26 month lo 1-0 nap transition hell

[jessmum46]

It is hard I think an hour's nap is too much though now, why not just do a later CN in the car? No need for nap routine, if you do it say 3/3.30pm then he will have had a proper long A time in the day so may settle better at bedtime. Two 6h A times may not make him that tired, whereas say an 8h A time and a 4h might mean he is more tired iyswim?

Sorry posted with Shiv, just another option to consider on days he is a mess with no nap x

[Chloevalentine]

Today he fell asleep instantly in car ( he never sleeps in car which is what makes the cn hard) at 345 and I woke him after 20 mins. He was passed out! Then into bed at 8 and still took him until 835/840 to fall asleep. I find him getting out of crib to get a favorite book of his and he brings it back to his crib and lays there reading it. I think it's keeping him up later lol. We had such a busy day I'm surprised that it took him that long to fall asleep.  That's a 13 hour day with a 20 min catnap!

[Chloevalentine]

So I'm wondering if anyone has luck with a later nap from like 2-3 and a shorter A time before bed? As of now on nap days we are doing a 1 hour nap from 130-230 I wake him and he's usually half asleep yawning watching a show of two for awhile and it takes him a bit to wake up and be playful. Then I'm finding that he's still pretty energetic toward bedtime and doesn't seem to wind down as much as he used to which is leading to some bedtime shennaningans where he wants to sit and read 25 books! Or maybe I should try an earlier nap like we used to do around 1? Just trying to find his sweet spot. As he is going down for his nap these days well and am trying to keep it. Thanks

[jessmum46]

Yes we did a nap 1.30/2-3 for a while (as in put down at around 1.30, would often sleep at around 2/2.15 and we'd wake by 3) with a 6.30/7 WU and 7pm BT, though sometimes it would take a while for DD to fall asleep.  She was also a little younger when that worked well. Have you thought about shortening his nap though?  It's been suggested to you a few times and I notice you are still giving an hour's nap.  It may be too much.....

[Chloevalentine]

I have tried a 45 min but he was awful when I woke him and took a while to calm down. The cn just doesn't work for us as he rarely sleeps in car. So I was just keeping his day longer in order to do the 1 hour nap. He wakes around 715 bed around 830 so I didn't think the 1 hour nap was too much with that long of a day and it just seems to be worth it being that he's in much better spirits when he takes the nap. So he's doing about a 13-13.5 hr day and 11 hrs at night.  So he's still getting 12 hours total.

[Shiv52]

Neither of mine would have coped with a 1 hour nap and shorter A time to bed.  They needed a decent A time to bed and I think your LO seems similar.  At some point you will likely have to shorten the nap as the tend to need more and more A time and I know with mine when a short nap meant a proper A time to bed. What you want to avoid is going to bed UT for too long as you will most likely start to get bedtime resistance.

[Chloevalentine]

Could I try an earlier nap to keep the A time before bed longer? Maybe I should shorten nap to 45 mins. I just hate waking him at that time because he's so miserable.

[jessmum46]

You can try an earlier nap.  Waking him after a shorter nap when he hasn't been awake so long beforehand may also be easier.

That said my advice above to shorten his nap was on the basis of him taking 30-45 mins to fall asleep at bedtime, I thought that was the issue you wanted help with?  But then you seem to have said you are ok with him asleep at 8.30pm.  Sorry I'm bit lost   What is the main issue that you are struggling with right now?  From my perspective things don't seem so bad though appreciate it's not me doing it!!

[Chloevalentine]

He's starting to stall at bedtime and isn't falling asleep until after 830. That's my issue. It seems that it takes him a while to wake up after nap and get going and he's more awake by bedtime than usual. Yes 830 is on the late side here since my husbands schedule also has him in bed by 830 but it's been worth it since he's in such better spirits with the nap. I put him down for a nap earlier today at 1 so we will see if the longer A time before bed helps. He's even doing  the one more book at nap and crying. Not sure if he's just not wanting to nap ( he falls asleep within 2 mins though) or if he just wants to keep reading. Lately he loves his books and we read all throughout the day he can't get enough sorry for the confusion

[Chloevalentine]

We did same bedtime into crib around 815 after reading a bunch of books he cried for a minute to read more but went to bed happy and calm and he was up in his bed reading books by himself until almost 9! That's almost a 14 hour day with a 1 hour nap! He was up this morning by 715! Just seems like a long day with an hour nap. Guess my next step is to shorten nap more and see if he's still up reading books all night lol. He is obsessed with his books lately

[Shiv52]

Yeah I think it's either accept he needs more time to be ready to sleep or you need to shorten the nap. Mine would have needed a 14 hour day with a one hour nap at that age so I don't think it's that unusual.

[Chloevalentine]

He's waking earlier everyday too today he's up at 7 after going to bed at 9. I'm not sure that the nap time routine is worth putting him down for 30 mins. This is probably why people drop the nap right. But a 14 hr day just brings bedtime too late sigh. On nnds he only does 11.5 hr day! Guess we will just have to deal with the awful afternoons for a while until he can handle it. It's odd that he's clearly needing more A time but yet can barely handle a nnd.  I see others with kids that still nap at 3 and are in bed much earlier so I was just being hopeful. Thanks everyone for your help .

[Chloevalentine]

So today we did just a 20 min catnap in car at 2. He slept in a bit later this morning until around 740 after not falling asleep until 9 last night. So we did bedtime earlier into crib around 735 and it took him 1 hour to fall asleep at 835! He gets upset and cries when book reading time is done and it's time to go into crib. We let him bring a book into bed and we say good night. He stays up reading and now is even getting out of bed to read more books on the floor next to nightlight! I'm at a complete loss as to what to do.

[Shiv52]

Given the later start and the nap even if it was 20 mins 7.30 was too early for bed as you know from the fact it took him so long to settle. Some kids are just refuelled by even a short nap.

Your choices are pretty much cut the nap completely and let his wee body clock adjust or else I think you did to set bedtime give or take 15 mins only. So like yesterday even though he slept only a short time 5 hours A time just wasn't enough. And you just need to commit to the later bedtime until there is no more day sleep.

[Chloevalentine]

Wow ok I really didn't think after a 20 min nap he would still resist bedtime. Ugh. Guess I'll try a nnd and see if he goes to bed easier tonight. If I can keep him awake today thanks