1 Year Old Naps/sleeping: When, How Often & How Long?

From my understanding -- through experience -- I have an 18 month old -- as well as talking to others and reading books (Elizabeth Pantley No Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Marc Weissbluth's Good Sleep Happy Child -- or some such title but the author is correct:)) -- from ages 1-about 18 months toddlers transition from two to one naps, and may fall asleep earlier in the evening as a consequence. Mine did so at 15 months.

I also did baby-led sleeping and continue to feel for us it was the best decision, as well as baby-led weaning. He is down to 3 bfeeds a day. at some point, it is possible to consider a routine surrounding the one nap day. It makes things easier i think for family and toddler.

Hope this helps.

I have a 14 month old that is down to one nap (happened just after his 1st birthday.) And, I have a 2 1/2 year old daughter that went to one nap at 13 months. My son gets in bed at 7:30 and is up around 7. My daughter also wakes up around 7 which over time will work for preschool and then elementary school. My son takes about a 2-2 1/2 hour nap each day which starts at 1. I am a big advocate of setting specific times for naps and bed. My kids have been sleeping thought the night (8-6) by 2 months for one and 4 months for the other. I am stict on napping--always in their cribs and just overall being respectful of that time. I have always had two good sleepers and what I find is that kids don't differ too much from what the experts say they need in terms of sleep. The schedule he is on going to bed at 7-8 and waking up around 7-8 sounds with a long one nap sounds right. I would just try to stop the nurse nap in the early evening. You don't want him to sleep then. Check out the book Good Night, Sleep Tight...it gives good information for amount of time your child should be sleeping and info on schedules which I found helpful. Good luck.

my kids are 14 months and they take only 1 nap around 12 and last about 2.5 hours and they go to bed at 8:30pm and wake up in the morning at 8:30am if they take 2 naps they don't go to bed until 11:00 pm

I try to be consistent just so I can plan my outings, but mostly just follow the baby's lead. My 1st-born switched to one nap/day around her 1st bday, but my 2nd is 15 months and (unless we are out at the zoo or doing something fantastic) she still needs her 2 naps/day--one nap is shorter than it used to be, but she is also tired 1/2 hour earlier at bedtime now too.

For us a typical day for the 15month is 7:30/8pm bedtime, 8/8:30am wake, 10am nap 1.5 hrs, 2pm nap 1.5-2 hrs...

I'd recommend getting him away from that late nap to encourage better night time sleeping habits (you know, for YOUR parental sanity!)

Let them cry in bed (exceptions for hysterical crying), and they'll learn that nap-time means quiet-rest-time, not mommy-comes-to-get-me-and-we-play-time.

BTW, my 1 and 2.5 yr old are awesome sleepers

I know that some kids initiate going to one nap. Mine seems to take whatever sleep you let him have. :) Daycare initiated his transition, and he seems to do well with it. Since he transitioned at about 15 months, he has a 1.5-3 hour nap around 12-12:30. And he sleeps 11.5-12 hours at night (6:30-6). That sounds about what your son is doing. The waking up may have to do with the transitioning, and should get better. I would cut out the nurse nap though, if that seems to throw him off so much. Just keep him awake while he nurses. I am an advocate of schedules, especially at this age, as routine is good, and even if they aren't sleeping for their nap, they are resting.

Mine had the same sleep patterns as yours, although he always woke up in the night. He transitioned to one nap a day at about 15 mos. 1 year is not too early, so that might be what is going on. When mine first went to one nap it was a midday thing and was much longer. Just because of daily stuff, it gradually moved back a little to an afternoon nap and after a few months went back to 2 hours. That is still where he is at 28 mos. Try not to let the afternoon nap start too late IF you want to keep the bedtime where it is now. If you move it later, bedtime will probably also go back to later. At least with mine it did. We were only nursing 4 or 5 times a day at age one, but started cutting down futher at that point. Starting with bedtime feeding because I was trying to get him to sleep through the night. Also, the waking up in the night and changes in sleep could be a milestone or growth spurt. Is he walking yet? That might be coming soon. Whether you want to enforce specific nap and bed times is up to you. We have never been very rigid about them. We are also late people, and my son naturally fell into that on his own. Some people will say you have to absolutely put baby down at X o'clock everytime, but that is your choice. I think as long as it isn't affecting his moods and he is still getting the sleep he needs, you do whatever works for your family. If he is cranky all the time or can't get back to sleeping through the night, then look at a stricter nap/bedtime.