Wondering How the Transition from 2 Naps to 1 Nap Works?

I heard a very wise saying when my daughter was going through this..."sleep begets sleep." In other words, overtired babies (and grown-ups) don't sleep well. I had to start feeding my child her lunch earlier than normal (from noon to 11 a.m.) and skip the morning nap. I would put her down after she ate and we had quiet time, like read a book, etc., then as she got older I was able to push lunch back to the normal time, then nap at 1 p.m. He's definitely ready to drop that morning nap, sounds like.

It is a transition! Sounds like you have it down pretty good. I did the same things, moved the bedtime up a bit (like between 7 & 7:30 for a while). I also moved lunch up to 11:00 so she could go down by 12:00 instead of trying to have lunch at 12 and then nap at 1 or so. Some days they still need their morning nap, some days they won't. That's the hardest part about the transition. Try to go with the flow. Keeping the rest time is a great thing too, even when they drop their naps alltogether, b/c sometimes they'll nap and sometimes they won't! As for waking too early from the nap. Try rubbing his back and saying "you don't have to sleep, but it's still rest time" and making him stay in bed until you think he should get up. Then he may go back to sleep.

good luck!

For us, the transition has taken a while, with a few setbacks, but we're now pretty good. It started just before my DD turned 1. She's now 15 mos, and consistently takes a 2 hour nap after lunch, starting around 12 or 12:30. In the beginning, we had the same troubles you do--she'd nap in the morning but not the afternoon, or she'd act tired in the morning but just play in her crib instead of sleep. Since your kid's "on the go" like mine, you might try taking him out to the park or storytime or something in the morning, to keep him awake and tire him out with some excitement. Then come home for an early lunch (like 11am) and try putting him down right after that. There were days during the transistion when I actually gave my DD lunch at 10:45 because she seemed so tired. It will take a couple of weeks, but you'll get there! My DD now sleeps from 7pm to 7:30am, then 12 to 2 or 2:30. Sometimes, if she's really had an exciting day, she'll even ASK to go to bed early (at 6:20 last night she went and got her binky and bear, then went and found her dad, who's in charge of bedtime!). GL!

I am pretty much on the same schedule as Carol... we wake up at about 6:30 or so play all morning, and in the summer its easier to take them to the park or outdoors, this makes them work off all that energy. So we get up have breakfast, go to park at about 9:00 am play about an hour or so come home about 10-10:30 my son plays while I straighten up and start lunch, we eat lunch at about 11-11:30 and then, wash up and get ready for nap, he usually will lay down about 12:30 and will sleep until 2:30 or 3:00, it works so much better!! Then its up in the afternoon for fun indoor activities, we sing and dance (we like to turn on CMT), play with Playdoh, puzzles, color, legos among other things. I think you should try the schedule that Carol gave and see how it works. Good luck!!

Daycare is what marked our transition from two naps to one. Here's a sample of our schedule-we manage to mess it up almost every weekend, but during the week we are pretty much on the mark.

6:30-7 am, wake up.
7:45 breakfast at school.
9:00 snack
11:30 Lunch
12-2:30 or 3, nap
3:30 snack
5:30 pickup
6:00 dinner
7:30 bath
8:00-8:30 bed time.

The trick seems to be to keep them as busy as possible in the morning and then have them take a looooong nap in the afternoon. My daughter was doing about 1-1 1/2 hours in the am and pm, now because of daycare she just takes one 2-3 hour nap. I'll tell you, she is GRIPY by lunch time and you can see she's about to fall asleep in her food, but she goes right down for her nap and sleeps the whole time.

I did pretty much what the others have said. For us, the first 2 weeks weren't any fun but once we got through it, it's been smooth sailing. I started giving my son an early lunch about 10:45 then he went down for his nap. After 2-3 days I would push it back by 15 minutes till we got to a normal lunch/nap time. Like others have said, KEEP THEM BUSY during that "bad" morning time when their used to napping. Busy, Busy, Busy. Now, my son gets up about 6:30, eats lunch at 11:30, naps around 12-12:30 & sleeps at least 2 hrs (sometimes 2 1/2-3) then goes to bed at 8. I did this when he turned a year because his morning nap had gotten to be maybe 45 mins on a good day & 1 1/2 afternoon on a good day. Now, he sleeps longer for his nap (and goes down really easy) and sleeps longer at night. He'll still sometimes fall asleep in the car if we're in it for a long time around 10:00ish (he's always been a car napper though). I'll try to keep him up but if I can't, I'll let him take his little 10-15 min cat nap then get him up when we get home. He's usually upset when I wake him but I just re-direct him & we start to play and distract him then he's fine. This schedule is much much better for him (even at a young age like he was). Good luck!!!

I used to work in child care with this age. If he is getting up earlier, it may be from the earlier bedtime.

I'd transition about 10 or 15 minutes later each day with the morning nap until he is on a schedule that fits well for you and him. During this transition, skip the afternoon "rest" time. I agree that he will start sleeping longer during this one nap once it is at a time that is right for him.

