Support Thread for 2 to 1 nap transition cont.

[alethiaperry]

Hello- time to jump aboard this thread too!  Although we're not experiencing any troubles in the past month, I like to keep an eye on the  advice and experiences of those who go before us on this transition.

nauvoo06- glad the new routine is working out for you.  I works brilliantly for us too, with no more pm fights like we used to a few months back. 

[Nauvoo]

Leath, best advice I've gotten in a long time and thanks again.  I noticed that your birthday and marriage trackers are very much the same as my life.  I got married almost 3 years 6 months ago and we both have a kid who's just turned/turning 1.  all I have to say is congrats on the pregnancy and I won't be keeping up in that area.  Love the pics!  Cute family.

[JaspersMum]

We've been there Jo.  DS was doing 1.5 - 2 hours in the am, and a short cn around 4/4.30 and he would be miserable afterwards, plus it was cutting into dinner time, so we switched to short am/long pm (started off with 45 minutes, then cut down to 30 after a few weeks).  He was very cranky for about a week, with me waking him, but then settled in to it.  It helped on the days we had that catnap in the car.

Most mums will say that if your LO can do 4.5 hours A time in the morning, then you are safe to jump to one nap.  That is of course with a few alternate two nap days.  That's what we did.  And lots of early beds to counteract OT.

[Flightmommy]

Hi Ladies!!
  Just a quick question as i'm not really a member yet..lol, DS turns 1 in a week, so i'll be over for good very soon...but in the meantime, for those who have been there already, if you're on the long am/short pm program and they start to refuse the pm catnap, or just play so much in the crib that it's getting later and later, would you say it's time to do the switch to the one nap?
  I"m just so afraid of switching too early and then having a real OT mess to clean up...on a sidenote, i've tried a few days here and there with just the one nap (over the last couple of weeks) and the day itself worked great, but then during the following days, we get some side effects such as EW's and super long crib parties in the middle of the night...ughh!!
  Thanks for you advice and looking forward to joining you soon!!

[*Jo*]

well seems we are back on track, had our 1.5 hour AM nap and 30min PM nap again yesterday thank goodness, i think it was just a glitch for us those few days (im hoping so anyway!!)

Flightmommy, im not sure what to do when we get to that situation yet either, im dreading it, this is where having already been on the short AM/long PM would be really handy but seems our Calebs dont like that routine

[Nauvoo]

My LO just turned 1 yr old this week and about 1 1/2 ago we switched from two 1 hour naps to a short (30 min) am nap and a long pm nap.  When we first switched her pm naps were 1.5 hours long which was great.  In the past we have had problems getting more than 1 hour naps (hence the 2 1 hour nap routine).  As of about 5 days ago she has been doing 1 hour 15 min naps in the pm.  Is this a good thing and I shouldn't be worried about the long nap of the day only being 75 mins long or does this mean her routine needs to be adjusted a bit.
Our routine goes as follows:
wake 6:30am
nap #1 9:30am-10:00am
nap #2 1:30pm-2:45pm
bed (usually asleep by) 7:00pm

Some days she wakes at 7:30am and some days at 6:00am.  I've noticed if she goes down later at say 8:00pm she wakes earlier at 6am even with a day Identical to the one before where she went to  bed at 7pm and woke at 7:30 am.  We get great nights and she usually averages 11.5 hours - 12 hours.
So should I just go with how things are or do you think I could get a longer pm nap?

[JaspersMum]

Nauvoo06, I would push out your first A time to make her more tired in the pm and take a longer pm nap.  Like this:

Wake
3.25 hours A time (gradually build it up to 4 hours)
30 minute nap
3.5 hours A time
1.5 hour nap (hopefully!)
3.5 hours A time
bed

Part of the transition is always extending out your LO's first A time.

[Nauvoo]

Ahhh, got it.  Will do tomorrow.  Thanks Jaspersmum.  I hope I don't sound totally ignorant but once the first A time reaches 4 hours will the rest of the day be adjusted also and how?  And should I just go straight to 4 hours gradually over about a couple of weeks?  She was doing about 4.25 hours A time in the morning when we were doing 2 1hr naps.

