from 2 to 1 nap - how, when and the bumps

[CW]

I've been struggling with the same issues (see post "Progressively longer awake time for 11 mon old)...

I phoned my dr's office and they really emphasized that 11 months was too early for one nap.  They said to continue offering 2 naps...once you make the switch to one nap, there's no going back.

So the last couple of days I've sort of followed Michelle's advice.  We are keeping the morning nap to 1.25-1.5 hrs tops.  I found that if I can get that afternoon nap in before 3pm, then we're ok.  If we go later than that, we always have troubles.  For example, this morning, he woke at 6am, so nap #1 was 9:15-10:30am.  That means I can get nap #2 in by 2pm which is ideal. 

On those mornings, like yesterday, when he wakes at 7am, then it shifts a bit, but if I can keep the morning nap to 1.25-1.5, we're still in the ballpark.

I hope this continues!

[Kori]

I tried this today, watching the nap time, and it worked for us! She is down now for her second nap without her getting upset. Good luck everyone!!!

[Lilah'sMommy]

No luck for us.  I woke Lilah yesterday after 1h 15min from the morning nap.  She was in a fine mood, much to my surprise.  But the pm nap was still a no go.  Here's what she does:  she talks to herself for a very long time.  She almost always poops sometime during that time.  I go in and check after 20 min of talking, but no poop yet.  She waits!  It's like she's doing it on purpose!  Once I've changed the dirty diaper, the routine is interrupted and it's too late to try a nap anyway.  I really can't figure out a way to solve this problem.

Anyway, now she's resisting the morning nap, too!  I'm going crazy!

[Kori]

Oh no Sabrina... what does she do for the first nap? Does she still just talk away or is she really upset? Well my dd is going down for two naps yesterday and looks like she will today too but she hasn't felt well. I think that is a big influence. Plus we are getting three molars at the same time on the same side.

[Meg's Mom]

Sabrina

Sounds like you need to go back to pushing that am nap later and having 1 nap.

Hang in there!

[Lilah'sMommy]

Well, she did eventually take the am nap today (1 hr), and after we came home from a birthday party, I put her down for the second.  I was skeptical because of all the party excitement, but I had the fact that I'd already changed a poopy diaper today going for me.  And after 30 minutes of talking to herself, I went in, made sure all was well, patted her back, and said "time to sleep now", then left.  Guess what?  She went to sleep!  I guess we're at that transition period now and neither one of us knows whether we're coming or going.  But it does seem like she might be ready to move to one nap soon.  I guess I'll just have to follow her cues.

[Meg's Mom]

I can relate to that "not knowing if coming or going".

The past two weeks went like this:
6 days in a row - 1 nap (nice long ones)
then 2 days w/ 2
then one
then the past 3 days - 2.

And todays naps were 45min and 30mins....BUT she started walking yesterday.  Not cruising, really walking    .  Combined w/ an ear infection in both ears.  I am trying to just roll w/ the punches! :?

[Fiona (Leah & Kians Mom)]

Ladies, Can I just say this sucks  :cry: 
We have earlier wakenings, just by half an hour but it doesnt help. Yesterday I stuck to our original nap times and it went ok. Did the same this morning but she is moaning and groaning as I type and she has been in bed 20 minutes, maybe she is overtired as she usually goes back after 2 hours? Well I suppose I will have to wait and see how lunch time goes.
Michelle that's brilliant that Meg is walking  :lol:  we are still cruising.

Fiona

[Liliben]

I know where you're coming from. It's so difficult to know whether to wake DS up early froma nap especially as it's taken so long to get him to sleep in the firdt place. Some days it works and then others we don't have a PM nap at all and DS has only slept 1 hour during the day. Hw wants to go to bed early but if he does he wants to start his day at 4.30am!
We also have the same hting with poops!
Night waking has now become a big problem? Overtired?

[Fiona (Leah & Kians Mom)]

Oh Liliben,
That's what I'm scared of, night wakings. Want to avoid them if at all possible as dd has slept through since she was 5 months old, and I have noticed she is restless now at night time. Am going to give it one more day on our old schedule( today) and then re think the situation. We are still on 2 naps at least, even if they are not what they used to be but I suppose thats to be expected. And I thought dropping the catnap when she was small was difficult  :roll:
I woke her from her nap after 45 mins exactly though I reckon she slept for only about half an hour. She is happy at the moment so lets see. Good luck with your day  :wink:
Fiona

[Meg's Mom]

Anyone having a luck and want to share?

Or moan like me...

Sat and Sun - 2 naps of apprx 30min each or less

Mon - 1 nap 1.15hr long (funny the exact length of when she took 2 decent naps)

Tues - same

I just don't know how to extend the nap time, we haven't done PD as when we last had serious sleep troubles I used pu/pd but mainly shh/pat.  Any tips?

[Kori]

Well, my dd has been sick all weekend so she did two naps very well. Then yesterday, she slept for an hour and 15 minutes and I woke her up like you guys advised, then she only slept for 30 minutes the second. So today I had to get my car serviced in the morning so I figured this way I could keep her up. She woke up 6:45 and I kept her up until noon which she then slept until 2 and then went down at 7pm. Is that a good day? I honestly thought she would have slept longer. She was sooo tired. I am unsure what to do tomorrow. Should I shoot for two naps or go for one? IT is just hard! Nicole, I am sorry you are having trouble. I think we are all in the same scenario where they are in complete transition. Don't you think?

[Meg's Mom]

Kori, IMO I think that was a good nap (2hrs min is my goal).

For tomorrow, good question.  I personally have given up on the 2 naps.  I am following her in lead in that I am not putting her down until she is really, really ready.  Cuz when i do she take a 30 or 45min and she is worse off instead of better.

Don't know if that helps.

[Kori]

Michelle, when do you put Meg down if just for one nap? That is the hard part I think.

[Hunter & Sithia's mom]

Hi there all

We went through this at 10 - 10.5 months (he's now 11.5 months eek!) and we just went gung ho! so to speak.  We didn't bother pushing back the morning nap little by little because he hadn't been taking a 2nd nap for a few days.  I just started a new routine ... as follows.  the changes were all centered around noon, everything in the am pretty much stayed the same.

7ish - wake up.  Now he's up at 6:30  :roll: since I started work
8am - breakfast.  Cereal and cheerios
10am - 8 oz bottle
11:30 - 12 - lunch
12-12:15 nap time.  usually down until 2:30-3 (on good days)
3pm - bottle and snack
5pm - supper
7pm - snack of cereal
bedtime routine starts at 7:30 with a bath
8pm - bedtime bottle (no he doesn't fall asleep at the bottle), and bed.


HTH.  We got him through the crankies with LOTS of cheerios.  Lots.