2-1 - lengthening nap?

[BareFootMomma]

DD has been on 1 nap for a few weeks now, and she is still taking a pretty short nap. Usually it is only 1 hr 15 minutes. I am pretty sure it is built up OT, but no matter what I try, I can't get her to take two naps. One day she was up from what was supposed to be her first nap at 11 and absolutely refused to go down for a second nap. She ended up being awake for almost 8.5 hrs before she went to bed for the night. I have started stretching out her A time until 12:30 so that she wont have too much A time after a short nap. She is still sleeping pretty well at night, but some mornings we get an EW. She isn't happy during the day very much, mostly whines and cries because she is tired.

How can I get her to stretch out that nap? She is usually really awake as soon as she wakes from her nap.

She is sick at the moment and sleeping all day, so hopefully she catches up on some rest. I wont be trying anything until she is healthy again, but let me know if you want her usual schedule.

[kikoz]

HI,
How old is you lo ?

[BareFootMomma]

Oh, sorry! She is 13 months and 1 week.

[kikoz]

You wana post your typical routine?
Have u gradually pushed the 1st nap when u switched to one nap?
What time r u puting her to bed at nite?
And why did u switch to one nap, what were the signs?
U may want to postpone any tweaking now since she is sick of course, this  will give u some time to think things over.
Hope she gets well soon
Hugs

[BareFootMomma]

Our typical day post-2-1 is as follows:

Wake - 8:00
E - 8:30-9:00
E - 12:00
S - 12:30
Wake - Anywhere from 1:30-3:00
E - snack - 3:30-4:00
S - 7:30-8:30 (depending on how long her nap was)

I don't like to put her to bed before 7pm because when I do she usually treats it as a nap and tries to be up for more A time an hour later and it takes a TON of AP to get her back to sleep for the night.

I didn't make the decision to do 1 nap, she did. She was doing great with 2 naps until about 2 days after she turned 1. Then she decided to do the 2-1 cold turkey! We got some good naps for the first couple weeks, but that 1 nap got shorter and shorter every day. As soon as I saw that she was getting OT I tried to get her to take 2 naps just to catch up, but she wouldn't have anything to do with it. So, no, I didn't have a chance to do it gradually.....it would have been nice though!

I wasn't planning to do anything with her schedule until she is feeling better. Just trying to figure out what to try first when the time comes.

[danacarrie]

I would love help with this too!

But, at first glance, I'm wondering if you are missing her window where you might get a better nap, either a little bit earlier, or a little later, and/or wondering about what her activity is like in the 8-12:30 time.

My LO generally wakes at 7am and goes down about 5-5.5 hours later (she's 13 months).  Granted, her nap is only 1.15 to 1.5 also, but I'm just wondering if your LO might do better with a little more A time?

JMHO.

Dana

[kikoz]

Hi,
I agree with pp abt window, but I would put her actually earlier... More towards 11 or 11:30 have you tried that?
You may want to try that for a few days and put her as early as 630 -7?
At this age, later than 1230 will too long and would increase OT.
You may also want to check the chronological EASY routines for her age on the FAQs of the EASY board.
I m sure someone here with more experience on that will to chip in with more insight.
Hugs

[BareFootMomma]

I have tried earlier, as early as 10:30 some days, and it still ends up being a 1.25-1.5 hr nap, and then second nap refusal. I hadn't thought about later, but I guess it couldn't hurt to try it one day.

Her first A time is usually when I get my errands done because she is better in the car/stores. That being said, she isn't up running around, just in the car seat/stroller/grocery cart most of the time. so she isn't expending much energy. Would it be better for her to be more physically active? She isn't quite walking yet, but will walk FOREVER holding one of my fingers.

