Switching from 3 to 2 naps

[abcdmum]

My 6.5 month old is hanging on to 3 naps a day, and I'm hoping to move her to 2 a day.  The daycare that we're putting her in is flexible, but the other kids have a 9-10am nap time and 1-3pm nap time, making these the most quiet periods in the daycare for her to grab a sleep.

Here is her current schedule.  Any advice on how to reduce the naps?

7:30 - wake and breastfeed
9:00 - nap #1 (1.5 hrs)
10:30 - wake, solids and breastfeed
12:30 - nap #2 (1.5 hrs)
2:00 - wake, solids and breastfeed
4:00 - nap #3 (45 mins)
4:45 - wake and breastfeed
6:15 - evening solids and breastfeed
7:30 - bedtime
10:00 - dream breastfeed

Thanks

[Shdef]

Oh, that may be a little early... when is she going to nursery?

If there is no other way (cause she probably won't sleep when everyone is awake) I would let nursery do it, and keep the one you got at home just now. She will probably just go to sleep with the other kids in the morning... For the afternoon one, because she will be with more kids it will be easier to keep her awake until 1pm, might be harder for you to do that at home...

So... basically... I would not change a thing if she does well on the three naps at home and it will sort itself out at nursery by itself. Maybe she will take  a catnap on the way back in the car and the routine change won't be too drastic?

[deckchariot]

my dd gave up her cat nap at 6 mos, so it might work.  That said, does she really go down for a nap at 9 after only 1.5 hrs of A time?  At that age, my dd got up at 7:30 and didn't go down for her am nap until almost 10.  I could give you our sample routine, but the nap times would be way off what the nursery does.  If she's taking those 1.5 hr naps at those times, she probably does need that extra cat nap, because she just can't make it from 2 to bedtime.  Does she catnap at the nursery?  If she does, and it's working, then I'd keep it.  If she's not taking those naps at nursery, then maybe let's try to tweak the routine a bit.

[Lisel]

At what age should they be dropping the catnap at the end of the day? And what should their day look like when they do?

[deckchariot]

It's really up to your lo when to drop the catnap.  I think my dd was fairly early, but I'd say anywhere from 6 -8 ish months.  I know some moms in my birth club still offer a catnap even to their older lo's if the first 2 naps are bad.  Abby's routine looked a bit like this without a catnap:

E - 7:30
A - solids meal at 8:30
S - 10/10:15

E - 11:30/12
A - solids at 12:30
S - 2:30/3

E - 4:30
A - solids at 5

6:45 - start bedtime routine, eat around 7 to bed by 7:30

She went up to 3 hrs of A time in the afternoon pretty easily, the morning took longer.  I would say by 7.5 mos she was on 3 hrs of A time pretty regularly.

does that help?

[Lisel]

That's quite helpful. How old is Abby now? I've been keeping Connor up for about 2 hours sometimes a little more, I thought he might be ready for a little longer because he usually only sleeps an hour at a time. But I couldn't find the info for some reason from myBW books.

[deckchariot]

Abby's 9.5 mos old, and she's been really great with naps for the past 3 ish mos (before that, she was great about half the time).  Right now, her routine's a bit like this:

E - 7:30 (when she wakes up) bf
A - solids at 8:30
S - 10:30

E - 12/12:30 (when she wakes) bf
A - solids at 1
S - 3/3:30

E - 4:30/5 (I wake her at 5 if she's not up) bf
A - solids no later than 5:30
start bedtime routine at 7/7:15, bf at 7:15/7:30, then in bed when done.

If Connor is only sleeping an hour at a time, he might be ready for a bit more A time.  I would try increasing it very gradually - just 10 or 15 min at a time and see what that does for his naps.