Need help on A time for 1 year old

[kk.tobe]

Hi!

I have an almost 1 year old who is doing great on his night sleep. His naps have gone a bit wonky though, and surely its due to the 2-1 transition. I'm working towards getting him a short AM and long PM naps. Can someone give me any advice on what is a good A time for a spirited 1 year old, or perhaps point me to topic where this is covered? Currently he has a 3.5h A in the morning, the second A really depends on the first nap - anywhere between 3h-4h and the third one also ranges from 4h-4.5h.

His naps are also erratic, in the AM he wakes up almost everytime within 30 mins (he has done this all his life!), if i sush him he'll sleep for another 30 mins, but sometimes he doesnt. The second nap is anywhere between 1h to 1.5h. I try to make sure he's not OT by the time its bedtime, and he usually sleeps pretty well at night. Wake up time in the morning is anywhere between 5:45AM and 7:15AM.

Thanks!

[Tweakster]

Hi there, it looks like you are already on the right track.  3.5 is normally a decent A time before a short nap.  I would likely leave his nap at 30 mins if he's waking then anyway.   Then you may need a shorter middle A time.  I think I would try 3 hrs at first, and then push it out if that PM nap is seeming UT.  I think 4.5 hours to bedtime could be a tad too much.  How long are his nights normally, on average?  Are you aiming for a 12 or 13 hour day?

[kk.tobe]

Thanks for your reply Wendy! He usually does a 12.5-13h day and I'm ok with that. I'm trying to limit the last A to 4h...sometimes it take him 1/2 hour to go down, its these times it gets extended to 4.5h.

So a 30 min AM nap followed by a 3h A time and a longer PM nap is what I should be aiming at, right?

I'll try it for a few days and tell you how it goes!

[mylittlelovelies]

hi there
we are dealing with the exact same situation...my DD is just 13 months and am trying to workk out the short AM , long PM nap arrangement.

I have cut the am nap to 30 mins, but keep getting a 1hr 15 PM nap...and that leaves a really long A till bedtime, and we are getting EWs...about 10hrs night sleep. She's not waking happy from the PM nap, and occasionally i can rock her back to sleep. I'm stumped whether thats an OT or UT nap...her morning As vary a bit but commonly 3hrs - 3hrs 15 for the first A... then for the second i've experimented with 2.5-3hrs 15mins and still not getting a longer PM nap.

i don't want to hijack this thread (sorry kk.tobe)...and i'm already getting some fantastic help on my own post ("trying to work out A time after short AM nap....13months")...but i know Wendy is brilliant at working out these OT/UT situations and Finn has only recently gone through this stage so wondered if you'd have any ideas? If you want to peek at my thread if thats better than taking focus away from kk.tobe's situation, or if it would help her to see you response to my question thats fine too. Or if you're too busy i understand as well!! LOL

Hope the new plan is going well kk.tobe...i'll be keen to see if its working for you!!

Jessie

[kk.tobe]

Hi Jessie! Its no problem at all! I'm gonna try it out and let you know how it works.

I would have ideally followed his cues for his AM and PM naps, but occasionally we get EWs(this morning he was up at 5:20), and I know its competely related to his naps. Hopefully a little tweaking will help!

All the best to you!

[Tweakster]

Hi there girls, well my kid can be an anomaly but here's what worked for us:
Awake between 5:30-6
Nap 20 mins 9 - 9:20 (A = ~3.25/3.5 hrs)
Nap 2 hrs+ 12ish - 2:30ish (A = ~2.75/3 hrs)
Bedtime asleep by 6:30 (I think 4 hours could be plenty until LO adjusts)

So we had to push to 1 nap by 12 mths though for daycare, so we just ended up cutting that AM nap out altogether, pushing his nap back to 11:30/11:45 until he got used to it.  I was lucky that he knocked off a 2-3 hour nap straight away.  Not all LOs do this though :-(

If you stick with a 30 min AM nap, then you may need 3-3.5 hours in between naps.  It's so trial and error really, dependent on how they like their A time, how their night has gone, how long that first A is and if they still have stamina for the rest of the day.

[mylittlelovelies]

thanks wendy
do you have any extra tips on how to work out whether a short nap was due to UT or OT?
if DD has only had 30mins in the morning, and she then has 1hr 15 for her PM nap (not enough i wouldn't think since her nights are only 10-11hrs at the moment)...is that an OT or UT nap? She doesn't wake happy, or chatting to herself or anything..she wakes crying, so i know she needs more sleep...but does that mean she needs less A time to not be OT for the nap (if its an OT wake up) or does she need a little more A time so she is more tired at the 1hr 15 sleep transition to get her to go back to sleep through another sleep cycle?

this might help OP too hopefully
Jessie

[Tweakster]

Hi there, well in our house anything 1.5 or less is OT now.  He always does at least 2 hrs, even if he wakes at the 1 hr or 1.5 hr to cry out.  He has learned to go back down again for the rest of his nap because he knows that's the only nap we give him.

It can really be variable at this age.  If she wakes crying then I would think OT.  Can you pat her back down or try some W2S during the nap to push her through to the next cycle?

I'll pop over and look at your routine Jessie.