How long did it take you to get a consistent nap after moving to one nap?

[okinawamama]

After doing long am short pm (and then having complete nap refusal after even short am), my 13mo old has finally made the jump to one nap, and all things considered it's going pretty well (we are on week 2 of one nap). I am finding though that the same A time is giving me nap lengths that are all over the board. Yesterday 5hrs A gave me a 2hr nap, the day before it gave me a 1.5hr nap and today a 1.20min nap. Do I continue to tweak the A time, or give it time and see if being consistent will iron some of the bumps out? Do you think that 1.20 is Ot/UT?

 here is our schedule (or at least what I'm shooting for) give or take about 30 min depending on nap length or morning wake time.
A: 6:30
S: 11:30-1:30
S: 6:30ish ( I try and keep the A time at 5hrs from his nap wake time)

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[annette.xx]

hi there

my dd is 14 months and on one nap also for 2 wks and like you varies!!

all I will say is that my A time has varied from 4 hrs 30 to 5 hrs - it depends on the previous nights sleep normally...

are you consistantly getting 12 hr nights? or do you ever get early wakings as a result of shorter nap length?

im really struggling to get it right!! what do you do if the nap is 1 hr 20 - do you still do 5 hrs A time or less?

hopefully we can help each other out as in same position!!...I had same problems as you with the nap refusals- there was just no point continuing with 2 naps - too much headache!!

Annette.xx

[Shiv52]

We got a 1.5 hour nap for about the first 5-6 weeks on moving to one nap and after that it moved to 3 hours!!  Lovely!!!

I was just consistent with the nap time and kept bed in and around the same time and it evened out.  I think DD as so used to wakening at 1.5 hours it just took a while for her to adjust.

[Shiv52]

what do you do if the nap is 1 hr 20 - do you still do 5 hrs A time or less?

I still did 5 hours A time despite shorter nap. 

[annette.xx]

thanks so much shiv - thats so great to get such a simple answer - I think I know what to do now!!

just to clarify - when she had EW you still stuck to a set naptime even if it was say 5.30 am wake and naptime was 12pm - meaning a 6 1/2 hr A time...

ive been messing it up lately as I never knew what to do so I move naptime up to 5 hours from wake time meaning you guessed it earlier nights and eventually earlier starts - so now my day has shifted to even after a good night a 5.30/6am start and with an EW a 4am start!! need to get out of this mess!!

cheers!
Annette.xx

[okinawamama]

I always love to hear other who are going through the same thing.

Shiv: when you were getting the 1.5 hr naps, we're you setting the nap time and going with it regardless of wake up time? What about bed time. Were you sticking with that regardless of the time when your LO woke from a nap? I'd like to just start a set schedule and really try and get his body in a rythm.

Also, am I doing more harm than good letting him fall asleep like I did today. I read somewhere that the reason that their naps begin to lengthen after a while is because their body and brain realize that they get one chance to nap, so it had better be a long one So, am I delaying the lengthening of the naps by allowing him to take a CN even if it is only once in a blue moon(again, this was TOTALLY unexpected)?

Annette:  I too have found that too early to bed can create an even bigger mess, so 6:30 is really is as early as I'm willing to go with bed time.  Today since he took a 20min Cn he'll be going to bed closer to 7, which is the bed time (and wake time) I'd really like to get to.

It seems when he takes two naps, he only sleeps 11ish hours. But on one nap days, he's been sleeping around 11.5-12hrs at night.  

[Shiv52]

I did a CN maybe 4/5 times in the first 4/5 weeks when she was really tired and just to keep OT at bay and it didn't seem to effect things too much so I think its fine!

And yes, I looked at it like I did when I started a routine.  The way it is recommended you just stick to your schedule and extend the A time by doing headstands etc to help their body clocks adjusted and knew it would take a bit longer as she was older and a lot more going on.

Our routine is:

8am  Wake
1pm Nap (-2.30pm originally and then 3.45-4pm when it lengthened)
8.30/8.45pm Bed

I tended to stick to nap and bedtimes regardless of wake up and nap length for a few weeks.  Early bedtimes cause early wake ups here though so it was best to do it that way for us.  I think it would have stopped her getting into a good routine if I had have started to mess about with A times and bedtimes as well as push one nap IYSWIM? 

