Dropping to one nap 13 months

[Sleepbabysleeppls]

DS is 13m. He has been having 2x naps a day roughly at 9/9.30am and 1.30/2.00pm. He would sleep approx 1hr 15 for each nap.

We’ve been through a long spell of him waking at 5/5.30am, so after reading advice I cut the morning nap to 30 mins. He has started sleeping later, to 6-7am, which could be the shorter nap but also perhaps the darker mornings. It also has meant his lunch nap is usually longer, around 1hr30/2hours.

He’s now started refusing his nap at 9.30 or takes a long time to fall asleep. Most days I need him up by 10am ish as he has classes/playgroups/childminder.

Today he woke at 7am and refused his morning nap at 9.30am so I got him up and put him down again at 1pm. He slept for 2 hours. But he was in an AWFUL mood after waking up. I guess 6 hours was too long for him to be awake before having the nap? He went to bed at 7pm which was 4 hours after he woke so a shorter wake window than the morning, isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? Ideally I suppose he’d sleep around 10/11am for 2 hours. But this does not work with our schedule.

I could try and put him him down for 12pm with an early lunch at 11.30, then he would sleep to 2pm.

What do others do? Will he eventually settle into having just the one nap?

At that age, my daughter did lunch at 1130, nap at 12-2, bed at 7. Worked well for us.

Thanks @Flubadubba . What time was she up in the mornings? His wake windows up until now have been around 3-3.5 hours, max 4. So to jump to 5/6 hours seems a big step and I don’t think suited him today because he was SO miserable in the afternoon, despite sleeping for 2 hours!

We have just dropped to one nap and are doing it at 12pm. I think to start with it probably will be hard because, as you say, the wake windows are suddenly much longer but there's not really another way of doing it. I have told myself we just need to push through for the next few weeks until the new routine kicks in and he's capable of going longer.

Thanks @PurplePetalPip how old is your LO?

Could you put lo down at 945am for 15mins sleep? Or maybe rise lo up at 630am? So lo has a good 3 hours wake time before nap time??

He is 14 months. Has always been an early riser though so has needed two naps to get through the day. I'm hoping now we have cut out the morning nap he will start to sleep longer at night but it's early days! Trying to keep him busy and distracted in the morning to get him through to nap time. But also avoiding going anywhere too far so he doesn't fall asleep in the car. It's so tricky!

@ChittyBang1987 sometimes it takes him 30 mins to fall asleep and sometimes he refuses completely!

i’m loathe to wake him up at 6.30am given we’ve battles early waking for so long. I wake him at 7am if he isn’t up already but he almost always is

@PurplePetalPip completely agree. I tried to put DS down at 9.30am today for 30 mins but be was still awake at 10, so I got him up and we went into town. He was yawning at 11am so I think this is his ideal nap time but doesn’t work most days for us. Kept him going until 1pm but he wanted to fall asleep in the car on the way home at 12.30!

Honestly depended on how my youngest was in the morning and what we had done. Some days she was down at 11, had lunch when she woke or otherwise lunch at 11.30 and sleep after.
My eldest was far more structured and consistently did the latter but her afternoon naps were 3 hours.

I know what you mean waking at 630am. I get it 100 percent. I had to adjust routine and wake up time about this age as that first nap was being fought. We did 630am wake up. Relax in their room for 20 mins while I adjust my sleepy eyes and then my lo was ready for nap at 940am to 945am for 15 mins to get them through till 1245pm/1pm.

We tried one nap a few times at this age and touch older, it failed miserablely. She just became an overtired mess.

You just work your day around the nap, unfortunately. 12-2pm is pretty standard for one nap.

@Terriblethirtytwos yes happy to do that and 12-2 works but a nap at 10/11 doesn’t. Most toddler groups are in the morning .

My 13 month old has been on one nap for a couple of months now. Up at 7am, lunch 11:30, nap 12:30 - 3, bed 7:30. The nap gets in the way of doing things but we've just got to put up with it I guess.

My 16mo dropped to one nap at 10m. She wakes around 7, naps from 11.30-2ish, though sometimes can be 12.30-3. Usually asleep by 8.

Our dd is 14 months and has been on 1 nap for around a month or so. On nursery days they sleep at 11.30 and were lucky if she does an hour, but at home we do lunch at 11/11.30 and nap 12-2. It works well for us and bedtime has become easier too.