2 naps to 1- all over the place

[Joneseygirl77]

Is it usual for them to reduce their sleep length initially when they go from 2 naps to 1? My dd has dropped her morning nap on 2 mornings this week and then only slept for an hour after lunch. Yesterday she did 30 mins in am and 30 mins after lunch. But we have had an overtired baby at bedtime.

I'm really confused as can't work out her sleep patterns now!

Yep, we went down to less sleep overall, but the one nap was for a longer stretch than the two naps were iyswim? So ds used to do about an hour nap morn and 45 mins afternoon, then he went to one 1.5 nap.

In case it helps, for quite a few months his one nap was late morn and then he had an early bedtime. It stopped him getting overtired before his nap, otherwise he would only have a short nap and we'd be in big trouble. He's 17 months now and is only just starting to have his one nap after lunch. He went to one nap at 13 months.

It's a right faff transitioning but I do find our days easier overall now we're only got one nap to fit around.

My daughters dropped to 1 nap also and has only had 30 minutes all day. I'm in the same boat as you with naps being all over the place. Some days she sleeps 10 ish, other days 11 or 12. And we've had days where she's slept at 9 but refused anything later on. Length varies also

Hoggiehoggie- do you mind me asking what a typical day looked like when you first transitioned with regard to wake up time, 1st nap and bedtime please. I'm struggling with the short naps which I think is du to bad timing

Hi deduct, when ds transitioned he tended to nap around 10am for 1.5-2 hours. That was after waking for the morning at around 6am. So he'd be awake around 12 after his nap and go to bed at 6.30. Obviously that's a horrid long stretch of awake time but it's the only way I could think of doing things. If I delayed the nap then he would be overtired and not nap for long, and he refused to have a second afternoon nap (this is how we went down to one nap in the first place). Over the following month or two the nap started naturally shifting towards 10.30 and stayed there for about 6 weeks, then we had about a month or two when it started at 11. And just this week he has been sleeping later in the mornings (6.30) so I now give him his lunch at 11.30 and he naps at 12. Because of this bedtime has gone back to 7pm.

Basically, I just worked on the premise of trying to get one decent nap in, even if it was only in the morning, and then as ds got a bit older, I sensed when it could be pushed back a bit. It's taken 5 months to transition from a morning to a more traditional lunchtime nap. At first I flailed around and tried to go straight for the lunchtime nap and it was a disaster for the reasons you're finding too.

I guess it depends whether your dd is ok with a really long awake stretch until bedtime? We had a few hairy bath times but ds actually seemed to cope really well, so it worked for us.

Good luck!

Glad it's not just me then! She had a good start yesterday and managed 2 sleeps totalling 1hr 30m but today we're back to 30min naps. I have no idea re her schedule anymore so just going to have to go with the flow and work off tired cues! I.e put her down when she's getting ratty!

Thank you hoggiehoggie. I asked because my little one seems very similar at the minute. Can sometimes have a very long one in the morning and nothing else in the day. But if I leave her until lunchtime which she can easily manage she will just cat nap. We are also struggling with early morning wakenings which I think is due to over tiredness. It's so difficult to know what to do when things are all over the place

Urgh, we've had early mornings for months! It's the pits, I really feel for you. I do think it's all linked to the nap transition, now ds is napping nearer to lunchtime he hasn't being waking as early. It's such a struggle trying to figure it out isn't it?