1 year old - Maybe ready 2:1?

[marilyn73]

Hi,
As usual, I procrastinated posting thinking the problem would go away….
Anyhow, this is regarding my baby #3, now 1 year old.  I would consider her an excellent sleeper in general, however, she's currently revolting against her afternoon nap maybe 50% of the time.  She does not take well to shushing, patting, or put down/put down/put down.  The only time I have success in the afternoon is when I place her in her crib and she happily rolls over.  If she stands herself up, she hollers off/on for up to an hour (when I rescue her).  Interventions by me do not seem to work.
The morning nap is well received  - the EASY below is for a good nap day:

7am awake
10:15-11:45 - nap
3:00-4:00 - nap
7:15 to bed for the night, usually sleeping through.

on a no pm nap day, bedtime is usually 7ish

She's about to start daycare (Jan 4).  I'm still on mat leave so I have the next 2-3 weeks to get this straightened out.  Daycare will accommodate any nap schedule I request, but I worry that she may not have as long/high quality morning nap, and that combined with no nap #2 could give us a cranky camper at pickup.

Should I try to force the 2:1 transition? Keep offering 2 naps? She's very ready in the morning….can't imagine waiting until after lunch.  Her 2 older sisters hung on to 2 naps until 20 mths, so this seems early to me.
Ideas?

[Bella89]

Hello,
I feel like nap transitioning is different for every child. We're going through 2-1 right now, and my DS is 10,5 months.
It is perfectly normal, that she might need a nap one day, prefers a quite time the other or nothing at all.
On the days when she doesn't want to go down for 2nd nap, do you still see she is tired? OR is she ok and your intuition is just telling you it's time for a nap like always?
To me, it really sounds like she stepped into 2-1 transition and needs your help with it a little. Do you thing maybe you can slowly increase her morning A time, lets say in 15 min increments?
With my DS, we got to 7WU, 11:30-1-30 nap1, 6:30 BT or 5ish-6ish nap2 (it's 50/50, when at 5 I know he can no longer function I would just put him down, but have to wake him almost always:/). SOo we either have 6:30BT or 8BT. But this is for a baby that always preferred naps in the morning.
What do you think?

[marilyn73]

If she refused often enough, I'd totally go with your push the am nap plan.  My exact advice when my bro couldn't get his little one napping properly - worked like a charm.
But, just yesterday, nap #2 was 3:15-4:40, with 7pm BT - so days like that totally convince me that she still needs 2 naps.
I do just do it because it's nap time, like you said (and I have a 4 and 6 year old home from school then, so one out of the picture is bonus). DD often doesn't seem that tired, and frankly, when she does refuse nap #2, she's fine for the dinner and the evening.  I might put her down 10 min early, and she might fall asleep while doing her bedtime feed, but that's the only repercussion.
We don't really have a serious issue, but I really want the daycare transition to go smoothly…Also, we run a household on a pretty regular routine, so I like to know with a certain amount of precision when naps are and how to plan our day / activities!

[Bella89]

You might actually have more experience on that than I do, but I know my DS wah BT with no problem and slept through nap#2 1-1.5h and I still had a hard time putting him down. Try if you have room for that first A time increase and you will see if nap#2 will go better:) Hth