Should I cap nap to increase night sleep?

[melloyello]

Hi there,

My DS is 17 months and has been on one nap since about 15 months. He has always loved his daytime sleep! He's a very active little guy - go, go, go until his head hits the bed. When we first transitioned to one nap he was doing on average a 3 hour nap and then 11-11.5 hours night sleep. His naps have stayed consistent at 2.5-3 hours but lately it seems his night sleep has been decreasing. We're now at 10.5 hours most nights.

This is his typical day...

6:00/6:15 Wake
12-2:30/3 Nap
7:15 BT (asleep by 7:30)

I'm fine with our day starting anytime after 6am, I'm just concerned that maybe he's not getting enough nighttime sleep now??? He still gets about 13.5 hours of sleep in 24 hours but should more of that be at night? He's only ever slept 12 hours at night a handful of times in his life. I've tried capping his nap at 2 hours but he was VERY unhappy to wake up and then was cranky the rest of the afternoon until bedtime.

I'm ok with his day the way it is (the long nap is lovely!), I just want to make sure I don't need to tweak anything so he transfers some of that sleep to nighttime. 

Any thoughts?

[*Becky*]

I would cap at 2 hours for sure. Any more can rob night sleep. xx

[clairebear79]

If he is waking a lot earlier than usual, getting cranky during the mornings or tired for his nap earlier than usual, then I would say that is your signal that something needs to change.  Night sleep is more restorative than day sleep, and his nights are on the shorter side, but he is having a mammoth nap, so if he is happy during the day & seems well rested & you are happy too then I would say he is fine.

FWIW we had something similar at around that age, although I was already capping my DS's nap at 2hrs max (because he did get cranky if he didn't get enough sleep at night).  What I found really helped was to push his nap later.  I pushed it to 12.30-2.30, and bedtime was 7.30.  He started sleeping in until 7am again & I didn't have to cap the nap any shorter.  Same thing happened again at around 19 months.  He started taking ages to fall asleep at bedtime & waking earlier.  I pushed the nap to 1pm, still allowed 2hrs but had to push his bedtime back to 8pm.  It was only at 20 months I had to start capping the nap shorter than 2hrs because his BT was getting really late.

HTH.

[emily3434]

I would also consider pushing the nap start time back a bit and see if that helps

[melloyello]

I'm not sure I could push the nap any further than 12ish (unless he sleeps in later). He is exhausted by then. Sometimes he won't even eat lunch he is so tired. So perhaps I should try capping the nap at 2 hours and see if that helps him sleep longer at night. On the days when he does wake earlier from his nap, I don't really notice a difference though. I feel like he is just wired to wake up at 6:15 no matter what! He is generally pretty happy, not cranky, but I'll give it a shot because I feel like his nights are too short.

Thanks for the advice!

[barbaraz78]

If you are both happy, I wouldn't change anything. Maybe he really needs a long nap, and he's not ready to give it. We had a period of short nights and bt resistance at the same age of your ds and I was tempted to cap the nap (he was doing 2.5 h on average). But my ds did not sleep longer when nap was shorter these days, so I did not and after one month he took longer nights again and bt resistance finished, with the same nap lenght. So in my case it was developmental. It was only after 2yo that he started having longer nights with shorter naps, and then I Understood it was time for nap capping.
I must say that my ds always did 10.5-11 h nights.
Anyway, as a general rule, I would say: if something works don't fix it. It should not be exactly how it is in the book, you have to look your kid and see if he's happy, this is the most important thing.

[clairebear79]

if something works don't fix it. It should not be exactly how it is in the book, you have to look your kid and see if he's happy, this is the most important thing.

^^^this is absolutely true.

I'm not sure I could push the nap any further than 12ish (unless he sleeps in later). He is exhausted by then.

I have to say (having had a chronic early waker) that the reason he is waking earlier is because he's napping earlier.  Its a bit of a catch 22 - he needs the earlier nap because he wakes early, but because he has the early nap, he wakes early again.  The only way to break the cycle is to very gradually shift the nap a bit later.  I have done this with success the last 3 times my DS has started waking early.  It really does work but you do have to be prepared to push through a bit of OT.

[melloyello]

Last night we only got 10 hours (he was in bed at 7:20 but didn't fall asleep till nearly 8pm and then was up at 6am!) which is just too short I think! That was after a 3 hour nap. I tried pushing the nap to 12:15 today (usually 12) even though he was ready to sleep at 11:30! I'm planning on waking him after 2.5 hours today. I think chopping his nap to 2 hours right away would be a little too cruel. Anyway, hopefully we get a longer night tonight!

He has gone through periods before where his night sleep decreased for some reason (developmental?) for a couple weeks regardless of nap length but then went back to 11-11.5 after a little while. Capping that nap is tough because if he doesn't do a longer night then we get into OT territory! All we can do is try though I guess!

[clairebear79]

I think that sounds like a good plan.  Just shorten it v gradually, and as you do you should hopefully find his nights lengthen.  As they lengthen, he will then cope better with you pushing the nap a touch later, until its starting nearer to 12.30pm.

x