how early to bed tonight?

[Alison_3]

Okay Charlie is definitely in the 2-1 trasition phase and it's brutal.  He napped this morning from 10:00-11:15 and would NOT go in for an afternoon nap at all.  We're going to go for a walk soon and I highly doubt he will fall asleep, so how early would you put him to bed? 

We're having all sorts of NWings too, but that's a completely different issue.   

TIA

[Mama2boys]

Hi Alison,

Not completely sure how early you should put him into bed, but I would say at least an hour earlier. to allow DS to make up for the lack of enough daytime sleep. I am guessing normally with 2 naps DS was probably sleeping 2-2.5hrs..so maybe an hour earlier will help.

I am no expert but I am sure someone who is more aware of what to do will write soon.

HTH
Mukta

[Alison_3]

Thanks.  I was thinking 6:00 and that is an hour before bedtime.   Right now is looking pretty good for bedtime though, he's miserable.   

[becky1969]

Good luck with that! We had an awful 2-1 transition, too.  NWs were a huge part of that transition.  If it makes you feel better, our NWs disappeared after a month of being firmly on 1 nap, and haven't reappeared since then (maybe once a month he might have a brief waking).

The technique that seems to work best during the 2-1 transition is to limit the AM nap to no more than an hour at first so that you can still get that PM nap in, if it's still needed.  As you're finding, more than an hour and your child isn't tired enough for a PM nap.  You may even need to shorten the AM nap to 45 minutes or 30 minutes to get a proper rest in the PM.  You'll slowly move the AM nap later, until you have a nap somewhere between 11 am and 12 pm, and then you just stick to one long nap in the PM.  Bedtime might be super early for awhile (it was 5:30 for Owen for a few days!), but awake time will slowly lengthen until bedtime is moved back to a more normal 7/7:30.

I hated the idea of waking Owen from a nap, but the advice given my other BWs to do the above was the best advice EVER! It took us into at least a more predictable phase rather than the crazies we were going thru before I shortened the nap!

Good luck! This is SUCH a tough period, but on the other side is blissful 1 nap land! 

[becky1969]

Sorry for that reply -- just realizing that you've done all this before! So just ignore all the advice that you already knew! 

[Alison_3]

No- don't apologize!  Just because I did it before doesn't mean I remember!     In fact, I can't remember when DS1 transitioned to one nap, I'm just glad he's still taking one at 3.5 years old.   

I'll try to shorten the a.m. nap.  DS1 has preschool two days a week from 9:30-noon so this is going to be tricky. 

Thanks!!

[becky1969]

you just made my day, saying 3.5 yo is still taking nap! I get scared, seeing all the 2 year olds dropping theirs.  I sure do love me some nap time! 

You may have to alternate 2 and 1 nap days.  We had to do that too for awhile.  But on 2 nap days, a short AM nap will help tons keeping the PM nap grumpy-free. 

[Lilah'sMommy]

I have another 3.5 year old who still takes naps... she doesn't sleep every day anymore, but if as long as we persist with a 45-minute quiet time, she always goes back to napping.  It is getting more inconsistent lately, so I'm sure naps are on their way out, but quiet time is here until she goes to school all day!

Alison, we're sort of in the 2-1 transition now too; it totally depends on her night sleep.  Last night Iris slept 12 hours (8-8) with 1 night waking (that 5:30 one, so I nursed her and it was brief), so there was no way we'd fit in a morning nap before having to get Lilah at 12:30.  So I put her down at 1-- we'll see how it goes.  I hope she sleeps at least 2 hours.  But then sometimes she sleeps from 8-6:30 and spent an hour or more up in the middle of the night, so we definitely get two naps in that day.