Please advise how to 2-1 transition for 10 month old

[BstnMelody]

So I tried long AM/short PM for a few more days trying to get her to take the 2nd nap earlier in case she was OT. Zero luck. No matter what I tried, she wouldn't fall asleep before 4hrs awake, and then yes, she was OT and refused to nap and needed to be AP'd.

So we've switched to long AM, short PM. It's still a struggle to get her to take that 2nd nap, and we have to AP her about half the time, but it's working slightly better.

Here is what it's looking like:

WU 6:45/7:00
Nap1: 10:50-11:50
Nap2: Somewhere between 3:45 and 4:30 (capped at 30 min)
BT: 7:30

I'm considering trying to do 1 nap, but I'm SO nervous. Anyone have courage pills I can take? ;-)

[Jodes112]

I think you should go for it with one nap!

If i were you, to start with, id try and put down at 11.30am, and see how you go. Would she do a long nap?

When we first transitioned, i would give lunch at 11.15 and then nap at 11.30. And then after a few days push it to 11.45 if she copes, and so on. Luckily for us dd naps for 2/2.5hrs, then bed arpund 6.30.

You can always do ebt when needed xx

[BstnMelody]

Thanks Jodes. She ended up taking her first nap at 11:30 today (WU @ 6:45) and we got a 30 minute nap, which I assume is OT, as she usually goes to sleep around 10:50 and we get an hour. She was refusing to nap at 3pm, so we had to APOP at 3:30.

In this scenario, 11:30 seems too late, but what is likely to happen if I stick with that time for a few days? Would she get used to it, or should I dial it back first to 11 or 11:15 first to get a good nap, and then increase A time?

I must say, this transition is definitely the hardest so far. All the rest I had figured out in a matter of days. This has been going on for weeks and I'm still clueless. Haha!

[BstnMelody]

So an update....

After my last post, we did another week of long AM / short PM with PM nap APOP'd. Then I dropped her off at my mom's for a week while I went away, and during that week, she started waking earlier. My mom didn't realize to put her down for her nap earlier with the EW, so some days she was put down 4:15-4:30 after waking. On those days, she did 2 hour naps and wouldn't nap again. And then on some days, when she was awake closer to 5 hours, she did short AM naps, and then had to be APOP'd for short PM naps. So it seems we've found the right awake time for long naps and where the OT point is.

So this week, back at home, it seems we're alternating between 1 nap days and 2 nap days. If she does EW, we typically do 2 naps, with a long 2 hour one, and then a short APOP'd 15 catnap at the end of the day. That then pushes bed time later, which means she wakes later, and we can do a 1 nap day the next day. But then awake time before bed is too long, so I put her down early, which means EW the next morning, and we're back to the 2 nap day. For those interested, here is what the cycle looks like:

2 nap day...
WU 6:15/6:30
Nap 1: 10:45-12:45/1:00
Nap 2: 5:00-5:15 APOP, wake her after 15 min
BT: 8:00

1 nap day...
WU 7:00/7:15
Nap (only one of the day) 11:30-1:45/2:00
Quiet time, as she starts to get a bit crazy & cranky (binky, rocking, soft music) 6:30
BT: 7:30

Jodes, since your LO seems to be about a month ahead of mine, what can you tell me about nap time between 11 months and 12 months, and what about now that she's 13 months? I'm partially wondering how long it will take for me to move DD's nap closer to 12 or 1. Was it a month+ process, or are you still in the process?

Cheers,
Robin

[Jodes112]

Sounds like things are going good!

I think when you can start and she can handle, pushing that A time a little more, you would then be able to do one nap days every day even on an EW, but think once settled into one nap everyday, the wu time would even out. Your definately stuck right in the middle of 2-1 atm.

We still do 2 nap days every now and then if we have to go out in the aft i will let dd have 15 mins at 11am ish, abd then she will have an hour or so at around 2.30. After such a short nap she easily settles for the pm one. If she has longer than 15 mins tho its a struggle to get a second nap!

Generally though we do nap now at 12-1.30/1.45 (she wakes herself shes never been a long napper) and then bed at 7pm. I find that the less day sleep, the more night sleep! The other day she had 30min nap all day and slept 13.5hrs that night. We are lucky that she can do this. 

So really, were not still fully transitioned as she does sometimes still have 2 naps (and we started doing one nap days from 11months)

Id say if it works for i just keep doing what your doing xx

[BstnMelody]

Awesome, thanks Jodes!

We've just come out the end of a wonky week of naps. We were in a good groove for a little over a week, then one day DD napped for 3 hours and 10 minutes! And then we just couldn't get it right for a full week after that - lots of EW, lots of 30 minute OT naps, lots of naps that ended too late and disrupted bedtime, and lots of crying because she was so tired and cranky. Blah! I think we finally fixed it today, as we got a 2 hour nap from 11-1.

That super short AM nap is an interesting one. I'll keep that one in my back pocket in case I have to use it. ;-)

Thanks again for the moral support! Even though I feel like this transition is lasting the longest (from the logs, I can see it started at 10 months, and she's almost 12 months), it's actually easier than the other ones. Because she's older, she can handle more awake time. She's had a few days of just 30-60 minutes of napping. I'm not saying those are overly pleasant days, but she's not nearly as affected as she was in the previous transitions.

I can't wait for the day when we're fully on 1 nap!

Cheers,
Robin