Nap trouble -please come and tell me about your 12ish month old's naps and going from 2 naps to 1!

[RitaMorgan]

So, ds went from being an awful napper to a brilliant one at 7 months, and since then has needed a nap every 3 hours in the day. For the last few months his day has gone roughly

6.30am - up
9.30-10.30ish - nap
1.30-3.30ish - nap
7.30pm - bed

The last few days he has had a morning nap and then not wanted to sleep in the afternoon at all. Today he slept 10.15am-11am, and then refused to sleep at 2pm, instead collapsing where he was playing at 3pm. I guess I'll let him sleep til half past and then get him up.

So, does this sound like he needs to drop to one nap? I can't really let him have two naps with 4 hours between them in the day or he'll be going to bed too late, unless I only let him nap for 30 minutes each time.

What are other people's 11-13 month olds doing? When did you drop a nap?

Hi, Woodlands. How did your DS get on at nursery today?

DS's day went well (except for when I messed it up!)
6:15am awake
12:50pm nap for 1hour 30mins (I think that I accidentally woke him up )
7:30pm asleep

He is quite tired out I think. I'm going to aim for a 12:15pm nap from now on, and try not to wake him up accidentally.

well done, that's fab!

DS had a good day at nursery but only slept 10.20-11.05. He was pretty shattered when I picked him up at 5.30! He was tired but cheerful when i got him home, and he fell asleep during his pre-bed BF before 7pm. Fingers crossed he sleeps through till a reasonable hour!

Hi, Woodlands. I'm glad that your DS had a good first day at nursery ! It's great that he slept at all on his first day, so hopefully he'll sleep for a bit longer as he settles in more.

I've just been reading 'Healthy sleep habits, happy child' by Dr Marc Weissbluth, and thought that I'd write out the interesting bits re the transition from 2 naps to 1:

12months:
82% have 2 naps
17% have 1 nap

15 months:
43% have 2 naps
56% have 1 nap

18 months:
23% have 2 naps
77% have 1 nap

21 months:
12% have 2 naps
88% have 1 nap

24 months:
5% have 2 naps
95% have 1 nap

36 months:
0% have 2 naps
91% have 1 nap

The am nap is always the 1st nap to disappear. Some children have shorter am naps as they begin to drop it; other children have longer am naps and then resist or do not have a pm nap.

The transition from 2 naps to 1 may not be easy, and there may be a few months when 1 nap is not enough but 2 are not possible.

Solutions:
Make bedtime earlier.
Shorten / drop the am nap.
Move pm nap later.
Delay am nap over days / weeks until it's closer to pm.
Have some 2 nap days and some 1 nap days.

"Obviously, any combination of parents' scheduling for their convenience and the baby's need to sleep can determine nap patterns."

I feel a bit reassured now - DS was continuing to have his am nap, then definitely resisting his pm nap. And although he's relatively young to be dropping his am nap, apparently he's not the only one .

I'm going to keep an eye on his total amount of sleep, and I might consider making his bedtime earlier.

That is helpful, achtung.

It wasn't DS's first day today - he started last friday, and actually slept then even on his first day! I was astonished. Today was his first long day, all the way from 8am-5.30pm. He did really really well. I might need to ask nursery for tips on how to get him to nap!

Ah, I see, Woodlands. Arg, my memory .

I'm really impressed that your DS slept on his first day - my DS starts at the CM next week, I wonder whether he'll sleep on his first day...

Bit late to this thread, but here is our situation. DS (13 months) has been waking at 5am for the past 4-5 months (argh). He started nursery a month ago and sleeps on the way there (8-8.15) in the bike chariot, then has a nap there after lunch (now improving to 1+hrs), then bed at 7. In the last week he has done 5 5.30+ sleep ins, and once made it past 6 (even though he has a yell around 5 almost every morning). He goes to bed and self-settles at 7pm.

We think the longer morning sleep is because he is "dropping" the morning nap. Also, has been v hard to get down for naps on non-nursery days. I have been occasionally limiting his morning sleep to 30 mins to try to keep the 5.30+ cycle going. Otherwise he does tend to do a 1 quarter-half hour sleep in the morning and really fight the afternoon nap.

Any advice on people who've found this is a good/bad strategy to adjust naps would be gratefully received as we are "flying blind" - he is our first.

Hi, abigailj.

at a 5:30am 'sleep in'. I shortened DS's am nap, but still found it difficult to get him to have a pm nap. I'm currently only letting DS have a pm nap, but he sometimes seems quite tired and grumpy, so I'm not really sure what the solution is .

When DS used to have an am nap, I wouldn't let him have it before 9am - apparently this strategy can help to stop early morning waking. We also found that a blackout blind helped a little. DS is usually awake at ~6am.

DS's day today was okay-ish:

7am awake
12:20pm nap for 1hour 40mins
7:10pm asleep

As I said above, he sometimes seems quite tired and grumpy though. And he was awake a couple of times in the night for ages (and with much screaming, Calpol, BFing etc).

