14mth old day naps and routine? clinic nurse said too young for 1 nap?

[hilary57]

I took my 14mth old son to the clinic nurse to see if it was right to be starting him on 1nap per day due to him fighting his sleep during the day. She said at this age he really should be having 2 day sleeps.

What are your toddlers doing?

today i went by what she said and it has worked so far.
7am: woke
breakfast and short play
8am: bottle and bed
8.30:fell asleep
10.45: woke up
toast and play
12pm: lunch and then went to shops
1.50 bottle and bed
2.10: asleep
it is 3.15pm and he is still asleep.

I would normally put him down for his nap at 10.30am and then fight to get an afternoon nap. today has worked well.
I really thought he needed to go to one sleep.

Hi
My little one is almost 17 months. He went on to one sleep a day at around about a year for a few weeks. Then he reverted back to two sleeps of an hour at 9ish and 3ish for about a month or two. He then moved to one sleep a day, starting at about 10.30 for 2 hours then over the space of about 2 weeks he now sleeps from about 12.30ish to 2.30ish.

I have never really pushed a routine he kind of found his pattern. He generally goes to bed anytime between 7pm-8pm and wakes up around about 7am ... (of course this morning he woke at 4.30am and wouldn't go back to sleep ...grrrr .... but I am trying to see the bright side and telling myself how lucky I am to spend so many waking hours with my child

I worked in childcare for 8 years, with under-2's and the age a child goes to one sleep can vary from 12 months to 18 months (or later). Ignore the nurse - there is no "magic" age when all children go to one sleep.

My dd went to one sleep at 14 mo but some days needed two to catch up a bit. Generally, if your child is really fighting not to go to sleep in the afternoon it's a sign he is ready for one sleep. You may have a transition period of some days one sleep, some day two. Just go with it - in a couple of months he will
settle into one sleep.

My ds1 was only having one nap a day from about 9 months.
I think there are ideals, and then there are what suit 1 particular child. If you think your ds needs 1 nap, then he has 1 nap, don't worry about it. Again, they are all different, some need lots of sleep, some don't.

my ds gave up naps altogether at 12 mths nothing i could do about it and hasnt napped since unless unwell his now 4

My DD is 14 months too. Most days she only has one nap at about 11 for and hour. However I've noticed that if we have a very busy day or it's Wednesday (she goes to Nursery Monday, Tuesday) she does need two.

My DD2 is 9 months and has only ever had one nap (apart from two extra 10 min catnaps up to the age of 6 months). And it's only now that she's really on the move that I can reliable get more than an hour out of her.

DD1 on the other hand had 2 2hr naps til 16 months and still has a lunchtime nap of up to 3 hours every day aged 2.4.

Kids are all different-none of mine napped much at all certainly not after 10 months,neither did any of them sleep well at night!!!

My DS2 is 14 months and after two months of him fighting his two sleeps have now dropped to one long afternoon nap. It was becoming a nightmare as he would EITHER sleep in the morning or afternoon so if he chose the morning we would then have a very grumpy long afternoon.

my ds is 15months, and really just in the past month has droppe to one nap, he used to have 40 mins in the morning and 40mins-1hr in the afternoon, no its a struggle to keep him to 12pm but then he sleeps for an hour and a half, i have to say its a golden age since hes been born

My son dropped his day time nap completely by the time he was 7 months. What the health visitors say is the recommended advice but doesn't always take into account the difference in development of children. if you feel your child doesn't need the extra sleep try dropping it. it will become very apparent whether or not it is still needed. We found dropping sleeps in the day help to settle sleep at night. BUT if you drop the afternoon sleep make the morning sleep later otherwise the afternoon will seem very long.

Good luck and do what your instincts say is right.

DS1 dropped his morning nap at 11mo and immediately started settling much better for his lunchtime nap. Stick with what works for you and ignore what anyone else says!