Do your best to transition the bedtime back to where you want it too (unless you "like" getting up earlier LOL). The 10 to 15 minute transition times will work for this too.

Good luck!

Blessings,

P. <><

S.,
My son was 17 months old when he went from one nap to two. I knew he was ready because he started being inconsistent with his naps (playing vs. sleeping during one of the two naps each day). What I did was I cut out his morning nap. I started giving him a morning snack when he used to get his morning nap. That seemed to perk him up and help him stay awake. I then gave him an early lunch and put him down for his afternoon nap right after lunch. He started taking a 2 1/2 -3 1/2 hour afternoon nap. As he got older, I could move his nap a little later and he now goes down around 1:30PM and sleeps for 2-3 hours (he's now 27 months old). Hope this info is helpful. Congrats on number two on the way. It can be a crazy time, but very exciting when your second arrives. --H.

I'm glad you posted this cause I would be thrilled if I could get this to happen w/my little guy (16 mos but still nursing). Sigh! Thanks for posting - I'll try out the answers you're getting. :) Good luck!

Hi S.,
Poor little one is trying to find out how to go to one nap himself! Try this..do ANYTHING to keep him from taking that morning nap till after lunch. Yes, he will be cranky for a while and it will be a pain but you have to get things turned around till his nap is early enough in the day to still go to bed at night. He is waking up early because his body knows it is only a little while before he can nap again. Go to the park, go for a walk, not in a stroller or a car because he will sleep, play with him, sing with him, put on some rocking music, anything to delay that first nap. good luck!

If he's up between 6:30/7 put him down for one nap at 10:30/11 ( you might even try 10:00 if he begins to amp himself up - a sign that he's producing adrenaline to keep himself awake.). I'm willing to guess he'll sleep for up to 3, maybe even 4 hours. One nap is GREAT because you can take a bath & nap yourself, or really get something done.

We're at the 3 year old - going into NO NAP stage. I'm not looking forward to it - but then I'm sure I will enjoy the freedom that comes with being able to GO instead of being tied to the house for 3 hours while he sleeps. Each stage its advantages and challenges.

God's blessings to you as you make another of MANY changes in your little one's life.

Suzi

my daughter is 15 months and began going towards one nap at 12 months. I have found that for us what works best is:

If she wakes before 8:30 am it's a 2 nap day (naps from 10-12 and then 3-5 with bedtime between 8:30 and 9:30)

If she wakes after 8:30 then it's a one nap day (nap starts between 1 and 1:30 and is often 2 to 3 and a half hours long).

On one nap days she gets pretty cranky around noon but I can't put her down too early or she'll be awake from nap early and then VERY grouchy in the evening.

But, all kids are different. Your little one may need more or less sleep than another persons child (or any of your own other children)

Hi S.!
My daughter went through the exact same thing. She's 20 months now. She was sleeping exactly like your son. 2 naps lasting 1.5 hours, it was great! She started having trouble with the second nap like you son. Wouldn't go to sleep, just played. I did what my friends did and tried the one nap thing. kept her awake till 1:30pm and put her down. She still got tired around 12ish like before, but we just kept going, running errands, eating lunch, etc.. She would perk up again. Then around 1:30 I put her to bed. She slept 3 hours! Sounds good, right? THe next day I did the same thing and she only slept 1.5hours. I was like, "what the heck?" The next day I did it again, and it was like a 2 hour nap. So sometimes its really long, sometimes its short, like 1.5-2 hours. If she sleeps only 1.5hours, I let her stay in bed and play for 30min. I need my alone time!!!! Sometimes we run errands and I don't get her down till 2pm or so and she sleeps fine. At first I was bummed about only having one nap, but now its great because we can do so much more! Play dates in the mornings, lunch, run errands, then she naps and I can do things around the house. She wakes up around 4 and then we have more time to go to the store if we need to with plenty of time to get dinner ready. We eat around 6:30pm and she's in bed by 8:30 or 9. She will sleep till 8:30 or 9am. Its great! Please let me know if you have any more questions
love, S.

My son is now 19 months old and takes one nap around 12:30 and sleeps for 2 to 3 hours. The transition was a little confusing for me, but I just let my son guide me. It wasn't until about 17 months that I would keep him up until after lunch. We eat lunch at 11:30 and I make sure he is getting ready for a nap by 12:30. He is almost always ready at that time. Try to read your son's sleep signs. As you transition, he will sometimes want to sleep early on some days and maybe later the next day. Eventually, he will be happy to stay up later until after his lunch. We put our son to bed between 8 and 8:30, and then he is up by 7 to 7:30 am. Hope I could be of some help.

I would push the morning nap back an hour or so. He'll be more tired and sleep longer for the one nap. Then the evenings should go better.

Good luck!

This is what worked for my daughters: I would keep them busy in the morning and then give them lunch super early- start at like 10:30 and then they would crash right after eating. I slowly moved lunch up to a "normal" time. This established the routine of eating lunch and going straight to nap. Naps were usually about 2 hours when I switched to one per day. Good Luck- cranky tired kids are no fun!