19 months still 2 naps!?

[Jessleigh]

Just wondering if anyone else's LO held on to 2 naps for this long!?

I kept thinking she was ready to transition but every attempt has brought us back to square one with a very tired LO.

She WU 6-6:30. And is usually ready for nap by 9 tho we stretched it to 10. Then she'll either sleep 40mins, 55 or 1hr 25. I thought this was UT but most days she acts OT and wakes crying and wants to lay on my shoulder when I get her up.

Then she'll sometimes go down again by 2 for an hr but most days I have to ap a second nap. This also lead me to believe she was ready for 1 nap but in reality I think it's due my aping that has gotten her to the point of not wanting to take the pm independently

If we go for 1 nap I push her til 11. Shes usually miserable. Then it's only for an hour. EBT only works once or twice and then we get super EWs. I've had them as early as 4:30 when doing EBT so I also try to get her to 7. Occasionally 6:30 on bad days.

Just feel alone in this territory as most LOs have transitioned long ago.

DD just doesn't seem ready and every time I think she is I give it a week and she's a mess dying for a nap as early as 8am sometimes!

Should I just go back to putting her down at 9am when she's tired?
So confused.

[jessmum46]

I wonder if perhaps she was getting ready to transition, but got rather OT in the process and now needs a two nap routine again for a bit to get back on track?  Has she always been high sleep needs?

I'd be tempted to try something like:

WU 6/6.30
Nap 9/9.30 for 30 mins (capped)
Nap 12.30/1 aiming 1.5-2h (wake at 2h if doesn't wake naturally)
BT 6.30/7

Do you think that could work?

I wonder if the reason she won't take a pm nap is not just the AP thing, but because her am nap is too long?  DD definitely reached a point where she wouldn't take a second nap willingly if she had any more than 20-25 mins in the am, so it may be if you cut her am nap short for her she will be more willing to take a good second nap.

[Jessleigh]

Yeah I've tried that too but it's hit and miss with the second nap. She seems to always be high sleep needs but never takes long naps. Just needed more shorter ones. Didn't drop the 3rd catnap til 10 months!

I migh give the capped am nap another go. The trouble is its the am nap thats usually the best so it's hard to get up the courage to cap! that's why I went for napping at 10 then aped CN at 3:30. But some days that doesn't work if she's ot by 10 and wakes after 35/40 mins.

Thanks for the idea. Ill give it a go.

[jessmum46]

Let me know how you get on x

[katie80]

My DD was just like this.  She went to one nap around 17.5/18mo, but it kept getting shorter and shorter til she was an OT mess and I was forced to go back to 2 as it was the only way to catch her up.  She's never been a power through it kind of girl.  I got so frustrated with people telling me she should just be on one nap (she was too old for two naps), because it honestly didn't work. She would still take 2 naps even up to 2yr old, when she was teething and got OT. 

I wonder if the reason she won't take a pm nap is not just the AP thing, but because her am nap is too long?  DD definitely reached a point where she wouldn't take a second nap willingly if she had any more than 20-25 mins in the am, so it may be if you cut her am nap short for her she will be more willing to take a good second nap.

I think this is right on, though.  If you want two naps to really work, I think you need to cap the morning one and do a longer afternoon one.  Then, you can cut the morning one down to 20min and it should be easier to get to one nap.  It does sound on the whole that she's never really getting a full nap, which might be leading to some UT/OT issues.  The timings and nap lengths are UT, but she acts OT because it's never really enough sleep to restore her.  My DD was like that too, I always thought she was OT because she never seemed to get enough sleep, but she was UT too some of the time and not doing full naps.  When I finally stumbled onto a 20min am, 1.5-2hr pm nap it was like I hit gold with her.