[*Jo*]

ugh well we jhave had a right royal mess of a day, he went 5 hours this morning (due to church) then slept 25mins in the car on the way home, usually we just transfer him to his cot fine but if its after the first 20mins of sleep he wakes up so he woke up and refused to sleep for the rest of the day! its early bedtime tonight.

What i have been finding is that ANY change to his morning nap at all means the rest of the day is screwed up, for some reason he refuses to sleep again if he hasnt had a 1.5 hour nap. He woke up at 1 hour the other day screaming (then found a welt on his arm so figured he was bitten by a spider or something) then we couldnt get him to take an afternoon nap no matter what time we tried. He has to have that 1.5 hour nap in the morning and then his 30min CN in the afternoon at 4.30pm. why is this happeneing? He should still be able to take another nap if he has a shorter nap but he just wont! so far this has happened every single day except the days he takes that 1.5 hour nap

[*Jo*]

actualy i forgot to mention that after a 5 hour A time (he usually only does 4 hours) and then his 25min nap we put him down 2 hours later and he talked, babbled, played in his cot for 45mins-1 hour!!! he didnt cry once, he just played! so we just got him up. how could he not be tired after all that!!!

i do feel like Im going out of my mind when this happens

[greenteamomma]

Most mums will say that if your LO can do 4.5 hours A time in the morning, then you are safe to jump to one nap.  That is of course with a few alternate two nap days.

I have been lurking but not posting much as I have an active post about short nights, EW, NW and wonky naps going!  About the 4.5 hrs of A in the am...have alot of moms had success with this as he can do 4.5 even though I know he could also do 4.  we are struggling with what to do with our day as he is EW no matter what and won't have a long pm nap, takes a 20 min nap after 4 hrs of A time etc.  Any one else have experience with this theory?  WE are really struggling here, really really.  Not to say you all aren't but I'm at my wits end...Love the bubs but not his sleeping habits!

[JaspersMum]

Nauvoo06, I would add 15 minutes A time perhaps every 3-4 days.  Yes, the rest of the day will have to be adjusted accordingly, but I would keep a close eye on that middle A time and not extend that at the same rate you extend the first A time.  A 4 hour A time the morning would look like this for example:

wake 6.30am
Nap 10.30 - 11
Nap 2.30 - 4
Bed 7.30

If you don't want to extend bedtime out (which would inevitably happen when that first A time creeps to 4.5) you could cut back the morning nap to 20 minutes or swap around and do long am/short pm.

Calebsmummy and Greenteamomma, sounds like its time to test out one nap!!  Your posts sounds very familiar to me!

[greenteamomma]

i do feel like Im going out of my mind when this happens

me too!

Calebsmummy and Greenteamomma, sounds like its time to test out one nap!!  Your posts sounds very familiar to me!

he is just so OT and waking so early...I'd have to put him down for the night at like 4pm!!!

Tomorrow, even thought he is OT I will push his morning A time to 4.25. He's done it before but I think the problem that got us in this mess is having a long am A time and a long pm a time.  We will push the first short nap to try to get back to a descent bedtime....no more 6 pm to catch up, just doesn't work and his wake ups are not EW anymore!

[greenteamomma]

He slept 11+ hrs though he woke at 5:20.  Can't ask for too much.  Didn't sleep in the morningat his first day of daycare....but what do you expect, so much to see and look at.  I took him home and put him down at 11:30.  Fingers crossed for a long nap!  I was planning on a 20 min nap so I will try that tomorrow.  Don't want to push too much too quick right?

How is everyone else doing?

[*Jo*]

ugh, we have been up since 5.40am, havent had a wake up like that (9.5 hour night) in awhile, usually its 7am but he had lots of wind passing through so we can imagine it was an upset tummy.

I dont want to do 1 nap yet, i dont think he is ready for it, I think it was just circumstances that produced that horrid day on Sunday and now we are just still cleaning it up....