Moving to 1 nap - set time or activity times?

[elf]

Hi there,

I had another thread going about the best way to approach the 2-1, given that the short am/long pm didn't really suit him.  I'll try to keep this brief   My boy is pretty much 13 months and is a great sleeper.  He loves his 12 hour nights which is why we are at the stage where I think he would benefit more from 1 nap.  I am beginning to trial it at the moment.  Can anyone offer a suggestion as to what a good morning activity time could be before putting him down?  Last night he slept from 6.30pm - 6.45am.  I gave early bedtime as he had 1 2 hour nap so quite possibly he was tired from that.  I don't want to fall into the trap where he does really long nights and then doesn't have the drive to do a 2 hour nap in the day.  He's a textbook guy, generally very easy, happy and when on the right routine, a fantastic sleeper.  I am a bit nervous of pushing activity times but I think despite me being nervous about a push, I think he might need it.  Should I do a set nap at say 12pm?  Or should I be doing a certain amount of hours pre and post nap?  Or is it just trial and error?  Thanks

[*Becky*]

Hi there,
There is a bit of trial and error involved in the beginning tbh. Some lo's do very well on a set nap but at the moment I would go with A times and see. When starting out on one nap most lo's need a bit of flexibility. What A time has he been used to? Most starting out on one nap do about 5 hours.
Becky x

[uropachild]

I would go with set A times instead of a set nap time. I say this because we're in a predicament at the moment where DD is really OT. I think if my mindset had been more focused on A time and less on putting her to nap at the same time every day i could have avoided this cycle of OT > NW/EW > short naps etc. From what i've read up on this last few days it does seem like 5 hours A in the morning is a good idea.

Good luck! Let us know how you get on.