleeping alot too, but hun if you are worried dont hesitate to take her to the dr just to be sure and it will help you to feel more relaxed also.