One nap already? She's 11 months old!! Long.............

[sunnysideup850]

DD (will be 1 year on Feb 2) had consistently been getting up at 5:45am for about 3 weeks.  It happened no matter when we put her to bed (but bedtime was always after 8:00--sometimes 8:30/8:45, depending on when her last nap ended).  Also, she had been crying every morning, really crying when she woke up.  That told me that something was wrong with her sleep.  So on Sunday night we moved her bedtime back to 8:00.  She slept until 7:00 and woke as happy as a clam.  We did it again on Monday & last night.  Again, she slept until 7:00 & was completely happy upon waking.  Of course I love it, because 5:45 is such a pain (on the days I don't have to work of course, on work days (Thurs & Fri) I'll have to wake her at 5:45).

Now on to the nap issue.  Yesterday she woke at 7:00 & I had to force her to nap at 10:15.  She didn't cry for too long (maybe 3-5 min), but she didn't want to get into her crib like she usually does.  Then she only slept for 35 min.  She was up all the way until 3:45!!  I finally put her down (again, pretty much against her will) & had to wake her at 5:15 so that she could have a reasonable bedtime.

Today she woke at 7:30!  It is now 1:10 and I just put her down for her first nap of the day.  She's been as cheerful as ever & walking around the house like crazy, like she's on a mission.  She's got her little fists full of toys & keeps bringing them from place to place. 

So I'm looking for thoughts on this.  Of course, we changed her night schedule (which I kind of like & she seems much happier with it as well).  I know this is very much to blame.  But is she ready for one
nap at 11 months?  Also, I can't decide if the walking has anything to do with it.  She's walking around everywhere (has been walking for about 3 weeks, but only recently has gotten really good at it), I'm sure it's miles & miles.  Maybe she's just so excited to walk that going to bed sounds like a bad idea to her.

Also, so you know the whole story.  DD has been on EASY since 9 days old and prior to this blip she napped at 9:30am and 2:30pm.  AM nap was usually 1 hr & PM was usually 1.5-2.  DD is BF & eats solids.  She had been eating four times per day, after each waking & once before bed.

On another note, I need a break.  If we are moving to one nap I'm going to have to seriously adjust my expectations of myself as I have gotten nothing done & I'm getting tired of sitting on the floor.  We need to work on some independent play or I'm going to go crazy!!!

I read the post about moving from 2 naps to 1, but those babies seem older & she's not having the early waking with one nap, she was doing it when she had 2.  Would love any wisdom around either the transition to one nap or the encouragement of independent play.

[Meg's Mom]

Hi!

It definately sounds like you have started down the path to 1 nap.  We recently went through it and i noticed that most start this process at 11mos.  We made some changes to our day and stalled the process until 13mos but you may not be able to do that.  The changes were reduce night sleep to 11.5hrs, cut am nap to 1hr.

You said you read the announcement on 2 to 1, other then if your LO is ready (which i think she is from what you have posted) do you have any other questions i can help w?

She's been as cheerful as ever & walking around the house like crazy, like she's on a mission. She's got her little fists full of toys & keeps bringing them from place to place

  I can just picture her:-)

If we are moving to one nap I'm going to have to seriously adjust my expectations of myself as I have gotten nothing done & I'm getting tired of sitting on the floor. We need to work on some independent play or I'm going to go crazy!!!

do you have a mom's club in your town?

[CW]

Hi there!

There was a great trail of postings a couple of months ago on those of us in the midst of transitioning from 2 naps to 1.  I wish I could find it for you!

I remember that it seemed like the 11 month mark was a rough spot for lots of moms.  It definitely was for us.  My DS, at 11 mos, was going through just what you are now.  There was great advice about how to juggle this around by limiting the morning nap to just one hour.  I know that it worked for us for quite a while. 

I was able to delay the 1-nap transition for a few months by 1) limit nightime sleep to 11 or 11.5 hours; 2) limit morning nap to 1 hr only; and 3) make sure afternoon nap starts before 3pm.  These little rules really helped.  I think Megan's mommy posted some "rules"....

DS is now 14.5 months old and we transitioned to 1 nap only recently, within the last 2 weeks actually.  It happened OVERNIGHT!  Really, it was mind boggling.  One morning, he just decided to babble and play right through his morning nap.  2 hrs of just sitting in his crib.  It happened 3 days in a row.  So, day 4, I figured why bother.  I put him down at 11am (rather than his usual 9am) and he slept for 2 hrs.  I moved bedtime to 6pm to compensate.  He then slept til 7am! (a first, because we had been struggling with 5:30am wakeups for a while).  The next day, I pushed the nap to 11:30am.  He's been consistently sleeping 2-2.5 hrs.  Bedtime is still early...6pm or 6:30pm (and he is still sleeping nearly 12 hrs at night!).  I can't figure this out.  Seems contrary to what you'd think, early bedtime, later wakeups.   I'm happy that all this happened over the holidays when I was home from work.  I love the 1 nap too, though it forces me to come up with more creative ways to occupy him.  (We've been talking more walks, going to the playground more).

I'd really try to keep your 2 naps if you can.  I think 11 months is just too young for just 1.  See if you can limit the nightime and the morning nap times, maybe extend activity time a bit too.  Maybe someone can find that posting of the "rules".

And in terms of more independent play....Tracy mentions this in her book.  Playing with them and then each day, gradually moving away from them as they play.  We did this and it seemed to work well.  At least I don't need to be connected at the hip anymore.

Good luck and keep me posted!

Francine

[Meg's Mom]

Hi Francine!  How r you?

I found the thread you were referring to (i think) and make it a sticky in this forum. 

I agree 11 mos is very young and if you can delay it - that would be my recommendation too.

Let us know what you decide and if you need help  :wink:

[CW]

Hi Michelle!  I hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday!  We should plan a playdate again.  I'll send you a note on your email, and to the other ladies, and we'll see if we can schedule something soon!

Thanks for posting that trail of emails as a sticky.  It was so helpful for me at the time.

Take care!
Francine

[Marni]

My daughter is almost 12 months old, and she starting having one nap at 10 months old. It just happened one day too. I put her down for her morning nap and she kept crying, so I picked her up and we played and had lunch and she was fine. I put her down at 1pm, and she slept for a couple of hours. We have kept this schedule and it's worked out fine for us. She has slept 8-8 for months now too.