Support Thread for 2-1 Nap Transition cont'd pt 3

[inoella]

lokloktang - how old is your lo? how long is the nap? what made you go to one nap?  Ella never did STTN but her NWs are considerably worse now so I'm wondering if it is teething after all and not truly ready for 1 nap.
She was doing 2 1hour naps and was going down for her first nap by 2.5/3 hours! Then all the sudden she would just cry and cry for the first nap and after an hour or so I'd try again but then it would be so late she would refuse the second nap. So I just started moving the first nap out to 12 p.m. so that at least the one nap she did get was later in they day. With a 6/6:30 bt she's up several times at night - sometimes only a few minutes. But last night 45 from 10:30 - 11:15. I'm really confused. I'll get her settled and think she's asleep and then she's crying again.
Tom. I already have a morning commitment so it will be another one nap day, but I think after that I'll just give ibuprofen an hour before her usual morning nap (or used to be usual!) and see if that helps. Ugh - this is no fun!

[NZ_Mum]

Hi lokloktang, yes we did go back to 2 naps after being on one nap for quite a few weeks. Around 11mo he was quite able to stay up for long stretches and he was ok doing one nap and short days (wake at 8 or 8:30am one nap at 1230 for 1.5hrs then BT at 6 or 6:30) this went on successfully for quite a few weeks with little or no NW but then he got a virus and rash and got severely OT and then once he got better he started walking all the time and now he can barely stay up for 3.5hrs at a time! So we have gone back to 2 naps until he seems ready for bigger A times again.
Yesterday we did a one nap day, he slept in a bit late, and then was having trouble settling for his first nap (until i administered teething meds) so it was 11am by the time he fell asleep and he slept on and on till 1pm(!) so i thought he would be ok for a few hours... but that was a mistake (even with an early BT) we had so many NWing last night I lost track, so we wont be doing that again for a while! Definitely not ready for one nap days (anymore!) even with a huge nap like that. In fact today his sleep needs are so high he's having 2x 1-1.5hr naps! I hope he's just catching up and wont be too UT tonight.

I think the best strategy right now is to do a combination of one and two nap days to balance out the sleep needs over the week to prevent OT in the long run.

[*Ali*]

Hi ladies, haven't read back through all your posts yet but joining in here as Cadan is turning 1 on Monday. We had been frequenting the babies' 2:1 thread but will soon be too old!
We often do 1 nap days of 4.5/3/4.5 or there abouts. We normally do 2 nap days when out in the pushchair and Cadan falls asleep early and only take a 1hr20 nap. Then I have to let him have another 25-40min nap later in the afternoon with a short 2hr-2hr45 A afterward before BT. The one nap days seems to be working well but only happen if I am home for his naps which I am finding quite restrictive. Plus we often attend a playgroup which is 12.30-3.30 and that is exactly the time he naps!

[jackman]

Hi everyone! Following in Ali's footsteps since our babes are close in age. We just did our first nap day yesterday as my DS took a 3hr morning nap. Totally unheard of and I think his A time was low, but I could be wrong as he did have an EW at 5am. He fell asleep or so I thought for another 1hr15min which would make A time of only 3hr45min before his super long nap. Had a huge lunch after nap with a lighter dinner and his last A time might have been too long (nearly 5hrs). We had loads of NWs with one lasting for 45min before midnight. Hopefully we can get back on track today and figure out the best routine for us. DS was severely OT last week and trying to recover.

[*Ali*]

We did a 2hr nap today (our 1 naps are usually 3hrs so this is short) with a 6hr A before bed so expecting OT NWs tonight perhaps.

[*Ali*]

Hi ladies. How is everyone doing?
We are doing 1 nap days mostly now. We were doing 4.5/3/4.5 but it seems to have moved to 4.5/2/5/5 lately. Not sure why it has shortened. I tried a longer first A but it shortened even more to 2hrs and he woke crying the few times we did it like he was still tired.
Although today he woke 1hr15 early this morning (OT) so we did 5/3.5/4.75 with a normal BT. Hopefully he has caught up some and will do a good night.
We are STTN now for up to 12hrs. 

[~Lori~]

Sooo....I've been on here before, back when my son was 14 mths and thinking he was transitioning to 1 nap.  But here we are, at 19 mths and still on 2 naps!!  BUT, the last 2 days have been ROUGH sleeping days and I feel a change needs to come.  Here's our schedule on my non work days:

7:30 Wake up
10:30 Nap (wake him after 15 minutes)
2:00-4:00 Nap
7:30 Bedtime

This has been what we do on my non work days (I work 2-3 days a week) 

This was Today:

7:30 Wake up
11:00 Nap (finally, after playing around for a long time)..woke after 15 minutes
3:00 (FINALLY asleep, after playing around for awhile)
4:00 AWAKE from nap (and very cranky)
8:15 FINALLY asleep (went down at around 7:30)

I know he's on the shorter amounts for awake time but it has worked well for months and months.  But obviously he's ready for more, so should I just cut out the morning nap totally?  Or what would you suggest for a transition?

My work days are a TOTALLY different schedule since he has to get up at 6. 

