14 mo. old sudden change in naps! HELP!

[hopper116]

Hi everyone,
I'm looking for some advice, PLEASE!
My ds (just shy of 14 months old) has started a change in his naps.  He has always needed two naps during the day, but he's not wanting to "sleep" now during his second nap.  He is ready to go down for his first nap by 10:00 am or so.  He sleeps about 2 hours.  He's been going down between 3:30-4:00 for a second nap, except for the last couple of days.  He's not actually going to sleep.  He lays in his crib and bables, etc. for about 30 mins, and then he begins to cry.  I'm wandering, am I waiting too late to put him down for his second nap (I watch his cues)?  Should I try putting him down earlier?  Also, what do I do if he won't go to sleep?  How long should I let him bable, etc.?  We have a set naptime/bedtime routine, no props, etc. so I don't know what's going on.  Any advice would be appreciated!
Stephanie

[andibig]

could possibly be that he is ready to go down for one nap. probably quite possible that he has had enough sleep in the first nap and not tired enough for his second nap (KWIM). just guessing as i don't know your routine but it might be worth pushing the am nap later. theres a board on here that tells you all about the 2-1 nap transition.
HTH

[imsmum]

I agree--sounds like he may be ready to go to one nap.  If you post his schedule it may help too

[Florencia]

I'd bet some money on him being ready for one nap. You have some options if that's the case like pushing the 1st. nap a little later (like 15 mins increments each 3rd day) and giving him an early bedtime or pushing the 1st nap and offering a catnap as a second nap (like a walk in the stroller or a drive in the car) till he adjusts himself to take one long nap around noon and being ready for a bedtime around 5 -6 hours after waking from his nap.

There are some good hints in the "how does your toddler's day look like" thread in here so you can have a read there and see what suits you guys best.

Refusing the second nap is the first sign that they're ready for one nap a day. I would suggest start thinking about it before it gets worse and he becomes overtired or starts nightwaking (don't mean to scare you but that's what generally happens after the first sign).

Let us know what you decide so we can keep supporting you. Good luck!

[hopper116]

Hi Everyone,
Thanks for the responses!  I was worried this was the answer I was going to get.  He needs to transition to one nap!?  Isn't he too young for that?  He has always been a great napper, and to suddently stop cold turkey with needing two naps, down to one, is just weird.  My Mom had my ds for most of the day today, and he refused a second nap (after only a one hour morning nap), and he wouldn't go to sleep for her at bedtime.  She had to drive over to my house to get him down for the night.  I'm really stressed about this!  This is three days now with no afternoon nap!  I thought Tracy said in her books that the transition should/could start at around 18 months. He's not even quite 14 months yet!
 
Typical day:
7:30 "ish": wake
9:00: Breakfast
10:00 "ish": nap (usually about 1 1/2 hours-give or take)
12:45: Lunch
anywhere between 3 and 4: afternoon nap (time varies 45 mins to 2 hours)
6:00: Dinner
6:30: evening routine-bath, lotion, PJs, books, snuggles, etc.
7:30: bedtime

I am wandering if I'm waiting too long to try his second nap.  Could he be overtired?  How do I KNOW if he's ready for one nap?  Can anyone share what signs they saw in their children when they were ready to transition to one nap?  Are you SURE 14 months isn't too young?  AAAAGH!
Thanks,
Stephanie

[Harrisonsmummy]

Anytime from 12 months onwards with most having transitioned by 2 years, so you are bang on target! The dropping of a nap either morning or afternoon is a classic sign! With harrison, it got that he napped later and later and I was working harder for the nap. Harrison transitioned at 16 months and of his little friends he was the last by quite a long way!

The worst sign is when they wake in the night - and that was happening with us too, but you really want to work with it before you get to that point.

As he is a good napper, you may find that combining the two isn't too bad, he's got a good basis to work with and you may get long naps straight away!

[hopper116]

Is there a place on one of the boards or can some of you please share HOW you transitioned your LO from 2 naps to 1?  I would love to read about how you conquered this.  I'm really nervous about trying it.........
Thanks,
Stephanie

[Mom to M&M]

It's possible that he's ready for one nap but IMO it's also possible that he may be able to do two naps still if you limit the first nap. What happens if you only let him sleep one hour for the first nap - will he then take the second nap? If he can't stay awake long in the morning it may be worth a try...

[Harrisonsmummy]

When I moved H to one nap, I was quite brutal and went cold turkey. On the basis that he would nap even when overtired (some won't sleep when they are really overtired!) He too skipped some afternoon naps and I decided that based on when he normally woke up he would have a nap at 12pm to begin with.

