1 nap - before or after lunch?

[JustReallyWorried]

DD is 14 months old and I feel she will be dropping to one nap soon. I'm not sure how the timing will work! Currently she sleeps from about 10:30 - 11:45 and then 2:45 - 4:00, though she is starting to fight the afternoon one. Lunch currently varies depending on what we are doing, and is eaten somewhere between 12 and 2.

So basically, at the moment nap times are quite rigid but lunch is flexible. I'm hoping that the timing of the one nap will be more flexible whereas lunch might need to become more rigid. For background, DD completely resisted all naps from about 8 months old and it took a lot of work to get to this point. She has had a really good sleep routine since Christmas sort of time, but unfortunately will still only sleep in her cot with the curtains closed and white noise on. This is quite limiting but hasn't been too much of a problem with lockdowns etc, as we couldn't go out anyway.

Sorry, back to the question - what are your experiences of one nap and the routine around it?

DS is 16 months old - when he’s at nursery he has 2 naps. One after lunch (1.5 hrs) and one after nursery for 40 mins. At home he has three naps - one in the morning which can last up to 2 hours, an afternoon nap at 3ish for 1 hour, and one at 5pm for 30 mins.

DS had a 11-1 nap from about 16 months till about 2, he had lunch afterwards at 1pm. Then he went down to an hour nap so we had lunch at 12 and then he went for a sleep after that.

I would aim for one nap at 12/12.30 with an early lunch before. If you can't manage lunch before do a snack before and late lunch depending on the rest of your day. That way its late enough they can make it to bedtime easier.

We moved to after lunch nap and lunch was then always 12-1ish. That worked well with nursery transition as lunch there is fixed at 12.

We found a rough 5hr awake window was best, so nap 5hrs after waking and then 5hrs after nap before bed. It was rough though, not rigid.

Early lunch and nap after seemed to work best for us.

We did a nap from 11:30 until 1:30, with a snack at 10:30 and lunch ready for when they woke up. I know some people do lunch at 11ish but that was too early for both of my DC.

Our routine was extremely rigid, especially for DD. DS had to be a bit more flexible because of trips out for DD etc, but when it was just DD it didn't matter so much. She wouldn't sleep in the buggy at all (ever!), but DS would if we used the blackout cover. Only for 30mins or so, but better than nothing!

Start moving the morning nap back in 15 mins increments every few days. Give a substantial snack before hand (banana, cheese crackers) so she's not waking still tired.

Once you have the naps to about 12pm start lunch beforehand at around 11am and then continue to push the routine back every 15 mins until it works for both of you. If she starts to struggle with night wakings again you might have to go to back to 2 naps.

How is she resisting second nap? Messing around in cot is under tired, crying is over tired. You could try putting her down a bit later so the nap naturally starts to shorten.

Once you've dropped to 1 nap you may have to adjust bedtime as well to fit in with awake windows

If you're only looking to change the routine to allow for morning and afternoon activities there are blackout accessories for pushchairs.

DS is 2 and since about 13 months he’s had lunch at 11 and sleeps 11.30-2 although nowadays he’s generally down before 12 and I wake him before 2 or he wakes up himself about 1.30.

So he has breakfast about 8, snack at 9 (sometimes) lunch at 11, snacks at 2-3ish and tea before 6. Bed at 7.

To be honest, I did it this way because the nursery he goes to has this schedule and I thought it would make life easier to keep it the same on my days off and weekends.

He’s always slept in his cot for naps at home because I treasure the break much more than I need to go out!

My kids napped after lunch. So around 12/12.30/1ish. This was so we could do a morning activity from 9-11ish and then go home for lunch and nap. And also because they did some mornings at nursery which finished at 12 once they were 2ish.

When they dropped from 2 naps I just pushed the morning nap back later over a couple of weeks to get to the time I wanted. I had to be flexible with meals and snacks at that point. My DC2 had to adjust much faster than DC1 though, although she was used to a more varied routine anyway so that probably helped

We do the opposite of most people here and so a snack before nap (approx 12-2) and lunch afterwards.

My toddler is a fairly late riser though, up 8ish, and so breakfast often isn't done until gone 9, so lunch at 11 wouldn't work for us.

I do the same as the pp. Works for us

I think it depends on what time they get up and what time they eat breakfast and so on. My early riser 18mo, eats breakfast v early so has lunch or brunch at like 11-11.30. Then nap at 12-2or 3. Then snack like banana and yogurt when she wakes.
Don't stress too much OP, as others have said you'll find what works for you!

Ours coincided with nursery naps, so lunch at 12 and nap after, with a snack when she woke up. Occasionally it would be an early
Lunch at 11.30 if exceptionally tired or an early start

We have a 15 month old who has one nap per day barring occasional day trips where he sleeps in the car.

He normally has lunch around 1130-1200 and will sleep from 1230 to 1400/1430, but it does depend on the day and if he’s had an early start he might go down as early as 1100 and have lunch afterwards. His routine is determined by the school run though so he doesn’t sleep past 1430ish, maybe 1500 at weekends.

In my experience you have to play around with it and there’s an annoying stage of them sort of needing one and a half naps!

Do they go to nursery? What happens there?

I would do lunch between 11-11.30 ish then nap 12,30-2 ish

Thanks everyone. Lots to think about here. She doesn't go to nursery no, I'm a SAHM. Really appreciate all of your input :)