1 year old takes only a one hour nap (if lucky!)

[ameliebob]

Hi everyone! My son turned one year old last week end and we are on the end of the 2nd week of one nap a day. First week of dropping morning nap went pretty good having back the usual 1.5 hour afternoon nap!

But this week we are having 30 min, 45 or 60 min nap when lucky with 2-3 nightwakings that looks kind of like nightmares (wakes up screaming, sit, fusses a little and back to sleep by himself). I try to do early bedtime but he never really falls asleep before 19:00. He wakes at 7 in the morning.

What is driving me insane is that he wakes up whether crying, happy, or babbling and fussing at the same... I'm confused and don't know what to do!! I'm concerned he's not having enough sleep due to the nightwakings that started with the transition... Please I need advice fast

[creations]

Sounds like he is getting OT which is impacting his nap and then his night.  The nights sound like OT NWs to me.

I would suggest doing your usual WD for nap, get him to sleep the way you usually would, leave the room, then just before 30 mins go back in quietly and see him through the transition with a W2S (begin your usual soothing method either before he wakes or the second he stirs). If he fully wakes do what you usually do to sooth and also tell him something like "it's sleepy time, you need to sleep, go to sleep".  At 1yo he is likely to understand much of what you say and if not the words then the general tone.  Continue using W2S or soothing until he is asleep. Leave if you can when he is asleep but return for the next possible 30 min WU and repeat.
Whilst it may be hard work I really think it is worth it.
Before dropping to 1 nap mine did a very routine 2hr nap, self settled, had always done this, it was a guaranteed nap, set your clock by it yk?  But when he dropped to one nap it totally messed up. OT waking every 20 mins.  I spent several days with him in my arms screaming blue murder mid nap and he'd cry on and on until eventually falling to sleep in arms and I'd lay him down telling him "I'm putting you in bed so you can sleep properly, call if you need me" then I'd leave again.  The disturbances were way too much, too long, too much screaming etc although I knew it was worth doing it to get him more sleep.
When I started doing W2S for the 20 min WU it was so much easier for me. I 'perfected it' by crawling into his room at 19 mins putting a hand on him and rocking slightly as he woke and transitioned (still OT) and I could leave the room at 21 mins.  I had to go back in 19 mins later for the next one...and I did this for a full 2hr nap.
Because i was helping him to avoid OT he gradually caught up on his sleep and got back into the swing of the 2hr nap.  So if you are lucky you may only need to be in there a few mins, fingers crossed eh?

[ameliebob]

I wish something could soothe him when I'd like to! He sucks his thumb and has a lovey, I can usually calm him a bit by rocking him and stroking his head but yesterday (45 min) I tried for 40 min and he ended up screaming as I did not let him go on the floor to play. Then the afternoon when super smoothly happy baby.

But EW this morning at 6 without going to sleep and a total of 4 NWs. Picked him up at 7. He's also got runny nose and had his shots Monday. And mommy is overtired too as baby number 2 arrives in 3 weeks. What a nice mix up!

For the nap WD we close curtains, change diaper and he gets his lovey then to bed. I don't know what I can I do middle nap... And im anxious about W2S because I did it a LOT of times in the past and it never worked. He gets fully wake up as soon as he hears or sees something. (Light sleeper  )
I'm so confused!! Yesterday BT was at 6:30 (asleep at 6:45) and this morning it was even worse!

[creations]

What time is the nap at? And is it set at this time daily?

I think I make it sound easier than it is (or easier than it was for me, this was a rough transition for us), when I say 'sooth' him to get him back to sleep it may not appear very soothing at all when your LO is screaming in your face but the point is:
- you are there for him, he is not alone
- you are telling him to sleep, he may need to be quite firmly 'told' or shown that this is sleep time - really what this means is putting in the time to stay in the room and make him sleep.  Rocking if needed, in arms or by using a firm hand on him in the cot.

With the W2S mine was also sleeping very lightly which is why I really had to sneak and keep hidden but I put a firm hand on him and rocked at that OT WU time.  If you can handle it it might be worth you foregoing Y time for a few days to stay in the room with him so there is no noise of you coming and going. If you usually leave the room before he nods off for the nap then still do so, but return shortly later so you go in during the deepest part of that short sleep and are ready for the 30 min WU.
I can understand your reluctance to try this method again if you haven't had success with it before, I was similar tbh but my mind was changed during this particular nap drop as W2S was a life saver for us.

If you decide not to use W2S then really the only option (that I can see) is to set his nap time and BT and wait for him to sort out his sleep pattern himself.  He will eventually get so OT that he will crash out for a long nap and that should help to get him back on track.

WRT routine.  There is a chance his nap is not coming at an ideal time for him but often with a nap drop it isn't just about the timing of the nap it is about re-learning and re-establishing what the sleep ritual is - that he must sleep - and it takes a certain amount of time to settle into the new routine.

[ameliebob]

Today we will try to tweak the routine. It's very hard to establish as he goes to daycare partial time (mornings only, pick up at 12:30) and he sleeps there in the morning but not when he's home.
So till today it was
7:00 WU and breakfast
9:15 to 9:30 napping when daycare  , resting in bed when at home (not sleepy at all!)
11:45/12:00 lunch
13:00 nap time
17:00 dinner
18:30/19:00 maximum BT

We talked a lot this morning when dropping off at daycare and we will try to move the mini nap at 9 and the actual afternoon nap at 12:30. It does seems so much to be OT!