[Rizzo]

I might join in too. DS is 11.5 months and has always fought sleep, so judging whether to transition him has been very difficult.
Over the past 2 weeks, we have been doing one nap on many days. He STTN a few times early on, and now is waking 1-2 times per night.
About 2 weeks ago, he had a 3.5 A time first, then a 2.5-3hr nap, then a 20min catnap (which i woke him from), but BT was getting later and later, and he fought it. He also fought the 2nd nap. I tried to cut back the first nap, but it seems he has done this himself.
His current EASY is:
6.45 wake up, BF
8am breakfast
10.45/11am - BF and nap (usually 1.5 hrs, today 2hrs)
1pm - lunch
5pm - dinner, bath
6.30/6.45pm - BT

He has suddenly gone from 3.5-4 A time, to 4-6hr A time. He doesn't seem overly grumpy either (and he is a touchy/spirited baby).

I dont know whether the NW are him being OT. He doesn't stay awake long, but only last week he was having none to one wakeup per night. Could be teething, although the BT meds have not helped much.

[*Ali*]

Lori, have you tried stretching that 1st A time to see if he will take one long nap? What does he do on work days? I think you need to take that into account too as OT builds over a few days. Does he just have a shorter night on work days or do you put him to bed early in anticipation of the early WU? Is there anyway you could get on the same sort of routine for work and non-work days even if the Wu time is different? i.e. have the same length A times and number of naps?
Rizzo, I think your last A time is way too long and if you aren't going to do a CN then an early BT is needed to stave off the OT. He wakes himself up right? You don't cap that 1 nap do you?  Could he be waking hungry possibly? Perhaps it might help to do a snack or half lunch before his nap? How is he when you put him down for the nap at 4hrs? Do you think he would sleep longer if you stretched this a little? Otherwise I would do a CN at 5pm just to get him to BT. I expect the NW are from OT from such a long A time before BT.   

[~Lori~]

Ali,  One reason I don't want to get into the same wake up routin on work days and non work days, is because on work days I have to get him up at 6 and that is NOT a time I want him to be getting up everyday.  He usually has 2 longer naps at the baby sitter to catch up on that sleep.

So this morning I stretched his A time to 4.5hrs (not unheard of as he has done that in the afternoons a lot).  Well, he just woke up at 1hr20minutes....he has NEVER slept for that short of a nap in a long nap.  So now he is up at 1:45.....Great!  See how long he lasts till night time....

[*Ali*]

OK Lori (sorry, let me know if that isn't what you wanna be called) so he has less night sleep on work days and catches up with day sleep? I don;t blame you for not wanting to get up at 6 everyday. I was thinking of just keeping the naps the same even with the earlier wake up but not a good idea if he has had a much short night as you seem to have decided. Hmmm. I guess you probably agree that that A time this morning was too long and he was OT. Could you try stretching it in smaller increments? I would probably do a super early BT at 6.30 or 6.45..? 

[~Lori~]

I will definitely do an earlier bedtime tonight, especially since he will be up tomorrow at 6.

I'm not sure what happened with the nap.  He didn't seem fussy beforehand or anything like that, which is weird since he usually naps at 3 hrs in the morning.  Seemed normal and went down easily.

I'll have the baby sitter stick to the normal 2 naps the next 2 days and then on Thursday-Sunday, try to just extend his A time in the morning. 

[Rizzo]

Thanks Cadie's mum.

He has done a few days of having a big sleep (2-3 hrs), waking at 1pm, then bed at 6.30pm, and then having none to 1 wakeup during the night.
Yesterday I tried to shorten the first nap to 1.5hrs, woke him at 11.45am, another nap at 3.30 for 45mins, woke 4.15pm, eventually bed at 7.30pm (wouldnt go sooner). Woke at 10pm, 1.30am and then 5am (which he hasnt done for a long time).

I am guessing it must be something else causing wakeups.. maybe teeth? He is due for some more to come through...

His EASY today (after 5am!!) was:
6am wake (had BF at 5am), BFast 7am
Nap 10am (BF 9.30am) - 3hr nap, woke 1pm
1pm - lunch, BF 3.30pm
Dinner etc 5pm
Tried to get him to sleep 6.30, didnt sleep till 7pm.

I cant win!! a 2 nap day = 3 wakeups, a 1 nap day = zero to 2 wakeups...

[inoella]

So we're back!  I had thot we were switching to 1 nap about 3 months ago but she was just going thru a strange "nothing is working" phase and then suddenly decided she LOVED naps! First time ever and I really enjoyed it! But last week she started taking longer and longer to fall asleep and then suddenly refused the second nap over the weekend and since then we've had very strange days from being out an about - and lots of NWs! Ugh! Yesterday was better:
7 A
11:45 S
1ish A
7:30 S ( I keep trying to put her down earlier and but DH isn't helping... going to be very firm tonight tho!)

So with a little less than 1.5 hours of nap she cried out at 10 and 3 but didn't actually wake up - I didn't even make it to her room to check on her before she resettled. So that's good - I'm just hoping with an earlier nap today (put her down at 10:40) she'll nap longer. Really jealous of all the 2-3 hour naps you all are getting!!! 

[~Lori~]

Jaci, oh that is SOOOO my son!  He is 19 mths now, and at around 13 mths he HATED sleep, and fought naps, and I thought we were going to 1 nap, then he started asking to go to sleep and was soooo easy just to plop down and he'd roll around a bit and then just fall asleep.  But  now it's changing back to being difficult.

I hope we can get a long 3 hr nap when we are at 1 nap!!!  I still have a 4.5 year old who takes a nap (man, am I lucky or what) so it's nice to have a bit of a break!