When Does the Morning Nap End for Babies?

For the 1st year, my son napped 3 times a day.
For the 2nd year, he napped 2 times a day.
For the 3rd year and even now at 4.5 years old, he naps 1 time a day in the afternoon.

He needs it.
He is very regular about napping. If/when he is tired, HE will even tell me, he wants to go nap.
He naps 2 hours at least.
Still goes to bed at night just fine, by 8:30pm.

I always went according to my Son's cues and needs. I KNOW when he is tired. He is like a clock.
If he does not nap, he turns into an over-active/hyper fussy Troll.

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Go to babycenter.com and check with the moms there or parentcenter.com. Same web family but different focus'.

By 12 months most child care centers have the babies down to one nap so when they move up to the toddler room they fit the schedule in there. They only take one nap per day, after lunch until about the time kids get out of school. It's a natural progression at that age since they tend to not have a growth spurt going on then where they need the extra sleep. They are usually having a "brain" spurt and growing cognitively.

My son dropped his morning nap around 12 months. I changed his schedule to having one nap, and putting him down to bed one hour earlier. If I remember right, they should be sleeping for 11-12 hours at night, and taking 1.5 hour-3 hour nap during the day. My son is 2 now and down to about 45 minutes for a nap, but sleeps longer at night.

It just depends on your child. Some kids need more sleep than others. My son has always needed a few extra hours. Some days not but for the most part he does. He is going on 15 months and some days he takes 2 naps. One in the morning around 10am (he's an early riser) and then an afternoon nap around 2pm. Sometimes he only has the afternoon nap.

I just watch him play and watch for his cues. If he starts rubbing his eyes or starts getting cranky then we try and put him down for a nap. If he is tired but doesnt want to nap then at the very least we have quiet time and rock together and that energizes him generally.

Each child is different, watch how he acts and watch for his cues. He will let you know when he is tired and then you can start to gage how much he needs.

I let my daughter do her own "sleep thing"... she took no naps from about 9-12 months.... but once she started walking she started taking naps that lasted about an hour. She is the type of girl that will play, play, play happily and then go snuggle on the couch and crash... when she was 1 year she would often fall asleep on her own on the floor. I have never imposed a schedule based on "the norm" for other kids... each child is unique, and they will go through times when they need more naps, or less... That said... if I know she is close to her usual nap-time and we have to be somwhere within an hour or two of that time... i will ask her to take a nap and she is very good about going down if i get her all set up. at 12 months, if you can... just follow his "cues" as to whether he really needs a nap.

At 2.5 she take an afternoon nap that can last about 1-2 hours most days and then she sleeps 8-10 hours at night.

If he isn't tired or grumpy, try not giving him the morning nap. His alertness could be a signal that he doesn't NEED a nap right now. If you don't put him down in the morning and he is ok till his afternoon nap (even if it lengthens by a few minutes) keep it that way... If it leads to meltdowns... bring back the nap!

Good Luck!
-M.

Probably one good nap would do it. Right around 1, my son started taking a morning nap only, and then a few months later, it began to be right after lunch. It was a good 2 - 3 hour nap. It sounds like your son is transitioning right into that!

Many drop to one nap right at this age. Our daycare does one nap for the one year old room. My son would sometimes fall asleep in his kunch. My daughter was ready for the single nap by 11 mos! Try it. Most times you just have to rally them through about 15 minutes between 9-10 and they'll make it, crash hard for a good 2-3 hour afternoon nap at 12 or 1 PM.