2 to 1 nap /what to do now?

[alekauffmann]

Hi there. We have been working on getting 1 short nap and 1 longer, to switch to 1 nap. After 2 weeks with no pattern on naps and awaking time in the morning, yesterday he had the 2 naps as supposed (1st short and 2nd long) and today he awoke at 6am... great! - he has used to awake around 5.

The thing today is that he refused to have the 1st nap. Cause he awoke at 6 I left him at 830 into the crib, hopping he would be sleeping at 9. But nothing happened. He was chatting for as long as 1 hour. After that he started to call me.

I d like to know what is the best way to continue the day. Will he have the 2nd nap as if he took the 1st one? and even that having a early BT? or will he have the next nap earlier? Please help! I don't want to mess when seems we are on the way

Thanks in advance.

[lilac83]

I'm going to move this over to Sleeping For Toddlers for you since your LO is over 1 year. If I were in your situation, though, I would have a slightly early lunch and try for a nap right after.

[deckchariot]

I'm guessing he fought that first nap because he simply wasn't tired.  When he was waking at 5, what time were you putting him down for his first nap?

You mention that you are trying for a long am nap and a short pm nap.  In that case, are you gradually extending his first A time so that first nap is gradually later in the day?  There are basically 2 approaches to the switch:
1) keep the am nap at the same A time each day, but shorten it gradually; at the same time, bring the pm nap earlier by the same amount you shorten the am nap.  Once the am nap is <30 min, eliminate it altogether.
2) gradually extend the am A time but let your lo sleep as long as he wants for that nap; then offer a late pm catnap.  Eventually, eliminate the pm catnap.

In both cases, offer an early bedtime if one/both of the naps are bad.  If your lo needs a longer A time before bedtime, option #1 tends to work better.  If he doesn't, and he hates being woken from a nap, option #2 may work better.

hth
michelle

[alekauffmann]

Hi Michelle, i think i wasn't clear, but what i want is the am nap short and the pm longer.

Because we haven't gotten a pattern in awaking time, depending on the time he awakes I prepare the routine for the day. The 1st nap is 3 hrs after he awakes, and the the 2nd nap is 3hr 45min after he awakes from the 1st nap. Is that correct? I mean, Is correct that I fix the routine on the way depending on the awaking time for the day and from the 1st nap?

Now, this approach we are following was suggested to me in this forum 1 week ago (I guess from you). At that moment my son was OT and what I was told was this: have the 1st nap earlier and short (so, I awake him after 45 min every day, since 1 week ago) and have the 2nd nap longer -he should be tired- so you need to increase the A time 15 min each 3 days until you get 4 hrs of A time - we are on 3h 30m. Also, i was told to check the A time when i get this pattern and have in mind he needs 2h of naps during the day. Also don't start the transition to 1 nap until i get this pattern... BUT...

The thing is that all the time I have to awake him from the 1st nap - he spend something like 30 min to fall sleep and i awake him after 45m of sleep- and a few times he had slept 1,5hr for the 2nd nap... the most of the time he had just 1 nap, and if that one is the pm nap is just 30 to 45 m.  Just 2 days during this week he got a longer pm nap.

So, please tell me how i am doing. should i focus on what you just told me or do i need to continue in the same way?

Today, because he refused the 1st nap he had a earlier lunch and he was sleeping at 12.15.i was expecting he would sleep around 2 hr... BUT awoke after 30 m, so i put him to sleep at 530. He was yawning around 43o... do you thing is to early if he awoke at 6am?

If you need, I can reach the topic where I got the advice.

Thanks in advance.

[deckchariot]

I"m sorry - I must have gotten confused....hopefully this post makes more sense

Is there a reason you want a short am nap and a long pm nap?  That is definitely one approach, and it's what I did at first.  In that case, you keep that morning nap at the same A time every day (so if you've been doing 3 hrs, you could keep it at 3 hrs, that's fine), but yes, you do wake him from that nap - gradually shorten it.  So if you're on 45 min now, keep that for a bit, but then you want to gradually shorten it to even < 30 min.  If he's been taking longer am naps, I wouldn't immediately cut back to 45 min.  I'd cut back 15 min every 5 or so days.  So if he's taking 1.5 hrs, then go to 1 hr 15 min, then 1 hr, then 45 min over the course of a few weeks. 

At the same time, you want to reduce the next  A time - I'm not sure if you've been doing that.  The reason you want to reduce that next A time is because he's had a shorter nap, so he won't be as well rested to handle the longer  A time.  So if his 2nd A time is 3 hr 45 min with a full am nap, as you cut 15 min off the am nap, cut 15 min off that A time as well (so bring it back to 3.5 hrs).  Otherwise, you get an OT pm nap (and it sounds like that has happened).

This plan really works best for bubs who need a longer A time between their last nap and bedtime.  If that tends to be your ds's longest A time of the day, the plan should work.  If he does not need (or cannot handle) a longer  A time before bed, this plan may not work for you.  That was the case with my dd - her shortest  A time is between her last nap and bedtime, so when I tried this plan, it was a complete disaster - she was too OT to take her pm nap, and then she'd only have a 45 min nap all day and that was just disaster.  So if you find yourself in a situation where he is not adjusting well to this approach, you may want to switch to the other approach (long am nap, short pm nap).

In terms of early bedtime - if he's up at 6, no, I don't think a 5:30 bedtime is too early for him.  Part of the struggle with the 2 to 1 switch is that EWs mean early bedtimes, which can lead to EW - but because they've already had a full night of sleep.  So I wouldn't put him down before 5:30 if you can help it.  Even if he sleeps 12 hrs, that's stilla 5:30 wake up.

I'm guessing the 30 min nap you got today was OT.  If he refuses his first nap, I would try again in 30 min or so - rather than taking him all the way til 12:15 - it looks like that was a bit much for him.

hth
michelle

[alekauffmann]

I think this approach is not working for him. Today he awoke at 440am and both naps were 45min and  I didnt have to awake him the 1st one so, this is not getting better. Also, he cannot handle a long A time before bed, so I will try the other one (one long am nap and one short pm nap). 

I hope this one will work.

Thanks a lot Michelle
Ale

[deckchariot]

We did the same thing!   Tried the short am nap/long pm nap for 2 weeks and it was a complete disaster   - til someone suggested the 2nd approach, and we had much better luck there.   So we gradually extended her first A time - 15 min every 3-5 days, and let her sleep as long as she wanted.  Then I did a bit shorter A time and offered a catnap (it was usually quite late - 3:30/4, but only for 45 min).  You can do a shorter A time there, because you don't want him to be so tired that he wants a long nap.

Let me know how you get on!