If things hadn't have evened out in a few weeks I would have looked at it but I gave it those few weeks.  Its a nightmare when you are in it but SO worth it when you get that longer nap.  Have had to cut ours back to 2 hours and I was not impressed but at least I got 9 months of a lovely long nap!!!

I'd like to just start a set schedule and really try and get his body in a rythm.

This sums up what we did!

Hope it doesn't take too long for both your LOs to get with one nap and you get a lovely long break!

[Tweakster]

We were getting 2.5-3 hr naps when he first jumped at 11.5 mths...but now alas at 13 mths 1.5 is a good nap, sometimes he does 2 on the weekends...  I knew that would happen lol

Also our nights didn't get longer...didn't think they would either.

My little low sleep needs monkey.

[Shiv52]

We were getting 2.5-3 hr naps when he first jumped at 11.5 mths...but now alas at 13 mths 1.5 is a good nap, sometimes he does 2 on the weekends...  I knew that would happen lol

Also our nights didn't get longer...didn't think they would either.

My little low sleep needs monkey.

He's a rascal boy!  My DD seems to love her sleep even more since one nap!  Just like her mummy!  If this next one is low sleep needs I don't know what I'll do!

[Nauvoo]

We have been on 1 nap for about 1.5 - 2months and at first we were getting naps all over the place, some long some short and then my LO started taking 1hr20min naps on the dot for about 2 weeks in a row.  So I increased the A time by 15min and within days she was taking a consistent 2 hour nap (sooooo jealous of those who get a 3hr nap but that would KILL our nights over here).  So I'd say it took about a 4-5 weeks for use to get to a consistent nap length which is around 2 hours and very unusually less but sometimes a bit more like around 2hrs 15min seems to be common.  So just keep with the same A time and your LO will get it worked out very soon.

[gavinsmum1]

I'm going to stick a post in here with you ladies and pop in periodically because we've just transitioned to one nap a few weeks ago and I'm having some headaches with it, although it was going smoothly for a few weeks.  Now I think teething is the culprit for our nap issues, but it's nice to see what other moms with babes around the same age are doing with set bedtimes and naptimes as I think that is the way to go!

[aimeeL]

Yes, yes, yes - sign me up!  I'm in the same situation, too..!  Great 2+ hr naps the first wk (we're on wk 5, I think) - and chaos since then.. Our avg seems to be about 1.5-1.75 hrs these days.. am hoping it settles down and becomes a more consistent 2+ hrs again!

I'd thought a common "theory" was to alternate 2 naps with 1 nap days.. but I'm feeling more heartened to hear there are a lot - like you! - who have just pushed on and kept same A times and such..

[gavinsmum1]

With my first, I rarely did two naps.  I just felt I'd stick to the words in Tracy's book and keep on truckin' with that one nap.  It absolutely did wonders for DS#1.  His nap went from 1.5 hours to 2 hours and stayed that way for a good long while.  I just kept it consistent!!  It paid off, so why is it even a question to do the same with #2???

[okinawamama]

They say to alternate one and two nap days, but how the heck do you do that when you get nap refusal after even short am? It sounded so easy, I thought we' just alternate every other day, one nap then two, and then every third day and so on.....ha...ha ha. My kid did not buy it. So we pushed to one nap Glad to hear that some ofyou ladies are in the same boat, and really glad to hear from  you ladies who are on the other side of the transition.

It sounds like consistency is the key! I'll let you know how we get on. Look forward to hearing other success stories

[Shiv52]

I'd thought a common "theory" was to alternate 2 naps with 1 nap days

Alot of people do this as they feel it helps prevent OT.  When I dropped the CN and moved to 2 naps I did a lot of messing around with A times and early bed if naps weren't long enough and adjusting nap times if we'd an EW and to be perfectly honest it was a nightmare.  It took ages to get into a consistent routine and it only clicked into place when I set nap times then too. 

Every little one is different but my LO definately responded better to switching the routine and sticking with it for a few weeks to help her adjust to the new A times etc and then it fell into place.  I think by messing with her A times and early beds when I switched to 2 naps I wasn't giving her a chance to adapt and get used to the new system and her body clock was all confused. 

{{{hugs to everyone}}} It does get better xx