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Original poster

Time to drop down to one nap?

14 replies

sunnyfields25 · 19/07/2018 15:12

DS is 14 months old and currently having two naps a day. However the afternoon nap is becoming a battle. He's taking up to an hour to settle. He's not upset, and I don't normally need to intervene, he just faffs about in his cot and is up and down like a yoyo. The problem is when he finally does nod off it's getting very close to 3.30, which is when I try to wake him so it doesn't affect bedtime. We're kind of running out of time in the day for the afternoon nap.

Does this sound like he's ready to drop down to one nap? It's sooner than I expected, as I'd read average age is 15-18 months. And once he's asleep he is dead to the world so it's not that he's not tired. Just not tired in time to fit the nap in!

In case it's useful to know, the morning nap is much better. It starts at 9.30, he doesn't take long to settle, and I wake him at 11am but I think he'd sleep for longer if I left him.

He starts the day 5.30/6ish though (on a good day) so I'm not sure how I could push the morning nap any later if we did drop to one!

Thanks in advance for any pearls of wisdom.

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Original poster

sunnyfields25 · 19/07/2018 15:53

PS I should add that I'd rather not drop to one nap if we can avoid it. So if anyone has ideas for keeping the afternoon nap I'm all ears . I am wondering whether to try waking him up earlier from morning nap to give us more time to fit afternoon one in...

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Coldwater777 · 20/07/2018 13:11

Similar situation here so following with interest. I'm trialling 1 nap at 12.30 today. He lasted the morning just fine. Just hope he sleeps long enough for the nap and sleeps well tonight!!
He's been sleeping 10am for 1.5 to 2hrs some days and fights his pm nap at 3pm.
Our other problem is he won't settle with a cuddle now then goes in the cot, he has to be walked a little in the pram. Sighhhh. Not sure how to break this habit at all!

GruffaloStick · 20/07/2018 20:18

It sounds like it, my DD dropped to 1 nap at around 14m. I found some days we did 2 and some days 1, I remember it was trickier than dropping from 3 to 2 and took her a while to lengthen nap time.

She's nearly 2 now and naps for 1.5-2.5 hrs from around 12ish. Makes lunch time tricky but I'm still thanking my lucky stars that she's still napping!

Original poster

sunnyfields25 · 20/07/2018 20:32

Coldwater777 - it's so annoying isn't it. How did the one nap go? And did he settle well for bed? Out of interest, what time does your DS start the day? I was just thinking if I dropped to one nap, my DS would have to last about 7 hours before the nap!

GruffaloStick - well it's good to know it is achievable to do it at 14m. What do you do about lunch - before or after the nap?

Today I tried waking DS up from his first nap a bit earlier, at 10.45am, and he did then settle quicker for his second nap (20 mins compared to an hour!). I'm not counting my chickens yet though, I'll carry on for a few days to see if there's a consistent improvement. I'm trying to resist dropping a nap as long as I can, mainly because the thought of entertaining DS for such long chunks of time is exhausting

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MumOfOnee · 20/07/2018 20:36

How long is he doing for his first nap? Could you give him a really short one say 10 minutes in the morning, wake him then go for a long one early afternoon until he's ready to go straight through til the afternoon?
Or try and keep him awake as long as possible and he'll get used to being awake for longer and having one in the middle of that day?

Dontbuymesocks · 20/07/2018 20:36

My DS has only had one nap per day since 8 months and it only lasts for a max of 30 mins. He’s now 17 months and seems to be stopping napping all together. One nap at 14 is fine, it’s more important that they are getting enough sleep in a 24 hour period than having a set number of naps.
I’m really quite jealous of people whose children nap so much in the day.....is that wrong of me?!
Good luck!

Coldwater777 · 20/07/2018 20:39

Our LO wakes between 6-7, if we're lucky!!
He napped for 1hr 20 this afternoon and went to bed fine at 7ish. Fingers crossed he sleeps through the night as he's extremely difficult to settle (if at all) if he wakes!
You could try the one nap thing for a few days and see how it goes. Terrifying I know!!

Coldwater777 · 20/07/2018 20:39

Oh and lunch, he had most of it at 11.30 then a snack after waking. I'm following what his nursery do so he's in a routine.

GetSchwifty · 20/07/2018 20:48

Could you put him down at 9am for 40 mins?

AlReef · 20/07/2018 20:55

I would limit his first nap to one hour and see how that goes before going to one nap

GruffaloStick · 20/07/2018 21:18

We do:lunch before at about 11 then a good sized snack when she wakes.
You soon get used to the larger chunks of time. I tend to plan a morning and afternoon activity even if it's just a walk to the shops or a basic craft thing, we're tied to the house midday as she only really sleeps in her cot but it's a small price to pay for an hour or two recharge for us both

Coldwater777 · 22/07/2018 12:53

After the one nap on Friday my LO slept through fine. Yesterday he managed 40 mins all day as we were out and about and he slept until 8am which is an amazing lay in for him! May have just been lucky as he was so exhausted from a busy day. I'd definitely trial one nap for a few days and see how it goes. You can always swap back. We're continuing with 1 nap for a little while now.

Underworld345 · 22/07/2018 15:07

My DS is nearly 15 months and some days he has one nap, some days two. If he gets up at 7ish I’m finding it hard to squeeze two naps in but if he gets up earlier I let him have his morning nap but always cut it short so that he has his second nap around 2pm.

On single nap days (he does this at nursery all the time now) he lasts till middayish then has a 1-2 hour nap.

I think the key is to wake them up from their first nap so that there’s time to fit a second one in.

If you want to try one nap, plan on a day where you’ll be really busy, he’ll have lots d distractions etc. To keep him awake.

Original poster

sunnyfields25 · 22/07/2018 15:46

Thanks everyone for the replies, they've been really helpful and it's nice to know I'm not alone in trying to figure this conundrum out! Unfortunately things have gone to pot as the appearance of the dreaded molars mean that DS is waking up in pain during the night and so his sleep is generally getting a bit messy.

At the minute I'm still trialling a shorter morning nap though and it does seem to be helping with the afternoon, so I'm going to persevere with that for a bit longer.

@MumOfOnee and @GetSchwifty - I'm kind of doing what you suggest in that I'm shortening the morning nap, but giving him more like an hour as it might be a bit much to suddenly drop to anything shorter initially (he's used to 1.5 hours). Good idea for when I'm definitely moving to one nap though.

@Dontbuymesocks - Wow one 30 min nap since 8 months! You need some sort of medal!

@Coldwater777 - Glad it's going well, it sounds like one nap is what your LO was wanting. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it continues, and I may be following your lead in the very near future if the shorter morning nap doesn't fix things.

@GruffaloStick - it sounds like activities will be my best friend once we drop to one nap!

@Underworld345 - That's the problem we've been having, struggling to fit two in, so it sounds like cutting short the morning one could work. For now at least. Fingers crossed!

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