How to drop to 1 nap when she wakes at 5am??

[Cocolocos]

My DD is 15mo, and seems to be ready to move to 1 nap. I have tried pushing her wake times longer but she consistently fights the afternoon nap. I also tried limiting the morning nap to 1h but that didn't work either - she just got less sleep.

The trouble is that she wakes about 5am and I can't see how to keep her going to get to a point of napping after lunch, without getting over tired. But otherwise we have either too long a wake time before bed (and overtired) or a chronically early bed time. I feel like these things may be perpetuating the early morning wakes. Any tips??

[LapinR0se]

What times are her naps now?

[Cocolocos]

A typical day at the moment:

Wake any time between 5 and 6am (just moans or babbles, so I leave her in the cot until 6am)

Nap 10-11.30am

Attempt another nap about 3/3.30pm - inevitably fails. She might eventually fall asleep at 4pm, by which point it is an issue as it is too late for her to go to bed at a decent time.

Bed asleep 6.30/6.45pm.

She has only ever managed to nap for a total of 1.5-2hours (we had issues when she was on 3 naps, as she would only ever do 3x30min), so I wonder if that is just all that she needs.

Currently she seems to need to be awake for at least 4.5h before she will nap. It's just a problem that whatever I seem to do, I can't fit in 2 naps with the wake time that she needs in between but 1 nap seems to have too long wake times before and after. I was reluctant to move the morning nap earlier again, as so many people have said that an early nap will encourage the early waking as she will be using it to make up for night sleep.

Perhaps I just need to ride it out, until her brain can handle the longer wake times. That is basically what happened with the 3-2 nap transition, and it just sorted itself out with time. So frustrating meantime though!

[LapinR0se]

Ok so I would do this instead:
Nap 9.40-10
Lunch 12
Nap 1-3
Bed 7.30
I would do this for a week and then do a 9.45-10 nap for a few days.
Your baby should begin to wake later in the mornings.
Once you have a 6.30 wake up then drop the morning nap all together and go for a 11.30 lunchtime nap for 2 to 2.5 hours and an early bedtime

[LalaLeona]

Following with interest as have exactly the same problem with my 13 month old! Good advice from lapin just scared about waking my son after 20 mins in the morning he will go absolutely mental don't know about ops dc? It's all so tricky

[Cocolocos]

Anything is worth a try, thanks Lapin. Glad I'm not alone at least Lala, but sorry to hear you are having similar problems!

[Cocolocos]

Tried the above tactic today and it's not gone well. I woke her after 20 min this morning and she was fine. But this afternoon she woke after just 45 min and is really grumpy 😫

[LapinR0se]

Yes 1 sleep cycle. Did you leave her to see if she'd go back? I would leave up to 20 mins or longer if not crying.

[Cocolocos]

Yes I left her for 20 min but no luck this time. Will try again tomorrow!

[Summerdays2014]

I'm in the same position coco. My so is 14 months and has one nap at nursery, but I just can't get the timings right at home. He also wakes early - 5.13am this morning, not that I'm counting or anything...

[Tumtitum]

Hi Summer and Coco, we're on another sleep thread together again! my DD is also doing a similar thing and I find whatever tricks I try it doesn't really make much of a difference... if I wake her from her morning nap she is an utter nightmare to get to sleep in the afternoon, I do buggy naps most afternoons anyway. We have a nanny at the moment but will be moving to nursery soon so will be interesting to see how she fares nap wise at nursery!
Yesterday she had an hour in the morning and only 20 mins in the afternoon (we were out and I had to wake her at one point then there was no going back!), not the worst day but she'd only had about 9 hours overnight so not that great... however last night she then slept 7-6.30 with only wake up which is her best kind of night bar the odd occasion that she sleeps through.
So I'm kind of resigned to the fact that not much I do makes that much difference... but at the same time still avidly following sleep posts for suggestions!!

[Whatthefreakinwhatnow]

DD2 is 20 months and has napped 1 nap a day at 10.30 til 12ish since 14 months ish. She's fine then and goes to bed at 6.30pm.

Perhaps your DD is the same and is fine with one earlier nap?

[Summerdays2014]

Hi Tum! And coco, I though I recongnised the name! I was reading through all my old threads the other day... Do you think we'll ever crack naps? I'm loosing hope...
whatthefreakin, that's an interesting idea, I always assumed the nap had to be after lunch, but maybe not... my son had a two hour nap, in a cot, settling himself at nursery today and was apparently very happy all day! Why, why, why can't he do it at home?!