[kikoz]

quote author=BareFootMomma link=topic=177243.msg2006294#msg2006294 date=1282826160]but will walk FOREVER holding one of my fingers.[/quote]
thats cute
well yes, definitely, physical activity works wonders. just make sure she doesnt get overstimulated! :S
when I take my lo swimming before her last A of the day, she goes down hald an hour earlier because she d be so tired!
do you have wind down routine? that helps if she struggles to nap.
ok so 11:30 would be a very good time I think for that age or if maybe you can start with 11 am for few days and extend it to 11:30am... ? it makes more sense that to do it the other way.

by the way, when you say 2nd nap refusal... what is the 2nd A time you did for her? could it only be that she needed an A extension? have yo utried different As.
for us, when lo played instead of sleep in her crib or when she cried, it just meant that she needed an A extension. and as soon as I bumped the A by 10 or even 5 mins she would go back to her normal self. and as long as I didnt have the right A, she would play for a long time  in her crib instead of sleeping- she usually ended up crying after 30 mins....

just a thought X

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

My initial thought was to put her down a little earlier as well but it seems you have tried that.  An early BT is key in this part of the 2-1, also, I've found. 

But, the other thing you could try if you think she's really not ready for 1 nap (which it sounds like perhaps she's not) is something like this:

8 - A
11 - S
11:30 - Wake her
2 - S
3:30ish (hopefully) - Wake
7:30 (might have to experiment with this to find the right BT, could be even later) - S

It could be that she wasn't really pushing herself to 2 naps but rather that she wasn't ready for a long PM nap when she still was taking a decently long AM nap.  The above is more or less what we did for the last few weeks of 2-1 before we went to 1 nap.

Just another option.

[BareFootMomma]

It has been almost a month since she was doing two naps, so this might be a bit off, but here was our schedule before:

wake - 8
sleep - 11-11:30
wake - no later than 1
sleep - 4-4:30
wake - 4:30-5
sleep - 8:30

When she turned 12 months it seemed like she jumped from 3 hr 45 min being her maximum A time to needing to be up for 5-6 hrs before she would go to sleep without crying for 30-45 minutes. I tried adding half an hour to her second A time, but then she wouldn't go to bed for the night until 9 or sometimes 9:30. Then she would still be up by 8, sometimes earlier.

I have a short wind down routine for naps, and a longer one for bed time. Sometimes if we get busy and get home from errands right before her nap that routine gets skipped over a bit. The summer has just been so crazy and up in the air. I can't wait for things to slow down for fall and winter.

[kikoz]

Hi, that sounds like she s ready for the transition.
I would try to put her at 11 for her first nap, but would let her sleep as much as she needs to since it will be her only nap.
And then we ll see from there. And remember as pp said the key to 2-1 is early bedtime, somewhere between 630 and 730.
If you feel that ur lo is tired in the afternoon, you can always try and put her down in her cot for relaxing time, ud be surprised how well it works!
We r still one 2 naps here, but lately lo skips her 2nd one, by playing in her cot for 45mins, in a dark room. When I pick her up, she seems to be very fine for the rest of the day, which amazes me.
Not sure if ur lo will like that, but you could try...
HTH hugs

[BareFootMomma]

Well, things are getting better, but in a very unexpected way. DD still has a super runny/stuffy nose and has been cranky and whiney for days, but she has been sleeping from 7:30pm-9am for two nights! I have actually gotten her to sleep for 2-3 hours during the day too, but that nap is broken up by her waking almost every 30-45 minutes, then she will sleep for the last hour straight through. So now I am hoping that she will start sleeping all the way through that nap. And I am crossing all my digits hoping that this isn't just because she is sick!

She has been waking once at night as well, always at 1:30-2am for 15-20 minutes. Does this seem like she is getting too much day sleep with the long but broken nap?

[kikoz]

That s really excellent news!
That wake time maybe from her noise? R u helping her with some nasal spray before bedtime?
I don't think there is too much sleep at this age with one nap TBH... what time does her nap ranges from?
That give us a clue. Great news otherwise! Very happy for you!

[BareFootMomma]

Well the 9am wake time seems to have stuck! And last night she only made a little cry at midnight and then stayed asleep. I have been suctioning her nose and using nasal spray right before bed, but it is a really bad stuffy nose. It seems to be getting better though.

Oh, and yesterday she slept for 1.5 hours straight for her nap! Granted, that is still a shorter nap than I would like, but with her sleeping almost 14 hours at night I think it is fine for her.

With her waking at 9 she has been going down for her nap between 12:30 and 1, usually 1 and then I let her sleep no later than 3:30. Then she is up for 5 hours before bed. If she starts sleeping through her whole nap, things will be perfect. I am bracing for the disruptions that are coming this next week (being watched by g-ma and moving house) and not expecting this to stay so nice.