2-1 Nap Transition Schedule Help

[hchasey]

My 16 month old is ready to go from 2 naps to 1. Currently, her naps are 9:45-11:45 a.m. and 2:30-4:30 p.m. She usually sleeps most of the time for her first nap, but rarely sleeps at all for her second. She's content to "rest" for the full two hours though, so I haven't been in a rush to drop one. However, she's usually pretty fussy and clingy during her last awake time which makes it stressful for all of us. So, I guess my first question is, does it make sense to start transitioning her at this point?

If so, is there a suggested schedule out there? I remember coming here when we were transitioning from a 3-hour to 4-hour EASY and I found the schedules (done in 5 minute increments) to be very helpful.

My goal is to have one longer nap around 1 or 1:30. So, I'm thinking that I'll start shortening her first nap and then start her second nap earlier until we're close enough to just drop the first nap all together. I've been talking about doing this for weeks now, but I want to make sure I do it the right way! Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

[~inbalance~]

Hi there!  I think you have the right idea with shortening the first nap and bringing the pm nap earlier.  TBH I'm surprised she still takes 2 long naps like that, she must be high sleep needs? 

Can you post what your whole day looks like including awake and asleep times?

[hchasey]

She's always been a great sleeper...sleeps through the night for 12 hours and takes two 2-hour naps. It's just until recently that she hasn't been sleeping for the second one. Her day almost always looks like this:

Awake: 7 a.m.
Breakfast: 7:30 a.m.
1st Nap: 9:45-11:45 a.m.
Lunch: 12 p.m.
2nd Nap: 2:30-4:30 p.m.
Dinner: 5:30 p.m.
Bath: 6:30 p.m.
Bed: 7 p.m.

[~inbalance~]

Wow, definitely a high sleep needs LO!  lol

Ok, so for this transition you would pick which nap you want to be longer, and then shorten the other one.  The goal being obviously to have one, lovely long nap midday.  I always did a short am nap with my LOs as it just seemed to work better.

[hchasey]

Yes, she likes her sleep!

Do you recall seeing any detailed transition plans? I can't seem to find it now, but I know there was a very helpful post with 5 minute increment transitions for going from a 3-hour to a 4-hour EASY. I'm wondering if there's anything like that for going from a 2 to 1 nap...?

[~inbalance~]

This link is very helpful for the 2-1 transition:  http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=95670.0
And there is this one as well:  http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=41952.0
There is also a support thread:  http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=173945.0

It's not quite the same as transitioning from a 3-4hr EASY as LO is so much older now and 5min increments really are not necessary.  Also, LOs all transition differently so a lot of it is trial and error and just figuring out how to approach it.

Have a look at the links and let me know if you have more questions. 

[hchasey]

ok, thanks. i'll check out those other posts. ideally, her one nap would be around 1. extending her awake time by 3 hours seems impossible right now, but i know she's growing up and we'll get through it!

[~inbalance~]

Yes, it is a bit of a process but you will get there.  If she has a fairly easy going temperment then you can make larger adjustments and just kind of push through, rather than going really slow.  It depends on her though, you know her best so you'll know which approach will work.