Hi all,
Just joining in on the 2-1 nap journey. We just started "officially" this past Monday. It's been 6 days and so far, it's going okay. We went cold turkey. My son will be 18 months on Sunday and he was still really enjoying his 2 naps a day at 1.5 hours each, however his A times we gradually increasing. Not to mention, some mornings we have his toddler groups like music and story time and those start between 9:30 and 10am, which was his normal am nap time. On those days he was still doing down for a nap as soon as we'd get home around 11am, I'd cap those naps at about 40 minutes. But he started to get cranky when I would wake him early. He would still go down for his pm nap, but those times were getting later and later, but he would typically always fall to sleep. The real issue became bedtime. We'd start our routine at 6:30 with bathtime and story and put him in the crib by 7/7:15. In days past, he would talk himself to sleep in about 15 minutes and then sleep until about 6:45/ 7am. But in the last month, we'd lay him down at the same time and he would fool around in his crib for an hour, sometimes 1.5! Not going to sleep until almost 9pm. And then wake up at the same time in the am and be exhausted, thus requiring an am nap. Then delaying that pm nap until sometimes 3:30pm, causing a vicious cycle. we'd had enough and decided cold turkey was best because I know he can handle a longer A time based on his behavior on the mornings we have scheduled groups.
Now, I've been keeping him engaged in the mornings, always leaving home 9am and spending time in the park or at the playground, running errands and going to our groups. Snacks and engagement have been really helpful. I've moved his lunch to 11am and then naptime is usually about 11:30/11:45. He still takes about 15minutes or to fall asleep once I leave him in the crib. Two days we've had OT tantrums at the tail end of lunch. With his growing independence, he wants to do something himself and can't quite do it and it sets him off...I know it's the OT that causes the frustration and meltdown.
So the one nap is lasting 1.5 hours consistently. One morning he slept late until 7:45am and didn't fall asleep for his nap until 1pm and that nap lasted 2 hours. We've moved bedtime anywhere from 5:45-6:30pm and it's been going well. We've had a couple NW where we put him right back to sleep or he does it himself and he's sleeping until between 6:45-7:15am each day.
I am just wondering about how long will it take for the nap to stretch a bit longer. And if I am in danger of building up OT, since he's having NWs a couple of nights. Any input is appreciated!