I made bedtime earlier today, and might make it even earlier tomorrow.

How's everyone else got on today?

So hard,isn;'t it?

DS woke at 3am and only feeding would soothe him - I think it's because he only had morning and evening feeds yesterday, so it was a spot of reverse cycling. On the plus side he didn't wake till 7.45am today (though it was my lie in, grr - he'll probably be up at 6 tomorrow when it's my turn to get up). He was shattered by 10, and ended up falling asleep in the car at 11.45, just as we were getting home from some shopping and wanted to give him lunch and get him down. Luckily we were able to transfer him from car to cot, and he ended up sleeping till 1.45, so 2 hours - pretty good going. I thought he'd be too hungry to sleep for long.

Achtungbaby - thanks for your views! Yes, we have a wierd view of the world when 5.30 is a sleep in...luckily my husband is an early riser and very good and mostly does the "morning shift" before 6. However, he is away this week, so its just me. I am torn between wanting to let him have an early kip at 8.30 so that he will go down for an afternoon nap soon after lunch, and wanting to wait til he's quite tired/try to get him down later as I have heard before that this may affect early waking. Thx again

can i join this thread too?

my ds is 15 months and has been awesome at naps and self settling and now it has all gone out the window.

he used to nap at 9:20 for an hour some days he does this some days he doesn't nap until 9:50 then i wake him at 10:20 because he won't go down for his second nap at 1:30 and sometimes he resists this nap and won't go down until 2:00 which means he is not getting enough daytime sleep.

also lost his ability to self-settle at night. not sure whether this is a sign he needs only one nap or whether he has teething/separation anxiety.

anyway am going to try one nap tomorrow at 12:30 1:00 ish.
i loved having a routine i am a bit off kilter that i have to change it.

Woodlands, DS has been having some night feeds recently too (which is something that we haven't really done for ages). Goodness knows how many he'll have next week, when I go back to work for 3 days... I wonder about DS having his nap before his lunch - like you, I thought that he'd be too hungry to sleep for long. I'll keep it in mind (big snack, nap, then lunch?).

abigailj, I hope you're getting on okay while your DH is away. I find it quite non-stop when DH is away (and will probably find it even more so on a 1 nap routine!).

Hi, beachavendrea. Yep, your post all sounds a bit familiar! Let us know how you get on with only 1 nap tomorrow .

Hi, can I join? Sounds very similar to issues I am having with my 12 month old DS at the moment. Our usual times for naps don't seem to be working anymore. Things are further complicated by the fact that DS has been having his afternoon nap in the buggy for months now and I'm trying to stop this.

He's also starting nursery next week where they have a 12-2 nap. I tried him on that on Friday...he coped okay in the day (only slept 1hr 25 minutes though) but woke a couple of times in the night so I think he may have been a bit over tired.

Thanks AB for posting that stuff from the Weissbluth book. I have been scrutinising my copy of the No Cry Nap solution book! I remember having a rough time with 3 to 2 naps and eventually it worked out.

Sorry bit of a rambly post. I guess I'm just wondering if I should soldier on with one nap. How are everyone else's DCs doing?

Hi, RaisingMrC.

Does your DS have his am nap in his cot? DS was a pretty bad sleeper at ~6 months, and when he went onto a 2 nap routine, both naps were either in his car seat (usually while driving in the car), or in his pram (usually while walking). After working on his nighttime sleep (breaking the feed:sleep association amongst other issues!), we moved his am nap into his cot, and continued with his pm nap in the pram for ages. Eventually, when his sleep skills were much better, we moved his pm nap into his cot. DS is waking in the night a bit more since going onto a 1 nap routine too, probably due to being over-tired. I'm trying to counteract this by making his bedtime earlier.

DS had quite a good day today:
6:30am awake
12:25pm nap for 1hour 55mins (DH and I began to worry about whether he was okay, and I accidentally woke him up when I galumphed tiptoed upstairs to check that he was okay)
7:05pm asleep

There was some grumpiness, mostly at previous am nap time. He was definitely tired when I first put him in his cot tonight (~6:45pm), so I'm planning to continue to make his bath shorter / bedtime earlier.

Hmm, the first rule of naptime - You don't wake up the baby! The 2nd rule of naptime - You don't wake up the baby!...

That sounds really good achtung! I always check on DS when he's been asleep longer than normal and half the time end up waking him...

Not such a good day for us. He had about 30 mins in the pushchair from 12.15-12.45. By 4 he was wrecked and it became clear we couldn't keep him going, so he ended up sleeping 4.30-5pm. Put him to bed at 7.45 or so and surprisingly we didn't have any complaints, and he was asleep when I checked on him at 8.30.

first day of one nap and he has been down since 12:15 woke up at 1:45 and i re-settled him because i am guessing he needs about 2 - 2.5 hours sleep? I might wake up if he is not up by 2:45

how long is everyone else's nap?

will see how he goes down at night time, fingers crossed it's easily.