I gave him a snack at his usual nap time and an early lunch, and forced the poor beggar to stay awake. I personally reckoned that his body would adjust quicker, than toing and froing. It took a couple of weeks and lots of distraction for it to kick in, and early bedtimes - no more than 4.5 hours after wake-up.

He sleeps in a pram for naps, so I would walk him to extend them, or rock him if he woke early. Gradually his naps have lengthened to between 1hr 50mins and 2hours.

However you can do it more slowly as pp said, by diminishing first nap and seeing if that re-stablishes the second nap, or by gradually moving the first nap later and trying for a late cat-nap of 30 minutes say. It depends on how your lo handles longer awake times - do they have a melt down when overtired or do they just fall asleep in their lunch! Also how do they cope with a longer afternoon? H if overtired at bedtime tages ages to settle and we get night wakings as a result, so the longer mornings worked better for us!

Hope this gives some idea - there are posts - look for 2 to 1 transition etc or keep asking for more info.

Justine

[Florencia]

I was searching for posts like this, i guess they're somewhere between pages 2 and 6 of the forum... can't remember and have to fly home...

Just wanted to add that there's nothing to worry about, you'll find being in 1 nap a day schedule is far more comfortable for both of you once you've tackled it. Since he's been a good napper always, it shouldn't be a tough road (ds switched easily in a week i just did as Justine said, cold turkey).

Most lo's I know personally and here on the site transition to 1 nap between 11 months and 15 months so yours would be quite average for that.

Gotta go, i hope this helps a bit and keep us posted!

[hopper116]

Go figure!
After three days of stressing about no afternoon naps, he CRASHED this afternoon.  I'm so confused!  I don't know whether to try to transition him to 1 nap, limit his morning nap to try to hang on to the afternoon nap, or just leave him alone and see how he does.  We've been very fortunate in the fact that he naps very well for the most part, and he's slept through the night since 11 weeks old.  I don't want this nap flip flopping to start causing night wakings.  I'm spoiled, and I like it that way!  He slept two hours this morning.  If the afternoon nap trouble continues (not today, thank goodness) should I start with limiting his morning nap or go straight for the transition to 1 nap?  Sorry for so many questions, but it's been a long time since I've had to tackle any sleep issues.  I want to do this right for my DS sake!
Thanks again,
Stephanie

[andibig]

you know i'm sure our LOs log onto this site in secret LOL
IMO if the naps start going awol again i would possibly move that am nap later. but thats just me i'm sure others can give you better advice.

[Ewan's Mummy]

Hi there Stephanie, I've just finished the 2 -1 transition with my little one.   He was 13 months old when he started showing signs and they were exactly as you described.  He'd always been a good napper and he just suddenly started not wanting his afternoon nap.  He'd fight and fight it and sometimes it would take me longer to get him down for the nap than he'd actually sleep for!  Then he started being difficult to get to sleep at night as well (especially if he had taken an afternoon nap).  Some days he would take an afternoon nap so I wasn't sure whether to transition from one to two naps or not! 

Anyway, to stop waffling - eventually after about a month of faffing about with two naps some days and one on others which disrupted bedtime I went 'cold turkey' and pushed his nap later and put him to bed earlier.  It was a bit rough for about a week or so as he seemed tired but now he loves his new routiine he has around 2 - 2.5 hours in the day and goes straight down and does about 10.5 hours at night. 

Let us know how you're getting on.

[Alia's mum]

Hi Stephanie,

I think you I may actually have a better idea of whats happening with my lo now that ive been reading this post.  Alia did generally sleep ok at night and although she has never been a fantastic napper she had started after a lot of effort on my part to take definate naps after breakfast and lunch.  She has now, although wakes crying which confuses me no end, started to really resist the pm nap and take as someone else said, take longer to put down than actually sleep for.  She is also waking every hour at night and i feel like im the worst mum in the world because I dont know what to do and feel that I cant read my daughter anymore!! BUT!!! im now wondering if bless her she is trying to tell me she is ready for the 2-1 nap transition. She is 15 months on wed. x

[hopper116]

Someone posted this for me on the "Naps" board, and it's quite helpful.  I'm still confused whether or not he's ready for one nap.  I'm just going to see how it goes for a few days.  This afternoon by 5:00pm, he was SOOOOO sleepy, so I've put him down for a nap.  He's been flip flopping back and forth for a week now, so???  I'm learning as I go!

I'm a school teacher, so I've been home with him for a couple of weeks (dh and Mom split care when I'm teaching).  He's been wanting to sleep in late since I don't have to wake him for work.  Maybe that has thrown him off.  We'll see how it goes!
   
This is worth reading if you're considering transitioning from 2 to 1 nap.
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=41952.0

Thanks,
Stephanie