Going from 2 Naps to 1

At a year(actually just under 13 months) my daughter switched to one nap a day. She entered the next level class in daycare which only scheduled one nap a day versus the infant room where they nap whenever. We started doing the one nap around noon which coincided with the daycare schedule, but now on the weekends we let her go closer to 12:30-1:00 depending on the time that she wakes up. She seems to be fine with it and the one nap ranges from 2-3 hours. Good luck.

I am a mother of 17 month old twins who are also giving me the tell tale signs of going to one nap. I am having a difficult time with the transition and am trying to get them to nap from around 10:30 or 11:00 to 1:30 to 2:00. They aren't quite cooperating. My one daughter gets up at 6:00 the other between 6:30 and 7:00 depending on what time they go to bed. I am trying to extend their nightime to 7:30 7:45 the latest. I have to admit I am quite frustrated. I went so far as to put a fan in each room today to hopefully keep them sleeping longer. We'll see how that works. They napped only one hour and one hour and forty minutes yesterday and needed a nap late in the afternoon. They went to bed by seven they were so tired. I feel if they go down a little earlier than 11:00 they do better, because they aren't so overtired. I;ll let you know. Just wanted you to know your not struggling alone. My daughters stopped napping from 1-1/2 hr naps to 1/2 hour or none in the morning just recently. They also napped 1-2 hours in afternoon. I think being persistant with a schedule is the key. Good luck.

K., I have three boys...my oldest who is 3 1/2 years old is still taking naps. My second one I try to get him to take a nap early in the afternoon with his brother and many times I can get that to happen. Thereason because I find him falling asleep around 4p and no way is that going to happen. He doesn't get tired enough to sleep til late at night. I have an 8 month old who naps whenever he feels tired and right now at this very moment, all three of them are napping. Usually my 8 month old naps around 10am or 10:30am, but this morning he didn't and hegot up before his other brothers did. That is a blessing for me to have that time to myself. So, it's the possibility he is ready to cut out down the nap, or is he active enough in the morning. I notice that if my second one isn't active enough he won't take the nap early. This morning they were running around with each other and I told them that it was nap time and at last they stopped and fell asleep. The 8 month old, I put him in the playpen with toys and he finally fell asleep. See what other mothers say about signs of ready to cut down the number of naps. God bless.

from a little over 1 yr old my daughter started with 3-4 hr naps (but the 1 nap a day started at about 9 months....maybe 10). basically i just put her down when i noticed she was tired (either she would be yawning, rubbing her eyes, getting cranky (more than normal) OR from what my mother says "the biggest give" right above the eyes, around the eyebrow area, straight across would get red...she said that both me and my brother, AND EVERY child she's ever dealt with had that "tell tale sign") now that she's a little over 2 i put her down for her nap between 12 and 1:30 (sometimes i can't get her down at all, but i try to not put her down after 1:30 or she'll sleep too late) and she sleeps anywhere from 45 min-3 1/2 hrs. every child is different, but as for the tired signs, they're all just about the same. i wouldn't say that it's bad to let them sleep long and make it just 1 nap for the day. just make sure that his tummy is full and you won't have to worry about him sleeping through lunch time (which would be what i was worried about). gl.

I found with both my kids that it was around one year old that they went to a single lunchtime nap. If your baby isn't settling in the morning then that sounds like a sign that he's not tired and could go longer until a single nap. You might even find that if he is sleeping a bit less in the daytime then he'll wake up later in the morning - that happened with my second.

Hi K.,

My son is turning 2 years old next week.
He was the one choosing to give up the morning nap. He used to nap from 9Am to to 11AM and again from 2PM to 4PM. Now he takes a nap from around 1PM to 3PM sometimes he takes a 3 hours nap.
You son is probably ready for it.
Try for a day or 2 having him taking only one nap in the afternoon.
Let me know how it works.
All the best,

D.

First of all you in charge not your child. You make a schedule and stick to it. Chidren at that age I think need a min of 15 of sleep a day. Is he getting it? Of course he would rather be with you ..your more fun than napping. Be consistent he will scream at naps and bed time for up to a week. Each time it will be a little less.
You need time to yourself with just you and your husband. I have three kids. My two younger ones nap at the same time. Although my one child only naps now 3-4 times a week since he is four years old.
Personally 5:15 is way to early for me. Also when you put the kids to bed keep at the same time. If you want them to wake up a bit later put them to bed closer to 7 pm.
Hope this helps. D.

I would say he sounds ready to switch but if he falls asleep during the morning(like in the car or on the floor) let him have 15minutes to a half hour....it's not a big deal...just put him down for a nap when your older one goes down and if he takes cat naps in the morning just make sure that they are quick enough for him to regroup but not be fully rested...I really think the only rule for naps is that they should be at the same time everyday...I follow the childs needs on how many and how long...my little guy will fall asleep sometimes while we're out in the morning(and he's almost 22months) but every afternoon he and his big brother(4) go down for a nap after lunch...that's my sacred catch up on chores and chat w/pals time :)

My little baby's signs were almost EXACTLY what you're talking about. She would play in her crib for a LONG time, sometimes never falling asleep at all. Eventually the naps just kind of merged. She started skipping the morning nap altogether (around 10 am) and the 3 pm nap just kept moving up and up, to take up the slack of the skipped nap in the morning. Now she takes one, 1.5-3 hour, nap around noon and that works for us. It was just after her 1st birthday that it happened. While I'm writing this, she's upstairs singing to herself...she's been in bed for 15 minutes. I know she's tired because a) it's naptime and b) she always sings herself to sleep. If she starts screaming, like you described, I know she's not going to sleep and it's time for me to admit defeat.

