My son is days away from turning one & is the joy of our lives. He is an excellent baby, but has changed his nap patterns in the past few weeks. He no longer takes 2 naps a day & only wants to sleep once during the day (usually not until 1:30 & has been up since 7 am). He is only napping for 1-2 hours, but has increased his nighttime sleep by about an hour (11-12 hours). He used to take two 1-1 1/2 hr naps, then switched suddenly a few weeks ago. I've tried laying him down after a few hours, but just screams & screams for up to an hour.
He's only in day care one day a week & was never a good sleeper when there as he doesn't want to miss anything, but this has never affected his nap schedule before.
Can anyone tell me if this is normal for a 1 yr old to transition to 1 nap a day already? I'm just concerned that he's not getting enough sleep through the day to stay focused & learn & plan.
I just wanted to thank everyone for their helpful responses. My son is doing just fine on his one nap a day schedule, although mommy is missing that extra time she used to have to herself! He nap is now usually 10:30/11:00 & he sleeps for 2 or more hours.
Thanks again!
I think it's very normal... my 2 year old still hasn't dropped his second nap but my 8 month old is already headed that direction. Each kid is different. If his behaviors are not bad, then he probably is getting enough sleep. However, if you are truly concerned, give him some "quiet time". This down time sometimes help them regain energy for the rest of the day.
Hi K., my daughter is 18 months old and she probably cut down to one nap a day around the same time as your son has done. It's pretty normal. My daughter sleeps about 10 hours at night at 2 hours during the day...also around 1:30. Some days I get lucky and she sleeps 3 hours at nap time, but that's usually only when we've had a busy morning. I don't think you have anything to be concerned about. I think they generally "know" how much sleep they need.
~ A.
Hi K.,
It is normal for children about this age to transition to a single nap per day. It can be a bit trying as the new schedule takes shape. During the transition, see if you can get him down a little earlier, perhaps 12:30. Ultimately, the afternoon nap "should be" about 1pm and go a couple of hours. My son (2.5 yrs old) usually sleeps from 1:00 to 3:00 but will sometimes go later. I try not to let him sleep past 4:00 so that his 8pm bedtime doesn't get disrupted.
I remember when we "lost" the morning nap -- I felt really overwhelmed by not having the downtime. But the good thing is that the morning becomes wide open to run errands, take big walks, go to the playground, take a toddler class, etc.
Good luck!
V.
K.,
Don't worry all kids do change their nap patterns. My daughter is 4 1/2 and still NEEDS a 2 - 2 1/2 hour nap it the pm and sleeps about 8 - 12 hours at night depending of the day of the week. It is hard to go from that two nap a day to one but they know how much sleep they need. I am scared when my daughter goes from one nap to kindergarten with NO NAP. Keep up the good work.
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Have a great day,
B. sue A.
I think it's totally fine for him to just have 1 nap, if that what he wants... my daughter has had only 1 nap since before 6m old i think.... well, she also slept til 11am then, so that was probably part of it... went to bed late though... but she always has been a "party girl" - she just does not want to miss out on anything... even now when she's 14m old... she wants to stay up as long as me and my husband... no matter what time it is then.... even if i get her to bed before us, she usually wakes up again to come to look for us.... and when we are asleep too, she sleeps until we do... at least one of us... she has her bed next to ours, and i am now about to move her into her own room... we'll see how that goes... :)
Hi K.,
I'm not sure if it's normal for a baby to suddenly switch sleep patterns like that. I know that my daughter, now almost 9 months, used to sleep until almost 10 or later. She now wakes up around 7 or so and has, since she was a few months old, only taken naps that are usually around 20 or 30 minutes long and then she's good to go.
I would guess that he's getting the sleep that he needs otherwise I think that he would sleep more.
Good luck with this; I hope that you can get the info you need.
J.
Hi! Rest assured that it is perfectly normal for your child to move to one nap a day. I am a mom of four. I also am a pediatric nurse and at your one year old check up the doctor should advise you of this. Good Luck!
Dear K.,
My son is a little older then yours but started on a different nap schedule quite sometime ago. It is perfectly normal for him to move only one nap a day. Both of my kids did. My son goes back to bed at about 10:00am until approx. 12 or 1 then he is up till bedtime which is between 8 & 9pm and he sleeps until approx. 7:30am. Not all kids sleep for a long time. My daughter slept so much less and she is now 10 yrs old and can still go to bed at 12:00am and be up by 7:30 on her own. I guess we just don't have sleepers. My team of peds said that this is nothing to worry about. Good luck. I.
It's completely normal, I had the same fear w/ my son, now two as of yesterday, when he turned one. He was always a good sleeper, and once I finally got him on his schedule, he was quite religous about keeping it. About two months after his first birthday though, he did the same thing, only taking one nap verses the two, my fear was that he wasn't getting the sleep he needed, but my pediatrician assured me that at his age it was actually healthier for him to only take the one, longer nap verse the two shorter ones, and sleeping longer through the night, something about they take longer to hit the rem sleep they need for their brain to develop and absorb, as well as their bodies to grow.
Hi K.
That sounds like a pretty typical toddler nap schedule. I've got a 19 month old and 3 year old that are both on that schedule and it seems most of their friends are too. My older one was probably about one when she settled into that schedule. My younger one gave up morning naps and got onto that schedule earlier - probably closer to 9 months. I remember not being too excited as it was one on one time with my daughter when my son would take his morning nap. It sounds like your son has settled himself into a healthy sleep schedule all on his own.
I agree with the ladies that it is completely normal. My daughter just turned one and she has been on 1 nap since she was 7 months old. She is up at 7am and nap at 11-1 or 2 and bed at 7pm. She started to fight every nap and bedtime screaming and crying so I tried it and she has been better since.
From the time my daughter turned 11 months, just one day she went from two 1 1/2 hr naps, too one 2 to 3 hr nap....She is now 13 months. When she wakes up at 8am, she is usually ready at 1 or 1:30pm for a nap, she will wake up between 3 and 4pm. She has a set bed time for 8:30-9pm....I think this is completely normal. Sh ehas always made her own sleeping schedule,,,,,,,LOL
My little girl started taking one nap a day when she was about 14 months old. She wakes up between 8-8:30am and takes a nap from 11am-2pm, then she goes right back to bed at 7:30pm for the whole night. I can tell though when she's used more energy in the day because (rarely, but it does happen) she'll take a second nap from 4pm-7pm and go to bed at 9pm. It's perfectly normal. You just have to get used to you're baby's signs for when he's tired and work with it. I don't think it's ever possible to get your baby to be on your schedual.
My daughter changed from 2 naps to 1 when she was about 10 months old and she as well has added a hour to two hours on to her night time scheldule. She gets up at around 7-8am and naps at about 1 and then wakes up around 3 then its bed time around 8-9pm. I can say that I have been feeling more refreshed because I get more sleep at night. When she was taking two naps a day she would only sleep 5-6 hours a night. So don't worry there is lots of mothers going through the same thing. I was worried at the beginning too but rest ashore that things are fine.
It's totally normal. Both of my kids dropped the morning naps on their own right around the age of 1. Then they usually took a 2 to 3 hour afternoon nap and slept 11 to 12 hours at night.
