Adjusting Routine for 2-1 nap Switch - 17 mos old - Any suggestions?

[ccg01]

Our son is 17 months old and has skipped several naps (afternoon one) over the last few weeks. Very unusual for him. (He loves his sleep!) He doesn't seem upset, just talks, then is quiet, than talks again. Today he took an extra 40 minutes to fall asleep for his morning nap, AND then skipped the afternoon one, which makes us think he may just be ready for the switch. Wondering how to move from our routine (below) to the one nap? He is sleeping through the night, blissfully. 

6:30 - awake (we wake him if he's not up, sometimes he's up as early as 6, but that tends to be teething or diaper related)
7:30 - breakfast

playtime is at home or sometimes errands part of the time
9:50 - up for nap, usually asleep shortly thereafter or by 10 - naptime is 1 hour 15 minutes (wake him up if still sleeping)

11:15 (approx) - awake
12:30 or so lunch
playtime, usually at home
2:50 - up for nap, used to fall asleep by 3:00 - 3:10 or so at the latest
4:30 - wake him up (don't let him sleep more than 1 hr 30 minutes)

6:45 start bedtime routine (bit earlier today)
7:15 to 7:30 (depending on how long he takes to wind down) - asleep

Any advice would be appreciated! I should also mention we've recently moved, but he seems to have adjusted quite well (just woke up a bit early day 1 we were here).

[MommaHolmes]

There are a couple of really good posts on the Naps FAQ board here - check the one about 10/11 month old sleep (I know your LO is a lot older but it's still relevant) and the specific 2-1 thread.
Also on the Naps board there is a support thread for people going through the 2-1 switch so have a chat to the other parents on there too.

HTH
Laura.

[lin7604]

we have had to do the switch in the past week.  so far it's going well.  he used to naps  at 10 and 3pm daily each for about 1 hr 1 min to 1 hr 30 min.  we just pushed his am nap back a bit until he shows way more tired signs, we started at 11am and each day we are able to push it back a bit more.  Then we put him to bed early.  sometimes by 6:30.  his nap times arn't consistant yet, they vary from around 1hr to 2hrs.  so hopefully once he adjusts they will be 2 hrs and from 12-2 daily.  today was a great day for nap and now he will be able to stay up at least till 7pm!!!  maybe 7:30?

[ccg01]

Thanks! I've scanned through some of the posts, still a bit confused after reading the BWSAYP about the transition -- we're working on shifting his morning nap (which truly is always his favorite one) closer to noon (which will take a while), but do we still offer the afternoon nap? Do we shorten the morning one? Yesterday, we let him sleep 2 hrs for his morning (started at 10:30) but he was a nightmare w/no nap prior to bedtime. Today, we woke him from the morning at 1 hr 15 minutes and he has gone done for his first afternoon nap in a long time. We're confused as to what to do w/that afternoon nap! Glad to hear it is a process and that we are not alone... 

[MommaHolmes]

I don't actually think BWSAYP is all that helpful on this - Tracey doesn't really flesh out how it's supposed to work. The posts that I suggested before have got MUCH more detailed advice.

Basically you either a) push the morning nap closer to noon, keep offering a pm catnap as long as your LO will take it and if they won't take a catnap, put them to bed REALLY early or
b) shorten the morning nap and bring the pm nap closer to the middle of the day.

I'd really urge you to read those posts in detail and have a look at the 2-1 support thread on the Naps board cos there's just loads of info there and things can go very wonky very quickly so it's good to know what can go wrong so that you can spot it before you have a real problem on your hands.

HTH
Laura x

[Layla]

Perhaps if the morning nap is his best & you're not comfortable with shortening it, push it towards noon so that he is not awake for too long in the pm (add 10-15mins every couple of days to avoid overtiredness).

In the meantime though, as you are pushing the morning nap out I would suggest an earlier bedtime (if the catnap is a no-no) so rather than put him down at his normal bedtime (7.30pm), put him down at 6pm & as you are pushing out the nap, you can extend bedtime too. Don't be afraid of him starting the day at 5am . With us during the 2-1 swtich, the earlier bedtime helped alot with overtiredness & him being a bear to put down at night would have probably been due to overtirednes

Eventually you want something like this:

6.30 - wakes
11.30-1.30 - nap (this will BE the afternoon nap, the ONLY nap he is taking)
6.30pm - bedtime

hth a little
Layla

[ccg01]

Thank you! I think we'll try pushing the morning nap a bit later gradually and lengthening it... on a very tired day, he may even catnap, I am thinking... it seems lately he's alternating one day of two naps and then one where he refuses the pm. That makes me think on the days he refuses the second nap, he's not as tired, then the next day he is (because he skipped a nap the prior day). Does that make any sense? So we might be able to get a catnap in on tired days until the long nap sets itself into the pattern more consistently... we can hope!?!

[Layla]

That makes perfect sense & thats exactly what happened with us & happens with alot of other babies/toddlers who are in the middle of a transition

You let him take 1 nap and then the next few days he might want 2 & then he'll want 1 & then eventually you'll see that he might be ok on 1 nap for 3 or 4 days in a row & then he might want a catch up 2 day nap!

 

[lin7604]

i gave my ds a 2nd np yesterday as he woke up too early from his 1st nap and not long enough.  boy did it back fire!!!!  1st we though well since he had a second nap we will go out to dinner since he will be up later then 6:30.  well he was wired at dinner, being loud, etc  then we got home and i got him ready for bed ( sleeping fopr 8:30) and he fussed at 3am and was up at 6am kicking his crib!!!!  sheesh it was way worse giving him that second nap, next time it will bed at 6 and no more going out to dinner for the next few months i guess.....

[jess, lukeys_mom]

just marking to eavesdrop... my ds doing similar things so curious to see how you get on

[ccg01]

Update... yesterday he slept for 2 1/2 hrs (from about 10:20-12:50, had to wake him then). He seemed to do pretty well until bedtime (maybe just a bit cranky the last 10 minutes or so), we started his bath at 6:30 and he was asleep shortly after 7:00. We woke him at 6:30 and he was actually still very sleepy... clung to us which is a bit unusual (he usually shakes off the groggies and is ready to play). But was fine after about 5 minutes of waking up time.

Today, he started his nap at 10:30 and is still asleep. We'll see how today goes from here!

[Layla]

Sounds great! Don't be afraid of putting him down earlier for the night... he will more than likely sleep until his normal wake up time. So in our case if mine woke up at 1pm, I would have done in bed by 6.30pm (hopefully asleep )

Good luck!

[ccg01]

It does seem he is enjoying the longer nap during the day... today he woke after 2 hrs and 30 minutes! He did wake a bit early (as in we didn't wake him, he woke at 6:10, but was cheerful) this morning after sleeping at 7 last night. We are definitely keeping an eye on how tired he seems and are going up earlier for bath, etc. if he's tired. For some reason, he's always done better staying awake in the afternoons than in the mornings. How are your LOs doing w/the switch this week?