Does that help?

I think your son is trying to tell you he doesn't need his morning nap! My daughter started taking one nap a day at about a year. Sometimes she would still get tired in the morning but I would just hold her or rock her for a little while until she was revived. She is in daycare so I took my cues from them and like most things it was gradual. But I find that if she doesn't fall asleep within ten minutes of putting her in the crib, she's not going to sleep.

Hi K.,

I remember way back when my son was about 14-15 months old, he was in 'transition' with his naps. You know in your gut if he's ready for the 'transition'. What I did was feed him healthy snacks to keep him awake longer - it seemed to do the trick! and every day I would put him down a little later....

I hope this helps.

My daughter was about the same age when she started to go from 2-1. At first she just started taking less of a nap, or would go down later, some days not at all. Then her afternoon nap just got a little earlier. She used to nap at 10 and 2:30, and now it's at 12:30/1pm - 2:30ish. So, it all works out.

I had a very similar problem with my child when he was around the same age. I also have a child who wakes up around the same time as yours in the morning. What I did was start pushing his morning nap to around 11. First I just gave him a big snack or half a lunch before putting him down. I feed him the rest when he woke up. I made his bedtime earlier if he needed it for a little while. Over time because he was up so early and breakfast is so early as a result, I gave him lunch around 11 and put him down around 11:30-12. He never got to sleeping later in the morning as most people said he would. But his naps have gotten longer.

Hi
My 19-month old is usually up between 7:30 and 8am everyday. I run him around in the morning doing errands and whatever else I need to get done. By noon, he takes his napr and will usually sleep until 3pm. He will eat lunch/snack and play with his sisters and go to sleep around 8pm.
He spaced his sleep pattern out and I just followed along. It just happened on it's own-I did not give him a schedule. It actually works out better that way for the baby to be flexible or you will NEVER get out of the house!
This probably did not help you one bit-sorry...but it is what works for my son and may work for you :)

That is about the time that my daughter went from 2 to 1 nap...once i did that she slept more through the night and would wake up at about 7 or 7:30 compared to 5:30 or 6:00. I would definately try the one nap. When i went through it our daycare provider and others said that that is around the time to drop them to the one nap cause that is all they need. Good luck! He probably will sleep longer through the night. As for him playing in his crib...i don't think that is part of the sleep issue...just him...my daughter just started doing that...takes about 20 - 30 min for her to FINALLY go to sleep...she plays in her crib and then whines....and then finally she will fall asleep! Good luck!

I am in the same boat. What I was told to do is to try and stretch the morning nap by 15-30 minutes. I decided to do it weekly by 10-15 minutes. So last week she went down around 10 after 10 for her morniong nap (even the mornings that she got up at 5:20!) I just worked at keeping her awake. This week I am going to try 10:15-10:20, and each week push it back a little, then hopfully just end up with one nap before she enters day care next year. Good luck.

At about the same age as your son, mine decided to do away with one of his naps. I put him down for his one nap after lunch and he usually slept from about 1 to 3. Try it and see if it works for you too. At first, he may be really tired by lunch time, but after a while, his body will adjust to being awake and active for that long, and your evenings will be much more pleasant! Good luck!

Seems as though he is telling you he is done with that nap. If memory serves me, as the nap was cut out I adjusted the hour and length of second one, so they were tired at night and eventually this had them up a little later. Maybe yo could just sit him down with you and read a short book for 5 minutes, at least giving him a little quiet time where that nap used to be.

Hi K.,
Around 13 months, our daughter started taking her morning nap later and/or skipping her late afternoon nap. To get her to one nap, we had busy, active mornings pushing her naptime a little later as time went on. As her morning nap got later, she started skipping her afternoon nap altogether. Now she takes a solid 2 hr nap around noon each day and stays until her bedtime at 8.

I hope this helps!

Trae

Hi K.,

The fact that your 1 year old is up before 6 a.m. would be a big clue that he needs less sleep during the day. I don't know what his nap schedule is, but I'm guessing he is sleeping too late on his second nap. At a year old, this is typically the age where they go from two naps to one. The nap often becomes longer than one of their other naps, so if a child napped from 10:00 to 11:30 and then from 2:30 to 4:00, his new nap might be 12:30 to 2:30 or 3:00 - and he'll probably sleep later in the morning.

I would not worry about matching the naps. At 3 years old, many preschoolers give up their nap. Now, as a SAHM, you might want to still have "quiet time" for the older one, but if he's not napping, he can follow the baby's schedule. My older child stopped napping just before she turned 3. My second child napped until right around the time he turned 4.