[InsaneDame]

My DS2 went down to one nap at 13 months old - he used to go down at 10.30 to begin with and slept until 12/12.30. As he got a bit older I pushed it later until he was going down at 12ish and waking up at 2pm. Now he is 2.11 and he naps once or twice a week (1pm until 2pm). I had the rule that no matter how early he woke I would consistently stick to the set nap time otherwise you are just encouraging the early waking.

[Tumtitum]

Summer I've given up hope of ever cracking it, I'm just waiting for her to drop them! today I was at work and she refused to nap until 2pm

[LalaLeona]

Well I posted this thread the other day and nobody had any answers for me in 6 pages of responses! www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/2875713-aibu-to-ask-if-your-child-was-an-early-riser-when-did-they-grow-put-of-it-because-my-son-is-driving-me-bloody-mental

[LalaLeona]

i mean..nobody had any solutions! it seems like its just one of those things they are hard wired to do? I have tinkered with my son's naps so many times and nothing makes much of a difference.

[insancerre]

The purpose of naps is to allow the body and brain time to grow and develop
I would never recommend waking a baby or a child from a nap
The baby should be learning to regulate their own sleep and find their own rythym
If you are waking a baby then they are never going to find that rythym and you are potentially storing up problems for later in life
This is why it makes no difference when you try different combinations of sleep
Babies do naturally drop naps but only when they are ready
For now, go with her routine and put her down when she looks tired and is ready for a sleep
They will find their own sleep pattern

[LalaLeona]

Yes sadly I think you are right!

[FATEdestiny]

Nap 10-11.30am.
Attempt another nap about 3/3.30pm

Could you make that morning nap 9.30? Nothing unreasonable about a 9.30-11am nap.

Then again slide your afternoon nap by half an hour to 2.30pm. Actually ideally I'd start getting to sleep at 2.00pm with the aim that she would be asleep by 2.30. But if that's impossible for your child, don't sweat it.

In addition I would start routining the timings of those naps. 9.30am and 2.30pm every day.

The idea is not to drop the morning nap. My aim would be lengthening the afternoon nap. Asleep until 4-4.30pm would make for later bedtime.

A later bedtime will give you later wake ups with some consistancy. I'd aim for a 7.30-8pm bedtime. The change won't happen over night. It probably wont happen with a week of doing it. But give it 3 or 4 weeks of consistantly times routines and you should be able to shift her routine.

[Summerdays2014]

Just had a though... the clocks change on Sunday... my carefully planned 'routine' (eating and bedtime obviously - no nap routine!) is going to go to pot now isn't it?!

[Cocolocos]

Thanks for all the ideas. I will try for a good few weeks and see how it goes. Before I know it she'll be a grumpy teenager refusing to get up 😆

[OohNoDooEy]

At 15 months I'd do lunch at 11.30 and nap at 12.

[StarSpotter]

There is a sort of tricky transition period when you drop to one nap. I found starting off with just one nap at 11ish (or as long as you feel they can hold out for) then just gradually pushing it later. I've got to the point now at 18 months where it's 12 ish with an early lunch but for ages it was hit and miss whether it was lunch before or after.

[Tumtitum]

How's it going Coco?
My DD went back to two naps a day for a while but for the past week has really resisted sleeping more than once. Sometimes she'll only sleep 90 mins but this could be as early as 9.30 then she's awake for ages until bed!!! That seemed to be going ok and she actually started sleeping through... but the last four nights now she has been beside herself at bedtime and it has taken two hours of cuddling to get her down.... I think she is teething but I think she's also really overtired. I think she needs a few days of two naps but she just won't cooperate!!!!! any suggestions?!
Sorry to totally hijack your thread, I wanted to comment on my nap post but can't find it!!! Hope your naps are going well!'

[Summerdays2014]

Hi tum, sorry it's not going well. It's not for us either! The first few days after the clocks changed were great! He was walking up at 7.20 ish, having one nap at 12 and sleeping through. This was at nursery and at home! However we are now back to early wakings and unpredictable napping. He's asleep now, no idea how long it will last or if I'll be able to get him back down later! The other day he napped 11-12 then was a mess by 5pm. So no advice as it looks like we are still in exactly the same boat! At least I'm not alone...