help with 15 month nap times

[tracynben]

hi everyone, my lo is 15 months, and i think were getting close to the 2-1 transition but dont know how to go about it.
average day looks like this:
6.30am awake
9.30am nap (can vary from 45 mins to 90 mins) normally about one hour
3.15pm nap (can vary also from 45 min to 90 mins)
7pm bed

BUT for the 1st time, when i tried to put him down for his 1st nap, he just played around, i left him for 15 mins, and it was clear he wasnt tired, so i picked him up and let him play

I eventually put him in his cot at 12.15pm, within 5 mins he was alseep, but he woke up after 45 mins, crying and still tired, i put his music back on settled him back down and left him, after half an hour he still wasnt asleep, so i gave up and just picked him up
Its now 2.15pm, and he seems ok, but i know by about half four he will get tired, but its too late for a nap then, or he will sleep for ages and end up with a late bedtime
any ideas and advice
he goes childcare 4 days a week all day
tracy xxxx

[andibig]

Ok there are two ways of doing this .

First one is to cut down the AM nap to 20 mins ,and slowly bring your PM nap earlier.basically you are working at bring the PM nap around midday and eliminating the AM nap by cutting it down.

or

You can go cold turkey (must be a pretty good sleeper to try this one).chose a time to put him down for his nap ,so around 10.30 would be a good time to start with him.let him sleep as long as he wants.then after a 3-4 days move it later to 11.00 and basically carry this on till the nap again is around midday.early bedtimes are very important when doing this.


I'd say the reason he woke early was he was put down too late for his nap as thats a big jump from 9.30 to 12.15 so if you do cold turkey do the earlier nap time to start off with.

Also should mention that when they transition they can still have days when they will want two naps and sometimes just the one.

HTH

[cbg]

Hi,

I'm also battling the 2 to 1 nap thing and would love some advice.  We dropped the am nap about 10 days ago, right around the time she started daycare.  She only goes twice a week, but their routine is one nap/day at 12:30/1pm.  They are happy to accommodate 2 naps, but I thought that I would try her on one. 

For the first 7 days, she was a bit grumpy and needy by late morning, but stayed awake until around 12:30/1pm and then slept for 1.5 - 2.5 hours.  Bedtime was no later than 7pm.  Then, on day 8 and 9 she fell asleep in the mornings again (around 10am, for about 40 min).  On those days, she fought her afternoon nap, and didn't end up going down until around 3pm.  Day 10 she was back at one nap, and then today, day 11, she fell asleep in her highchair at noon at daycare and had a really, really grumpy day.

So.....I need a plan.  Should I revert back to giving her a cat nap in the mornings (especially on daycare days?) or should I keep pushing the 1 nap/day?

Thanks for your help!
C.

[andibig]

Its one of those really difficult things to judge when they are transitioning.some days they will need and want two then some days they will only want one (just to keep you on your toes!!).

before i think of a plan what is her routine for daycare and routine when she is at home??

[cbg]

The daycare routine is as follows:

8/9am arrive
9:30 snack
noon lunch
1pm nap
3pm snack
4:30/5pm go home

(wake up is usually 6:30/7am and bedtime lately has been about 7pm)

That is the same routine I am striving for at home, although today I did lunch at 11:30 and nap at noon.  On days when she has 2 naps, she will sleep at around 10:30am for 40 mins, but then no afternoon nap until after 3pm.

Thanks for your help!!

[andibig]

OK when she needs two naps I'd limit it to no more than 20 mins to protect the pm.at the moment the AM nap is probably too long and thats why you get a later PM nap.
On days when she has one nap then i would do her nap at noon/12.30 (depending on wake up time).most toddlers of her age do well with 5-5.5hrs awake time.you will find sometimes she may take shorter naps which is normal during the transition.
just bring bedtime ealry to compensate.