Dropping from 2 naps to 1 nap - helpppp

[lenalove]

Hi everyone,

My daughter is 13 months old and a few days ago, having finally recovered from 2 weeks unwell (during which time she extra tired so was full of beans when feeling better!) decided she didn't want to go down for her morning nap until 11/11.30am. We were already barely squeezing 2 naps in, bedtime getting later and later so we have taken this as a sign we just need to get onto the 1 big nap.

It has been quite chaotic to say the least. Trying to get her down for the nap is hard, she just resists it (yesterday until 12.15pm) whereas historically she would easily go down for a nap at 10am ish (with a second nap at 2ish). She will then do a good 2 hours. Before and after nap she is happy. Bedtime is tricky because we don't know what time to put her down on this new schedule! That being said, she goes down fairly easily - yesterday at 7.30pm. Usually she will sleep through until 6 ish however is now waking screaming at 4am, needs to be held and then goes back down in the cot from 5-6.30am.

Essentially it's a right old mess! I know some people say they may not be ready for 2 naps but we physically cannot fit 2 in the day anymore. She already needed a 5+ hour wake window before bed, which was taking us past 8pm.

Is this just something we need to ride out? Any tips to help smooth this out?

Thank you!

My 12 month old is flip-flopping currently between 1 and 2 naps. Wants/needs two naps if we are at home or go out in the car, only does 1 nap if it's exciting (nursery, day with Granny). I think it helps that the second nap is only ever a catnap of 20 minutes, so it doesn't impact bed time that much. I think you just have to follow their lead and be prepared for some switching back and forth during the transition stage. Makes it hard to plan things :/

I'd defo say you are doing the right thing, sounds like she was defo ready for 1 nap. I do think you have to ride it out a bit, nap changes can cause some disruption to night sleep, they are just getting used to being awake for longer and feeling more tired in general.

My DS was flip flopping for a while at that age and then we were the same where we just couldn't fit two naps in anymore and just had to make the jump to 1. He was fully on 1 by 15 months and I'd say it took a good 3-4 weeks for him to be used to it and not feel super tired before his nap and i didn't have to worry about him accidentally dropping off in the car late morning etc.

He's now on up at 6:30-7am, nap around 12:15 for two hours, sometimes he does less, and bed at 7pm.

I think any time 12:00-13:00 going down for a nap is normal so her 'resisting' until 12:15 sounds like a normal time to me, I'd just put her down then.

Most children at 13 months are ok for one longer nap after lunch. Defo awake before 3pm though for a bedtime if between 7-8pm

It sounds like she's ready for one nap, but what's the problem with having that at 12.15 as she did yesterday? That seems fine to me - when my DC moved to one nap it was around midday.

When mine dropped to one nap for around a month they had a 6:30 bedtime to help them adjust. Although their nap was always 11:30-1:30.
I'm in the minority here but personally for a 13 month old 6:30-12:30 ISH is too long to be awake in the morning.
Mine moved to 12-2 naps around 15 months old and then slept 7:30-6:30.

Mine both went to one nap at that age around noon.

Thanks - lots of helpful info in here. No issue with the nap being at 12, just threw me off as the previous couple of days he was ready for sleep at 11ish, and today she fell asleep in her pram at 11 so it's a bit hard to figure out what time the nap should be. I guess it might vary day by day at the moment!

Mine went through this recently and dropped to one nap at 10.5 months after illness. We had the same thing with a few long wake ups in the night, and finding the right bed time was difficult but we've settled in to a better routine now with wake up at 7ish, nap from 12-2 or 12.30 to 2.30 and bed time between 7.30-8pm though earlier if he has a shorter nap (usually the case at nursery).