Did you try to go to one nap and abandon it?

[cjwagner77]

I am thinking we need to abandon going to one nap.  Three weeks ago, Katy seemed to be pushing her naps off by herself and often would talk for 30-45 minutes before going to sleep for both naps.  So that combined with our schedule next week, we decided to start transitioning to one nap.  All was going well until this week.  We had gotten to where she would take a nap about 11:30-12:00 and then again about 4.  This was great.  But this week is awful!!!  She won't take the second nap at four but is fussy as can be about 3:30-4.  If I lay her down, she just cries.  Last night and this morning has been horrible.  She fusses no matter what we do unless we are shopping or going for a walk.

I put her down for a nap this morning to do two naps.  We'll see if that helps.  I think it is a double whammy of teething and is now a little overtired.  I would like to get her rested up since we are having a birthday party for her this weekend with lots of out of town guests.

My dilema is that four days a week she will not be taking a nap until noon.  She will be in the Day Out program or in the nursery during church and Bible study.  So I guess I should do two naps those other three days until she doesn't take them anymore? 

How long did it take for your los to transition?  I have heard that the first couple of weeks can be awful.  I don't know that I want to deal with the fussies.  I am thinking now of just dealing with the fussies those four days when I have to.

Crystal

[elfin]

The transition to one nap is a day to day thing.  It took us a few weeks before we settled into one nap.  Some days he took 2 and then some days just one, it all depended on him and what he needed that day.  Just follow her lead and she will get there eventually.

Carrie

[tylersmommy]

We took the cold turkey approach when we transitioned Tyler (he was about Katy's age). It wasn't necessarily by choice...2 days in a row, he opted to skip his AM nap, so on the 3rd day, I just didn't bother trying. We went straight to his new naptime of 1. The first week or so was ugly (he literally fell asleep at lunch with broccoli in his mouth one day :lol: ), but his body adjusted. In retrospect, I'm glad we just went for it. I know Tracy advocates the gradual approach, but Tyler generally doesn't get too crabby when he's overtired, so it worked out better for us that way. If there will be 4 days a week that she can't nap until 12, and you think she's ready to transition to 1 nap, you might consider just going for it. I think that going back and forth might prolong the process and be confusing. Good luck!

[Stacie:Emma&Josh Mom]

We too went somewhat cold turkey but were doing about a noonish nap at the time.  We would just go run errands late morning and be sure not to be in the car when she usually fell asleep for the first nap and do everything possible to keep her awake on the way home, then get home and do lunch, and then off to nap.  I had to do this every day for atleast a week or she'd just get impossible at home.  I also would do her mid-morning snack right when naptime used to be and that'd usually give her a boost of energy instead of her getting drowsy.  She would get cranky from time to time after we stopped running errands every morning, but she soon adjusted and then we slowly moved it back to a 1 pm nap which is where we wanted it to end up.  I too thinking going back and forth might confuse her, but she might adjust it herself when she starts having those other days of a noon nap.  She might start doing that at home as well.  Good luck!

[sacmommy]

I think it does somewhat depend on the child, but my dd clearly needed to go to 1 nap about 13 months of age; I just had to work way too hard to get the 2 naps, and many days she was taking 2 1/2 hr naps in the morning, which wiped out the afternoon nap but made her really tired in the later afternoon. If you have to work at it for 2 naps, I would definitely recommend going to 1 nap.

I think it took about 2 weeks for my dd to settle into 2 naps; mostly related to the length. I worried the first several days because she was taking 60 - 90 minutes naps, which was the same amount of time as 1 nap previously, when she was taking 2 naps. However, by about 2 weeks into the transition, she started taking those 2 hr - 3 hr naps, which are so fabulous!

Good luck!