13 Month Old Transitioning to One Nap?

When I transitioned my daughter (now 17 months) I moved her nap later. If you are already keeping her up until 11:30, try 12. Then feed her lunch (then she won't be cranky). But the time you feed her, change her, etc. it may be almost 1:00. Then put her down for a nap. She will probably be tired enough to sleep 2-3 hours and then she definitely won't be cranky from 4-7 when she is awake again. That's what I did with my daughter and to this day she takes a 2-3 hour nap every day from 1:30-4:30. I get all the time I need and she is never tired.

I'm a first time mom to a 12 month old son, so I don't have advice, but my little guy has been transitioning to 1 nap for a month now. I pick him up from daycare at 3. If he got more than a 2 hr nap in the morning, I don't even try for an afternoon nap. And he is usually pretty crabby by 5:30 so we do early dinner, early bathtime and early bed. At daycare they are trying to get him ready to move to Toddlers room (1 nap a day) so they are slowly pushing back his nap time. The later he takes his nap, the longer he seems to sleep. On weekends with me he's still solidly in the 2 nap a day schedule. He seems to always get 13 hrs of sleep in a 24 hr period, so I've decided to stay relaxed about it and take my cues from him.

Hi L., Babies will change their nap routine many times. It may never be anything you can count on. You just have to follow her lead on the days you are there and the daycare will deal with the other days. This transition time is not easy but you will get through it. Grandma Mary

My experience is that the transition is just challenging...my daughter did almost exactly what you are talking about. After about a month, she settled into her nap at 11:30 and she would sleep for 3 or 3 1/2 hours or so. Hopefully this transition will be smooth for you as well.

Good luck!

Dear L.,

I own a childcare center and currently have 8 infants your daughters age. They are all doing the same thing some days they need the morning nap and some they can hold off until after lunch. This is just part of the growing process. What you can ask do is ask the daycare to try not to do the morning nap unless she is cranky and gradually each day she will go longer and longer without it. I do have one little girl who now goes down at 12 noon and sleeps until almost 3 and is doing quite well on this schedule. She will be moving to my toddler room in a week or two once she is consistent with one nap. At this point you will need to have the center work with you so you can both be on the same page. I do not move infants to my toddler room until they are steady with one nap a day, toddlers all have lunch 11:30 and then all go down for naps at 12 noon. Parents work together with us on the weekends to help to transition them as well. If you are doing one nap on the weekends and they are still doing two at the center the process will take much longer and the baby will be completely off schedule. like I said some days they will be more tired then others so it will usually take a few weeks before the baby will settle on one nap and then again all babies are different. Good luck!!