Just gone to 1 nap...what should PM A time be?

[mylittlelovelies]

Hi there,
My DD is 14 months and i think she's just about ready to manage on 1 nap (with the occasional 2 nap day i'm sure)...but i'm trying to work out what the afternoon A time should be for her.

The last few days she has had 1 nap and routine has been...

7am wake
11:30/11:45 Nap for 2-3 hours (yay she's doing a decent nap for me!!!) - A time approx 4hrs 45mins
2pm awake
Bedtime

She seems really tired at about 6pm...but i've been stretching her till about 6:30 for wind down and she's asleep by 7, but shes been difficult to put to bed and sort of gets a second wind about 6.15...which makes it harder to find a window to put her to bed. Should i just be putting her to bed at 6?? She's had NWs (not that thats anything new really) and this morning woke at 4am fairly alert and chatting, took me till after 5am to get her back to sleep and then she woke at 7am again.

I want to make sure she's not OT at bedtime, but i know i also need to 'fit in' enough A time across the day.

When she was having 2 naps (short AM, long PM) she was sleeping approx 13-13.5 total hours in 24....should i expect her to increase that a little for a while when initially moving to 1 nap? If she's doing a 2hr+ nap but going to bed early, its expecting her to do a 12.5-13hr night...which is 14.5-15hrs total sleep in 24hrs IYKWIM???

Do LOs tend to increase their total sleep when they first switch or do i need to get her to have a full 10.5 hrs wake time in the day somehow? i don't think she'd manage 5 and 5.5hrs A time yet.

Any thoughts?

Jessie

[Colin Macs Mom]

I would start bedtime at 6:00pm and see how that goes. That's just me though!

[deckchariot]

When we first went to one nap, my dd's afternoon A time was significantly shorter than her morning A time.  In the am, she'd do 5 to 5.5 hrs, but in the pm, it was usually only 3 - 3.5 hrs.

[CW]

We are in the same boat with our 13.5 month old twin boys.  Up at 6am-6:30 and then one big nap from 11-1 or 11-2.  Bedtime is 6pm.  It's working pretty well.  Remember, nothing is permanent.  You don't have to have a 6pm bedtime forever.

[~*Nicole*~]

I think our initial 1 nap day had about 5 or so hours A time pre-nap and closer to 4 to 4.5 hours post nap. Then it evened out to 5 and 5 for a bit, and now is 6 and 5 at 23 months.

I'd go with the 6pm bedtime for now and let it stretch on it's own. Also, if she starts with any OT EWs or things like that, throw in a two nap day if need be every so often. That always helps!

[Tweakster]

You don't have to have a 6pm bedtime forever.

That's true; you could be like us and push bedtime to 7:30 only to have him STILL wake before 6 a.m. lol

Our day is front loaded as well, long first A and shorter A to bedtime.  It's only in the last few weeks that things have gone a bit topsy turvy for us but it could be medically-related so we can't really fix it yet.

My only fear with such an early bedtime and a really long nap is that your nights will shorten.  Finn was an awesome napper at 12 mths, really and finally.  He did 2 - 3 hrs most days.  But he did really short nights.  We lived with it.  If your LO is normally a long night sleeper I would just make sure she gets enough A time so you don't get that earlier wake up.

I have not seen many on here report that their nights or average sleep increased with the advent of 1 nap - but maybe that's because they are busy sleeping zzzz lol

[mylittlelovelies]

thanks everyone for your ideas!
can i have your thoughts again.....

after 7pm bedtime last night she woke at midnight and was a bit chatty and fairly alert, took me till 1am to get her back to sleep. then woke for the day at 4:30am again quite chatty and alert and despite all my best APOP efforts its now 6am and  we're up

is that an OT EW or does she somehow need more A time in her day? Yesterday her nap was 2.5hrs... 4hr 45 A time in the morning and about 5hrs A by the time she fell asleep at bedtime.

thanks in advance!

[~*Nicole*~]

Hmmmmm, hard to say really. Could be OT or UT. Although could be UT turned OT EW b/c she wouldn't go BACK to sleep for so long overnight. I always err on the side of caution and do earlier bedtime first to rule out OT then try later to check UT b/c worse OT is always harder to fix later.

[babybarr]

How many hours daytime sleep was she getting on 2 naps? and what sort of time was bedtime then?

[mylittlelovelies]

Hi,
On two naps she was sleeping about 20-30 in the morning and then usually 1.5hrs in the afternoon...or whatever made up to about 2hrs naps total (i'd wake her from her afternoon nap)...otherwise the day stretched too long.
Her nights on 2 naps were about 10-11hrs...but i thought that was partly due to the 2-1 switch and the fact that her day was stretching out and night shortening.
She has done 12 hour nights in the past. As a younger baby she always did a 12 hour night, then it shortened a bit before she dropped the CN...then when she did drop down to 2 naps she did a 12 hour night again.....and it has shortened since then until the point we're at now. Thats why i was hopeful that she might go back to a longer night when she dropped to 1 nap...but so far we're still getting the shorter night. I know she's having a big long nap...maybe i should keep the 1 nap to 2 hours?? i was really hoping i'd get a 2.5hr nap and an 11-11.5hr night...but thats 14hrs total sleep so maybe thats expecting too much?

also, if she's not going to do a longer night, then she'd need A times of 5.5 and 5hrs to  get through a 13hr day....what do you think i should aim for and how to i get her to lengthen her night again so its not 10ish hours? i was thinking that the two long As would tell her body to sleep longer at night?

thanks for your help!

[~*Nicole*~]

The best I could do was 11 to 11.5 hour nights with a two hour nap. It's about the same now...

We always had the best result with a longer A in the morning and a shorter before bed. She could handle the longer A after a good, long night's rest and a bit shorter after only a nap. So we did about 5 hours A in the morning and 4.5 before bed. Worked really well until her A times lengthened again. Now we're at 6 hours before and 5 hours after at 23 months.

[Tweakster]

We have 10-10.5 hr nights, and usually a 2-3 hr nap on weekends, less at daycare.  He's done 11 intermittently lately so I am holding out hope that he'll get there eventually and we have tried capping the nap but it isn't looking like that's a factor :-(  We've always got something going on though, teeth and now his allergies.  So we just take what he'll give us in a 24 hour period and try not to get too worried about it. 

[babybarr]

Why don't you give the 5hrs before nap and the 4.5hrs after nap a go and see what happens?  Maybe limit nap to 2.5hrs?

[mylittlelovelies]

thanks everyone,
i will try the 5hr / 4.5hr routine and see how we go.

She was up at 6:45 today, so i have just put her to bed and she'd have been asleep by 11:45...so far so good.
Do i wake her after 2hrs or let her do 2.5?? (i know i may not hear back since i'm in australia!)

thanks everyone:)

[babybarr]

Given her age and that she is new to one nap I'd def let her have the 2.5hrs and see, easier to chop than try and add some at a later date!  Not sure whether I'm too late though