Boring nap question but 2 naps to 1? Roll up, Roll up help and advice needed here.

[GibbonInABloodSoakedRibbon]

DD has always been a big sleeper...always had 3-4 hrs in day and 12-13 at night.
Has for the last few months had 2 naps one at 9am (she wakes around 6-6.30am) and one at 1pm both last between 1.5 and 2 hrs

Anyhoo - DD has suddenly started to not go down in the afternoon...I know I need to move to one nap but I cannot see how I will ever stretch the time of the first nap. DD is so tired at 9am.
Any ideas anyone??

(now, after that ramble, are you still awake yourself )

TIA

What age is your lo? Rather than give up the nap why not just wake your lo after 45mins/1hr for her morning nap and see if that makes her tired for her afternoon one. Or make the afternoon nap later. My ds (1) normally has 2 naps although has had only 1 on several occasions lately. Sometimes his afternoon nap can be as late as 3.30/4pm but he still manages to go to sleep at night by 7.30/7.45pm (as long as he doesnt nap for more than about an hour)

Thanks Seona

Funnily enough thought the same today and will try that tomorrow. DD was so tired by bed time this evening - cross fingers it works

Yes definitely wake after about 30 mins or so (if you can bear to do so!)

You could maybe then bring forward the lunchtime nap - eventually she'll probably cut back on the morning nap and then have a longer afternoon nap (fingers crossed!) DD still has 2 hour afternoon nap and then goes down happily at 7ish.

Thanks SR - have just put her down - so will see how it goes today...my worry is that she still won't go down this afternoon, logic says she will as she'll be so tired, but babies aren't always logical

Ds gave up his afternoon nap at about 12 months and survived for ages sleeping from 10ish to about midday. I have moved his sleep to after lunch but he's often soooooo tired that I have to avoid taking him out in the car after about 10.30 or he'll fall asleep then. You might find your dd will survive from after her morning nap til bedtime too.

How did it go today? Did she settle this afternoon?

DD didn't doze off yesterday morning so we got her back up and she had a nap at lunchtime between 12 - 2
Today she was so tired in the morning I put her down as usual but woke her after 40 mins...she is now upstairs and doesn't look like dropping off I can hear chatting and playing.
So it seems the answer is one nap at lunchtime.

It's just so odd that it has happened so suddenly?

Thanks for the posts btw

I thought it would be hell getting DS to drop one of his daytime naps, but didn't want him to sleep less at night. At 12 months he was only having about 30 mins at 9:30, and then about 2 hours at 1pm. I just started taking him out all morning to keep him occupied, and then put him to bed a bit earlier at lunch (12:30). He struggled for a couple of weeks here and there, and would sometimes nod off for 5 mins in the buggy on the way home. He now often sleeps for three hours from 12:30/1ish (he is 20 months now). Can't imagine ever having to cope with him not having a nap, I wont be able to watch neighbours .

pmsl egg

I think you have the answer, I'll need to keep her occupied in the mornings...did your DS take long to happily be awake all morning?

DD honestly starts yawning 2 hrs after waking from a 12 hr sleep

Well he sometimes still yawns and rubs his eyes at 10am, but usually if he is happy and occupied he is ok. If we stay in all morning, even now, he seems to be tired earlier. He goes to nursery two mornings a week and, apart from today, when he got up waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too early, he never seems to struggle there at all, from what they have said, and by the time I collect him and get him into bed it is often after 1pm. His main problem for ages was being too tired to eat lunch. I was having to give him lunch at 11:15am, which was highly inconvenient! He now eats about 12.

If he has had a truly awful night's sleep, or happens to wake up much earlier, I do sometimes put him for an earlier nap before his lunch and let him sleep for as long as he likes, so say from 11am to 2pm. Most times though he has ten mins of seeming really tired and then perks up a bit (usually with a snack...).

Sh*t, I am MISSING NEIGHBOURS!

lol

Thanks egg

can i just ask those of you who went from 2 naps to one if it made any difference in your dcs night sleep? My ds is near one and sleeps about 45 in morning and then 1-2 hours from about 1.30 but his night sleep is becoming more and more unsettled - often with him awake 3-5am!! Aaaaargh! Wondering if he is sleeping too much in day?
Maybe i should start my own post, sorry!

I don't remember the daytime naps making a difference to nighttime sleep, he was basically a good nighttime sleeper and it didn't change, but he is waking up too darn early at the mo, and he often sleeps for three hours at lunch, so perhaps I need to address that . I do not want to be up at 5:45................

Good luck to everyone for tonight!

my ds has 2 naps some days and 1 nap other depending on whether he gets tired and cross in the morning. Today he had 2 naps - 1 around 10.30am (had to wake him at 11.20am to get dd from nursery) and the other was from around 3pm and he didnt wake till 4.30ish (I was carving a pumpkin so didnt bother trying to wake him before that). He has gone to bed not long after his usual time i.e. 7.35pm instead of 7.15ish and hopefully that will see him till 6.30/6.45am tomorrow. Daytime sleep doesnt make much difference to night sleep i.e. if he has just 1 nap which is not as long as the 2 naps put together then he still sleeps the same amount at night. I also dont mind him having the late nap as he still seems to settle ok at bedtime - sometimes his nap starts at 4pm. I go by when he is tired and grumpy and starting to fall over and that lets me know he (and I) need a rest (although not that much rest for me with a 4 year old to deal with too!)

Play it by ear, some days your lo will be tired and need 2 sleeps and some days they might need only 1.

This is a really looooong drawn out solution but it really works... It does assume your DD has dropped the afternoon nap for good.

Basically you move the morning nap back 15 minutes every 4-5 days (or as long as your dd needs to get settled to the new time) until you get to your desired time. So after a few months you'll have an afternoon nap.

It's dull but very effective.