Signs that it's time for a 2-1 nap transition?

[coopers_mommy]

About a month ago I misread the signs that DS was ready to transition from 2 to 1 nap.  We went through a week of horrible nights and naps due to overtiredness. 

Well today DS had a GREAT morning nap (about an hour and 15 minutes), so we went out and played and had a great 3 hours of A time.  Normally this is when he is tired and ready for another nap.  He seemed sleepy as we got him ready for his nap, but then wouldn't go to sleep.  After trying about an hour and a half of getting him to sleep (he mostly laid in there and played, talked, and laughed to himself!) I got him up.  Needless to say it's going to be an early bed time tonight to avoid too much OTness....

What signs can I watch for to see if he's ready for the 2-1 nap transition?  I REALLY want to keep him on 2 naps, but I don't want to keep having days like today.  HELP!

[*Natasha*]

How old is he?
Yo may want to limit the morning nap so you get a nice afternoon nap.
Perhaps post your routine for us.

[coopers_mommy]

Hi Natasha,

DS is 14 months old.

His normal day looks like this:

Wake 6 - 6:30 (milk)
E - 7
A- till about 8 or 8:30 (he's a spirited kid, so normally he's ready for be at earlier!)
S - till about 9:30 ish (normally between 45 minutes and an hour)
E - snack
A & Lunch - till about 12 or 12:30 (depending on what type of activity we have done)
S - 12:30 till about 1 (this nap is normally an hour for sure)
E - snack
A - Till 4
E - Dinner betwen 4 and 5
Bath around 5:30
In Bed asleep no later than 6

On days like today where there was no second nap or an early waking from a nap, he's in bed for the night between 5 and 5:30 to combat the OTness. 

Also last night he woke up around 4 and DH had to pat him back to sleep.  So I wonder if he was just so over tired that I over estimated the power of the first nap?  Maybe he was more tired than I thought? 

Like I said a month ago we went through this and I assumed that he just wanted one nap.  But I felt that he was still too young. We tried it and it caused great craziness!  He would be up in the middle of the night for 3 hours and then be super tired and cranky all day. 

Before al of this, he has always been a GREAT napper and night sleeper.  Any suggestions on how to keep 2 naps for as long as I can?

[marensmama]

I'm going to move this to the toddler sleep board since your DS is over 12 months old.  There's also some good info on the 2-1 transition here: https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=41952.0

[impish07]

Coopers Mommy,
Not sure you can avoid the transition so to speak! It sounds like he might be ready to transition. If you want to stick with two naps, you could try limiting the morning nap to 45 min. and maybe putting some more A time in before the second nap to make him more tired? Beware EWs though. If that starts to happen you might be forced to switch.  Basically my 13 month old dd started the same deal and we did the switch.

Good luck!

[coopers_mommy]

So here's a new question regarding this.  Would you consider the fact that DS talks and plays in his crib for about 30 minutes before finally falling asleep UTness?  Maybe I am still thinking that he is ready to fall asleep early for his morning nap thus making him really not fall asleep until later?

[KathyM]

My dd is the same age and I'm also trying to keep her on 2 naps for as long as I can. I tried 1 nap a couple weeks ago because I thought she was ready, but after 3 days of it, she was a mess of OT. Here's her schedule:

She wakes for the day between 6:30-7am, 1st nap at 10am, 2nd nap at 3pm and bed between 7:30-8pm.

I don't let her sleep past 4:30pm for her 2nd nap, and she usually sleeps 1.5 hours in the AM and an hour in the PM. She's also getting less sleep than your little guy at night. I pushed her 1st nap back by half an hour a couple of weeks ago because she was resisting it so much. Now, she goes down like a charm.

You could try stretching out his awake time between sleep times where you can and put him to bed later if he will do that. Hoping any of this helps...take what applies to you and your lo...I certainly know where you are coming from. The transition for my ds was a piece of cake....my dd seems to be taking her time, but it'll all work out in the end.

[coopers_mommy]

YIPPEE....I wanted to update ya'll on today's progress.  DS took a wonderful am nap after talking for about 20 minutes or so in his crib.  I thought it might be a sign of UTness, but when I changed his diaper I realized it was because he had left a mess in it! 

We have had an active day with going to a playdate with some older kiddos so he ran and played.  We came home and instead of me going straight for nap time like I used to, I decided to see how DS would do with 3.5 hours of A time.  He seems to have done MUCH better.  He's taking a later nap, but truely this used to be his normal nap time before all the changes began.  Hopefully it will be a good hour nap and then he can play and have fun before we get ready for bed!

KathyM, has your DD always gone to sleep around 7:30?  I would love to push back DS's bedtime....but I'm SO affraid that he will become OT.

[KathyM]

Yep, dd has always gone to sleep around 7:30, unless a particularly bad nap day. I used to try to get her in bed sooner, but it's hard with ds too...so she has adapted to this routine. My ds was more sensitive to getting OT, or maybe I just worried about it more...either way, my dd is pretty adaptable.

[coopers_mommy]

errrr....we had a GREAT day yesterday with naps.  I lenghtened DS's A time and it was a wonderful day.  BUT TODAY is another story.  He again did a great morning nap (1 hour) but now won't take his second nap.  Is it possible to be doing a 2 nap day and then a 1 nap day the next day with an early bedtime?  Should I just go ahead and start dealing with 1 nap a day with an early bedtime for a few weeks? 

[KathyM]

We've been going back and forth for a couple weeks now. She's mostly still 2 naps a day, but throws in a 1 nap day here and there. She usually can't do 1 nap on back to back days. It 's a pain trying to plan things, but whatcha gonna do...

[coopers_mommy]

Thanks...I think we're going to be doing the back and forth thing with 1-2 naps for a few weeks too....YIPPEE