Hi, we're on a one nap day today (11.50-13.50, in the buggy grrr) so we'll see what tonight brings.

AB thanks for the info about your DS's naps. Yes, morning nap is usually in cot and afternoon in buggy. BUT for the last 3 weeks things have been all over the place, initially he was resisting the morning nap so I'd just take him out to do some errands and he'd nod off in the sling if tired (yes, I do have a 12 month old who still sometimes sleeps in a sling!!), then we had a week of long morning naps and short pm ones, and now I'm not really sure what pattern suits him best. This week is likely to be a one nap a day week as DS is settling into nursery and we have to be at 9am every day.

DS doesn't feed to sleep, usually I stroke / pat his back for naps. For nights he'll go to sleep alone (but with DP or I in the room) and if he wakes in the night he is stroked back to sleep!

I do feel like the only person in the world still walking their DC for naps though!

I'd love to have to wake DS from naps!! He errs on the side of short naps though so sadly it is never an issue for us. He also woke at 5.30am this morning. 6 is considered a lie in at our house

We're on a two nap day today after a bad night (didn't feed him when he woke - have to break the habit which has started up since jabs last week - so I knew we'd be in for a night of it. Probably again tonight but hopefully not so bad). He napped 10.05-10.45 at nursery this morning. Got him home at 1.45 and put him straight down for a nap as he was shattered - and he's still asleep now! Must really wake him in a bit. Meanwhile I went back to bed myself which was sheer bliss.

DS's day today was good:
6:30am awake
12:30pm nap for 2hours 20mins (I re-settled him once, after 1hour 30mins).
7:30pm asleep

Woodlands, I had a little nap while DS napped this afternoon too! Meanwhile, DH was stuck downstairs, desperate to go to the bathroom . I hope you have a good night tonight.

beachavendrea, DS used to have 2x naps / day for ~1hour 15mins, so for ~2hours 30mins in total. Since he's been having 1 nap / day, he's slept for:
Thursday: 2hours 20mins
Friday: 1hour 30mins (I accidentally woke him up)
Saturday: 1hour 40mins
Sunday: 1hour 55mins (I accidentally woke him up)
Monday: 2hours 20mins (I re-settled him once, after 1hour 30mins).
How long did your DS sleep for in the end?

How does everyone else think that the old amount of daytime sleep compares to the new amount?

RaisingMrC, I know exactly what you mean - the number of miles I've driven and walked to get DS to nap. I used to have to remind myself that it was all working towards improving his sleep skills - at first I was getting him used to having a regular am and pm nap, then I was waiting until he got used to having his am nap in his cot etc. It was completely exhausting, and I felt like I was the only person who was in that situation too. When both of his naps were moved into the cot, he would only sleep for ~30mins each time, although I knew that he would sleep for longer if he was in the car or pram. I eventually stayed in his room while he napped for a week or two, and tried to re-settle him if he woke up - this either worked and he started to have longer naps (~1hour 15mins), or he just got used to the cot and started to have longer naps anyway.

in the end he slept for 2 hours 10 mins.

but we had a major episode at night time. he used to be so good settling himself and that seems to all have gone out the window.

not sure whether it's separation anxiety thing or not napping enough.

will try again tomorrow and will aim to get him to nap at 12:30 for another couple of hours.

i think this is going to be a couple of months project.

it's that he won't self-settle anymore that really annoys me.

beachavendrea, I hope you're having a better day today ! I think it's likely that your DS is a bit over-tired, and that's causing him to have difficulty self-settling. Can you bring his bedtime any earlier temporarily?

i was just going to post!

he slept from 12:20 to 2:50 with a bit of settling in between and just went to bed now all by himself.

I read in the no cry nap solution that babies need a bit less than the previous two naps combined into one nap but he seems to need two and a half hours.

i think its a trial and error process, i'll just keep trying different things.

i hope he is over tired and that is the problem rather that he has lost that 'skill'.

When we first decided to try dropping a nap I did lots of googling and lots of things seemed to say the problems last for a month or two. That seemed an age at the time but now I can see why! I think over-tiredness sounds likely, beach.

Nursery morning again so another two nap day. He slept 10.45-11.30 at nursery and then 3-3.40 at home.

Oh good, beachavendrea, . That's interesting about nap lengths; DS sometimes has about the same amount of sleep in 1 nap, as he previously had in two naps (although it's far from consistent!).

, a month or two, Woodlands... What's your feeling about your 1 nap on home days and 2 naps on nursery days strategy? I might consider doing the opposite if DS becomes very over-tired - only because I can accommodate 2 naps more easily than the CM can.

Actually, DS had his first day at the CM's today. He ate ! He didn't drink a lot, but we'll work on that He slept !