15 month old with nap issues?

[becky1969]

You got it! Early to bed.  There's just going to be days like this, honey.  That 11:45 was probably a tad too late -- 7:15 he would have probably been more comfortable at 11:15-11:30.  He's just a slooooow stretecher, I think!  Have you tried extending his nap when he wakes before 2 hours, BTW?

[Evilmena]

So I should stick with 4 hours A time?  He ended up sleeping 1.5 hours which is okay but should have been longer...you think going down earlier would have made a difference in a good way?

I put him to bed at 6:20pm (we got home a little late - I'll blame my hubby because I was on him the whole time that we had to leave!!  ).  He's chatting lightly, hopefully he'll fall asleep soon.

As for trying to extend, I don't think it would work...in what way do you mean, rousing him at a certain point?  There's nothing that settles him, he was never great at the extending.  And now that's he's mister sociable as soon as he sees anyone in his room it's over.  I can't even go in there at night to check on him anymore, he's mister independent and that's the only way he'll sleep - hence why we've had to get a vacation place with his own room!

[becky1969]

If he slept 1.5 hours, that's a decent nap! When my son first moved to 1 nap, we were at 1.5 hours for a good while -- a month or more? Then he slowly moved to 2 hours, and now at age 3 he easily sleeps 2.5-3 hours.  But when we first switched to 1 nap we considered 1.5 hours a good nap.


I think if he's taking a good 1.5 hour nap at that A time, then you're fine! In fact, you could even try stretching it a little more so that wake up would be a bit later in the day, allowing for a slightly later bedtime.  It's experimentation time.  But gosh, I'd be really tempted to try 1 naps most days.

[Evilmena]

I would have liked to stretch him a bit more but was afraid of OT especially when he fell asleep close to 9pm last night and then woke up just after 7am.  If he had had a better night I might have considered it.

He's done 4.5 hours A time so I know he can do it.  I was actually surprised it was 1.5 hours...I figured it would either be over 2 hours or only 1 hour so I was pleased.

[Evilmena]

Okay so he awoke at 7:20pm - small victories!

I put him down at noon - as you said to stretch him out and he's now awake - 1 hour and 20 minutes later.  Guess it's another early bedtime!  Hopefully as you say this nap will just get more and more long on its own.

[becky1969]

Yes, I'd say try to be very consistent with that nap time and I think it will lengthen on it's own.  It's hard when it's less than 2 hours b/c you feel tempted to either a) monkey with nap time, or b) give 2nd nap.  But I think at this stage of the game you're doing the right thing to stretch him a teensy bit and also keep him on 1 nap.

You're almost there! I think next week this time you'll be pleased with your routine!

[speechie]

Sounds like you're making good progress!
FWIW, my LO takes a 2 hour nap and does 11 hours a night max. Happy LO, and it took ages for him to settle into one nap! They all are soooo different, but the 2-1 nap switch is tiring!

[Evilmena]

Thanks for the encouragement ladies!

Last night he was in bed by 6:30pm and chatted a bit before falling asleep.  This morning I heard him chirp at 5:45am and he instantly fell back asleep, then I heard him at 6:15am a little more but then nothing until 7:50am.

We were out this morning so I put him down at 12:30pm (was aiming for 12pm but we didn't make it in time).  We'll see how this goes but I only intend on doing the one nap today as well.

[speechie]

WOW! What an awesome night sleep that was! Wish I'd get that here! LOL! Fingers crossed for a good day!

[Evilmena]

I certainly can't complain about night sleep!!  He's usually be great at night - it's daytime we've never really been great at!

Okay, so he just woke up - 1 hour and 45 minutes...after 4.5 hours A time this morning.  Not bad eh?

Can bedtime be normal tonight?  7pm??

[speechie]

GIve it a go- if he looks tired before, do an earlier bedtime- just keep an eye on sleep cues/mood, and let that guide  you- nice progress!

[becky1969]

Yay!!! I think stick with this for another week and you can consider yourself in solid 1 nap land! Might be a regression here and there, but I think he's mostly ready! My son made the transition at 4.5 hours A time too. WTG!

[Evilmena]

Thanks ladies!!

Well, after waking at 2:15pm I decided to put him to bed at 7pm.  He has chatted on and off until close to 8pm...scratch that, I just heard him again...hmmm, is this because he woke up close to 8am this morning?  Again, at least he's happy just chatting and resting!  Hopefully it doesn't get him OT though, I know he's done 5 hours A time plenty before bed and hardly ever had issues so I don't think it's OT.  Crossing my fingers no EW tomorrow!

Now, to get mom to stick with the program this week - so glad for the long weekend here so that I could get a better handle on things myself.

[Evilmena]

Okay, I went back and reread the recent posts because I'm not sure how to proceed...you'd think I would after all this time!

He didn't fall asleep until just after 8pm - I'm surprised the fireworks going off in our neighbour's yard didn't wake him.  He woke up just after 6am this morning...so should I just have mom put him down at 10am and wake him after 30 minutes and then put him down at 3 hours A time after that (depends on when he falls asleep?)  Or should I try to push this AM nap...I think the longer we push the harder he may fight the pm nap so would it make sense to try it earlier and then give him a shorter A time afterwards for a hopefully longer pm nap?

I was really hoping we could push the consistency of 1 nap this week as you both had said!  Grrrr.

[jrmommyx2]

I had to hop on here... I feel like I am kind of in the same boat. You guys have done a really good job of figuring things out and sticking with it! This is my situation: I have 14 (will be tomorrow) month old b/g twins. Both are awesome day and night sleepers ( since about 3.5 months). I thought that ds might have been starting the 2-1 switch around 11 months, but then things went back to the way they were. This is their schedule as of now-

7/7:30 -wake up
10-11:30 or 12:00- nap
2:30(sometimes 3 if they sleep until 12 in the am)- wake them by 4 if not up- nap
7-bedtime

I know they are not doing nearly as much A time as they should at this age, but things have been going pretty smoothly and I have been taking a "if it ain't broke don't fix it" attitude! This is where the change comes in. For the past few nights ds has gone to bed at normal time (7- after about3 hr of A time) and he has been "playing" for over and hour!! I feel like he is finally able to make a long stretch without turning into a monster, but it is at a terrible time!! DD on the other had is holding her own, as usual! This is hard enough with one baby, two is crazy! I really want to keep them on the same schedule and I am not opposed to going to one nap- But honestly, stretching them in the am is a real struggle. Suggestions would be greatly appreciated. DH and I are going away for 5 days without them (for the first time)- It is going to be a major change, especially since even though they will take sippy's of milk, I am still bfing them when they get up in the am and before bed- I am hoping to keep things as is until we get back- Do you think that is going to make it worse?