Is she ready for 2-1 transition?

[Coops Mom]

Hi,

I need some help with naps for my 13.5 month old daughter. I am having trouble with the second nap. She fights it and refuses most days. Here is our typical day:

6:30am- wakes, drinks some milk from sippy
7am- breakfast
9:30- snack
10:30am- down for morning nap (goes down easy here)
11:30am- up (usually sleeps 50min-1hr)
12pm- lunch
2:30pm-snack
3:30pm - this is where I have been trying for 2nd nap but i'm getting refusal here. I would say I get a nap 3 out of 7 days a week right now. Nap is usually 50-1hr - I wake her if she goes past 1 hr 15min.
5:30- dinner
6:45-7pm- bedtime, I go for the earlier side of bedtime if she didn't take second nap.

Should I go ahead and start transition? If so, how should I go about it?

[Kellyjs]

Yep, that all sounds very familiar! Definitely the 2-1 transition hun.

There's two ways you can go about it. Either cap the first nap and try for a longer nap in the afternoon, or try and get a longer nap in the morning and AP a CN in the afternoon if you can.

If you'd like to do the first option, I would look at capping that first nap to 30mins max then try for a longer nap earlier than you have been doing because the nap was shorter. I found it really difficult to get the timings right for a longer second nap as DD was prone to UT 45mins naps. I'll post a link about both of them at the end.

What we did was the longer first nap and tried for a CN. You'll have to push out that first A. I think she'll be ok with that as it seems your first nap is quite short hinting at UT. It does take time though. I'd increase by 15mins, hold for 3 days then increase by 15mins again until you get to around midday. Then you just try for a CN around 3.5hrs after waking, if she refuses, fine just do EBT as you have been doing. I found that even the quiet time in the cot for DD helped her get to a reasonable BT. You might have to cap the first nap to 1.5hrs to try and keep a reasonable length of day. The nap should get longer once you increase that first A.

Back in a mo to post the link for you. Let me know which option you think you or your LO might prefer and we'll take it from there x

From 2 to 1 nap transition (10-12m and older)

The link within this one about the how, when and bumps I found really helpful too.

[KookyK]

I did a capped first nap and longer one as described by Kelly for a while and it worked with my day (school run etc) tho I always had to apop him back to sleep during the long one (poss our own issues with various props along the way).

Then it turned into two short naps. I think we are unusual but that worked well as our transition to one nap. He did two naps of 45 mins or so.

But then his A kept stretching and couldn't easily fit the second nap.

So this week we've jumped to one nap. It hasn't been too bad. He would prob sleep after 4 hours A time but I could stretch him out not too grumpily to 5. And he's been doing a great long nap then.

Sort of

A 7
S 12-1.45 or 2
Bed 6.45

My DS is low sleep needs btw and is 12 months.

Yday he was up v early and I was tempted to go back to two naps but I pushed him to 10.45 and he had 2 hours and ebt and was fine.

[Coops Mom]

So here is my update.

First day she did great - I extended awake time to 4hr 15 min and she went down easy - slept over 2 hrs. I didn't put her down for a second nap since it would have been so late in the day. She slept 12+ hours that night.

Yesterday - same thing, 4 hr 15 min and she only slept 90 min. Didn't get her down for second nap so did EBT at 6:30pm. She slept 12 hrs.

Today, I extended A time to 4hr 30 min and she only slept 50 min. I'll try to get her down for an afternoon nap since it was so short. Should I try for 3 hr 45 min A time since she woke up early?

[Kellyjs]

Sorry it's a little late but yep, I'd have tried for a second nap. Lo's can get OT if you switch cold turkey to one nap so a combination of one and two naps are often needed. Sounds like it started off great though so at least you know she's capable of it.

I think I would keep at 4hrs15 mins for a little while and keep on with what you did before to let her settle into it. If the nap is short, either apop a CN or go for EBT. I'd probably try for the CN, if that fails then do EBT.

Maybe stick with it for a week or so then see then if she's ready for a jump in A. Wdyt?

[Coops Mom]

Sounds good to me. We tried for second nap and got it- so she had two 50 min naps yesterday.

What does apop mean again?

Also - how long should a cat nap be?

Thank so much!!

[Kellyjs]

That's ok hun, it's all a learning curve., especially with the 2-1 you kind of have to go with the flow here and there. Personally I hated all the inconsistency!

Apop is accidental parenting on purpose. So car naps, rocking etc whatever works for your LO. Mine never did unfortunately.

If you're doing a long first nap, short second it would depend on how long that first nap is. Your LO used to do well on 2hrs 15 mins of day sleep before it seems. I'd say if she pulls another 2hr nap, do a CN of 15 mins, 1.5hr nap try for 45 mins etc etc. that might keep your day to a reasonable length too and the same A length to the second nap.

It's all just trial and error really to find what works best for your LO. I did sooo much tweaking and mine never has gone with the 'norm'!!

[Coops Mom]

Man -- we are all wonky now! Not sure what happened. I've been away for work and this past week has been a little crazy.

She is 14.5 months now.
We are doing 5 hr A time and she sleeps for 1 hr to 70 min then up. She refuses second nap and we've been doing EBT at 6:45-7pm. She has been waking earlier in the AM -- like 5 or 5:15am now instead of her 6-6:30am that she was doing. I know she has to be tired. Would love any advice! She's getting really hard to put down at night because of OT I assume. She falls asleep very easy for her naps!

[Kellyjs]

Any teething going on hun? EW's for us are normally always teeth now. If the naps are still ok, I would also lean towards teeth being the issue.

I would probably bring BT even earlier though if she waking early to see if she'll catch up. It's quite a long day with only one nap now. Perhaps try 6pm for a. Couple of nights and see how it goes?

[Coops Mom]

Yes I think you are right on teething.

I'll give earlier bedtime a try! Should I continue to push A time out since shes only sleeping 60-70 min?

[Kellyjs]

I think I would keep as is, but perhaps medicate and see if that helps? 5hrs A has been a big jump for her so I think I'd keep it for a couple of extra days with the medication. If she still sleeps for an hr, yep I'd add on another 15mins. Problem is that the more you push that nap,out the longer the day gets iykwim? If she's getting OT from the shorter naps and the EW because of the teething it might make matters worse.

Have you thought about set nap/BT? Especially if the EBT doesn't work for the next couple of days, it might be an idea?  It worked wonders here, even with the EW. I'll be back in a mo to post a link about it.

Set naps for toddlers: Why, How and When