Should we drop a nap?

[Lausarama]

DD is 12 months old. She has never been a great napper. Or sleeper. She has started showing signs of wanting to drop a nap: waking late, then naps late in the morning, and subsequently refuses to sleep in the afternoon. If she has slept late in the afternoon she won't sleep at night.

Over the past few days her routine has gone like this:

8:15am wake
11:45ish - nap for 1.5 hours
7pm - bed - out like a light
several wake ups through the night but settles very easily

I spoke to her paediatrician about this (we're abroad and see him every month) and he said she's too young to drop a nap. He told me I should be waking her at 7am to ensure she sleeps twice. I can't bear to wake her when she's sleeping soundly but I also realise that she should probably be sleeping for longer than 1.5 hours in the day. Also the 8am wake up is OK at the moment but she's starting nursery soon and we will need her out of the house by then. Am I being silly in the hope that her nap will get longer and she'll then wake earlier? Or should I try start waking her up and get her to sleep twice in the day? Anyone been in the same boat? Thanks.

[badfurday]

My daughter is a week off 12 months and has pretty much the same pattern of sleep. She has one long nap a day and goes to sleep a bit earlier at night at about 6.30 and sleeps through until 8.-8.30 of a weekend and 7.30 on nursery mornings. Tbh, I'd rather she slept well at night. If she took an extra nap late afternoon she would be. Nightmare to get down at night.

[Tangoandcreditcards]

My 13mo DS is similar and has been for a few weeks. Except we're lucky if we get 45 mins in the morning and rarely an afternoon nap (unless we're driving somewhere!). And he's usually up by 7.

I can't seem to force sleep and he's happy enough (albeit tired at bed time). So I'm just rolling with it.

[Lausarama]

Thanks for your replies. bad does your DD still only have one nap when she gets up earlier for nursery? I agree, I do prefer a better night's sleep to an afternoon nap and then a bedtime battle.

That sounds tough tango! Does he go down to bed early? Maybe you could try putting him down for the morning nap later - he might sleep longer..?

[Monkeybrain10]

My baby is younger so I don't know the answer but I'd say that if your daughter is happy and functioning well with one nap and it suits your routine (except the nursery day...but isn't everything different that day anyhow - nap times, meal times etc) then I'd go with it. We're always being told babies are all different and develop at different ages so I would go with what works best.

[confusedandemployed]

DD was 10 months when she went down to one long nap in the middle of the day without any problems whatsoever. It depends on the child.

[confusedandemployed]

Oh and she still naps at 2 yo so it doesn't necessarily mean that all naps will go as quickly.

[dementedpixie]

Both mine had dropped to 1 nap by 12 months

[Lausarama]

That's a relief confused. I was getting a little concerned that the 1 nap would drop to 0 naps by 18 months!

I think I will go on like this and ignore the paediatrician. She seems OK on the one nap although really tired by the end of the day. Hopefully the nap will get longer and later (in the day) as she gets used to this new routine.

[Littlef00t]

My dd just turned 1 and for the last couple of months since she started with the childminder has 1 long nap with her and two when I have her, as its tricky for the cm to accommodate a morning nap with the older children.

I think children are flexible and can handle differing routines. Go with what works for you, I certainly wouldn't be forcing an afternoon nap that makes nighttime hard, or waking ds early if I was lucky enough to get past 6:30!

Although it's not common for children to have dropped a nap by 1, unless your dc is really struggling, or showing sleep deprivation after a few days, I'd go with it. The waking later in the morning means she's getting the right amount of sleep in 24hrs.

[Lausarama]

Thanks little, that's good to hear, as I do feel there will be some days when she might need another nap. Like today for example when she suddenly sprung into life at 6:30am… Argh just as I thought I was recognising a pattern…!

She does seem to be mainly OK on one nap albeit super tired by the end of the day.

We'll roll with it! Now to tackle the night wakings…