Author Topic: 11 mo- Too young for one nap?  (Read 1395 times)

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Offline NikNik

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11 mo- Too young for one nap?
« on: November 24, 2011, 01:01:34 am »
My LO is getting very good at refusing naps. She is STTN but naps are all over the place. I can usually get her down for 1.5 hours in the morning but very rarely succeed with the afternoon nap, so by the time bedtime comes around, she has usually been awake for 7-8 hours (however, she is a remarkably happy baby, and though she sometimes looks very sleepy by dinner/bedtime, she is very rarely cranky along with it). Today, she also refused her morning nap. I could try to let her cry it out for naps, but quite frankly I feel that she could cry for the entire 2 hour nap time if I tried this. So today when she didn't go down for her nap at 930, I kept her up and gave her an early lunch at 11 then straight to bed. She was so tired, she was almost falling asleep in her high chair and then went straight to sleep. So I am not sure if that was good or bad, because she was clearly very, very tired. We have always had difficulty with her naps, lets just say she is not a natural sleeper, and I am so tired of fighting her for sleep. Has anyone had success with 1 nap at this age, especially if you also had difficult nappers in the past? What has worked for you? Thanks for your help!

Offline ~inbalance~

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Re: 11 mo- Too young for one nap?
« Reply #1 on: November 24, 2011, 01:52:03 am »
How did she end up napping?

DS1 was not a good napper and we tried to go to one nap at 12mos and it backfired.  It took until about 17mos before we could do one nap, simply because he was all over the place and would never nap long enough.  However, like your DD he was always happy and sttn.

DS2 was a better napper from early on, and we had absolutely no problem going to 1 nap at 11mos.  It's not even like he refused one or the other, I just knew he could do it and he did.

So, a bit of a mixed response from me I'm afraid!  Some of them can definitely handle it, and others are just not great nappers!
Em
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Offline NikNik

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Re: 11 mo- Too young for one nap?
« Reply #2 on: November 24, 2011, 02:05:41 am »
She slept for 1.5 hours. So not bad, but not great either. Probably not enough for the day, but am unlikely to get another nap today.  I'm undecided what to do tomorrow.

Offline Buntybear

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Re: 11 mo- Too young for one nap?
« Reply #3 on: November 24, 2011, 21:47:24 pm »
Well it sounds like she can't really handle it at the mo TBH. Could you post your current routine?

There are some great stickies and a chat thread about the 2-1 nap transition which is what this is ;).

There are a few options available to you. Start extending the first A time slowly, 10-15 mins to get a good first nap in then APOP a short 2nd nap (maybe cap at 45 mins). Or you could cap that first nap and then she would be tired enough for a 2nd nap in the afternoon. There is loads more ino ont he stickies and so many BTDT stories!

Offline *Kara*

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Re: 11 mo- Too young for one nap?
« Reply #4 on: November 24, 2011, 22:12:47 pm »
I pushed DD to one nap at 11 months + 1 week... it has gone really well.  Her nights were quite short (10 hours or less!) and she was still battling for every single nap... the move did wonders for her sleep - one nap of 2-3 hrs most days and 11+ hr nights... it has been a month now and she seems to have settled to a 12 hr night and 1.5 hr nap... some days, she naps just over 2 hours... she is so much happier and better rested overall.

I would try doing the short Am/long PM idea first though :)  We did that for a good month first!



Offline NikNik

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Re: 11 mo- Too young for one nap?
« Reply #5 on: November 25, 2011, 05:42:10 am »
2 things- First, I actually cannot APOP her to sleep. Nothing works, except sometimes giving her a bottle, but this is hit or miss. Second, her AM nap, when she takes it, is the long nap (and most days only nap) at the moment, so I am nervous to cap it- though I do see the logic if I am trying to transition. I will have a look at the other threads as well. Kara- did you wake your LO from the AM nap, and if so when?

Offline *Kara*

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Re: 11 mo- Too young for one nap?
« Reply #6 on: November 25, 2011, 05:45:25 am »
I did both the long AM/short PM and the other way around too... mine always slept better for her AM nap too - but if i let her nap for the two hours she liked, I got a refusal for a PM nap... she is also prone to early starts (think 5am or earlier!) so it was better to cap her AM nap in the long run...

I let her nap for 1 hour in the morning then as long as she liked in the PM.. it only took a couple of weeks for her to get used to the shorter AM nap and start refusing her PM again.. moved to one nap then :)



Offline ~inbalance~

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Re: 11 mo- Too young for one nap?
« Reply #7 on: November 25, 2011, 12:41:12 pm »
Second, her AM nap, when she takes it, is the long nap (and most days only nap) at the moment, so I am nervous to cap it- though I do see the logic if I am trying to transition.
This sounds a lot like I went through with my DS1, and initially I had the same logic.  I refused to cap his am nap because it was longer, but in the end I had to as it was the only way forward with him.

Good luck!
Em
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Offline *Becky*

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Re: 11 mo- Too young for one nap?
« Reply #8 on: November 25, 2011, 12:47:48 pm »
we had the same situation with DS. His only good nap was the morning one but in the end I had to cap it...did it slowly so 1 hour, then 45 all the way down to 20 mins and that meant he did do a pm one. It was never that long but he did not fight it which was the main thing and he still STTN. Good luck!




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Offline clairebear79

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Re: 11 mo- Too young for one nap?
« Reply #9 on: November 25, 2011, 13:29:36 pm »
Agree with the other ladies.  I also have a LO who will refuse his PM nap if he sleeps 1.5hrs or more in the AM.  So the only viable option for us is to cap the AM nap.  We started with this at around 9 months & are still transitioning at 15months so it can take quite some time for them to manage 1 nap every day without getting OT.

It IS scary capping the AM nap, esp when that is the best nap of the day, but it is a better prospect than them continuing to refuse the PM nap.

Offline Buntybear

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Re: 11 mo- Too young for one nap?
« Reply #10 on: November 25, 2011, 18:34:40 pm »
Yep, I refused to cap his am nap - but then I could APOP a second nap (I am talking weeks and weeks of walking him in his push chair though  ::)). I think you might have to try the short am, long pm route.

Offline Spandanna

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Re: 11 mo- Too young for one nap?
« Reply #11 on: November 25, 2011, 19:25:00 pm »

Just reading through quickly but I noticed in your original post you put that your LO went down for am nap at 9.30. What time was the morning WU? Based on a 6.30/7am WU that would be a pretty early nap for an 11 mo and therefore you could start to push out that first A time slowly?

DD is 10.5MO and we have put her onto one nap...like Kara experienced we were having very short nights and it is going pretty well for us it must be said. DD would definitely do a long am nap if allowed but on the odd day where I have to slip in 2 naps (like if she randomly wakes at 4am :o) I let her do 20mins at 9.30/9.40ish then a normal lunchtime nap but her naps have now gone from 1hour sometimes 1.5hours to 2.5 sometimes 3 and for two magnificent nights in a row she slept 7-7.30!!!! ;D (after 6 months of 5-5.30am EVERY day)

For us (with both children in fact) it all improvd when we pushed that first A time so thy were going down as near to midday as possible