[creations]

It's hard to establish a regular one nap routine if he's getting 2 naps at daycare.
so really he is on a mixed 1 nap and 2 nap routine rather than properly on 1 nap per day.  This changes things.  The unpredictability of the day may be leading to taking the short nap.

[ameliebob]

But i do put him to morning too but when he's home he juste won't sleep. Talking chatting and bouncing for over an hour sometimes!

The last 2 days we got 1.5+ hour nap. And last night went smoothly with only one NW and no EW, but morning wake up crying (he usually wakes up happy and chatting)

But the routine seems to go all off when we are on weekend as he don't have the same "activities" like driving to daycare and then driving back home... Yk? I'll keep my fingers crossed and wish for the best! But I think we had the wrong timing with that nap...

[creations]

It sounds like you have had a good couple of days there!

[ele]

I wonder if it's a combination of two factors. he is now getting opinions of his own, so perhaps he resists and so may be you could "involve him" in going to nap process by letting him know well in advance that soon it's bedtime or telling him ,lets nap a bit and letting him agree (leave him no option  ).  secondly it seems that the naps are very close to each other, so he might actually really need more A time to fall asleep well and get some good rest during the nap. I d move nighttime closer if necessary just to make sure he gets to sleep sooner after a short nap and doesn't get OT.
my daughter would scream like yours at night if I misscalculate the bed time for her 2nd nap and put her to nap late and as a result she wakes up early from it. i observe that she is better very early in bed for the night, even as early as 2.5 hrs after a 40 min nap. there is some resistance, but she rests better at night.

[ameliebob]

The nw seems to be related to OT as I didn't get them when he took full naps. However, we get EWs those nights!! Nothing can be perfect lol
We've got a few days in a row of good solid naps only by moving them at 12:30 and early BT between 18:30/45. He still has a cold so I'm hoping things will stay like this when he will get better

[creations]

Were the days of good naps when he was not at daycare and getting the two naps then?

[ameliebob]

He's been in daycare par time (morning only) since he's 8 mo and has always been a short 45 min napper regardless of all my efforts!

The days of good naps were when he was around 10 months old...  He was taking one 45 min morning nap and one 1.5 hour afternoon nap, with a perfect night from to 7-7 routinely.
Then he started getting 45 min afternoon naps and EW around 11 mo, we cut back the morning nap to 30 min, and now we are with 15 min morning naps, as he still takes them at daycare. Some days on the week end he will settle down for the morning but most of the time he just won't sleep this nap at home.

It's been over 2 weeks though and he now seems to consolidate better his afternoon nap. We got four 1hour+ naps this week and NWs are way better. They really seems to be related to OT on bad naps days. But we are still having EW crying. Although I'm starting to think he may need less night sleep as he always wakes up at 6, I'm confused as he's still lying in the crib crying instead of sitting and chatting.  EBT improves NWs as but results in EW.  then he's super fussy at 8!

This transition is so hard!! 

[creations]

We've got a few days in a row of good solid naps only by moving them at 12:30

Sorry it was these good nap I was asking about.
I can't work out from what you posted if he is napping well after a day at day care or after having had several days not at day care and without that little cat nap.
I would imagine things ouwl run more smoothly if you could keep every day the same but as you can't make him CN in the morning at home the only other option would be to ask daycare not to put him down to nap, I know some places would be ok with that whilst others are not. Have you asked them?

[ameliebob]

Yes and she think it wouldn't be a great idea because he seems exhausted when he's there and falls asleep very quickly so we both guess he still needs it. It seems to me that it's less stimulating to be at home and that would be why he just don't sleep during the CN unless he needs to...

[ameliebob]

But why is he so inconsistent!! Today one hour on the dot! How to extend them when he can go for as long as 2,5 hour napping!!

Sunday 1,25
Monday 2,5
Tuesday 1,5
Wednesday 1,75
Thursday 45 min
Friday (today) 1

With all the same schedule every time!! Bed time timing is all over between 6 and 7 because of that.

[becj86]

I think he might be napping at daycare because he's used to it, not that he needs it, necessarily. I'd get daycare lady to stop the nap, since you're paying her to look after him. Is she preparing the room for everyone else to sleep and he's picking up on the cues?

Can you run through a week for me?
Monday - daycare, 15min nap @ 9:15; 1hr nap at home @ 12:30
etc.

I had DS napping shorter at daycare and longer at home, literally would never nap long at daycare, so we did a mix of 1 and 2 nap days for a long while.

Am I correct in thinking he's at daycare for a few hours in the morning? What are dropoff and pickup times?

[ameliebob]

Ok so we are on a fixed time schedule.
Monday to Friday :
8:30 dropoff at daycare
9:00 to 9:15 catnap at daycare
12:10 pickup from daycare
12:30 nap time at home (lenght varies)
anywhere between 18:00 and 19:00 is BT. Most of the time we try to avoid anything earlier than 18:30

so yes you figured everything right

[becj86]

I think you have a situation where he would benefit from dropping that CN. I think you've a bit of an OT/UT loop going.

He's probably a bit young to go cold turkey to one nap (how old is he precisely?). Perhaps first off I'd try a weekend with not putting him in the cot for the CN, so not having that 'quiet time' and see how he travels, whether that makes any difference to his naps through the weekend and Monday/Tuesday. Also I'd suggest starting to look at what his behaviour is like when you pick him up, what his activities have been before pickup and see if there's any correlation with the nap length. Its possible he's a little OT after a particularly physical or stimulating day or a little UT after a quiet day.

[*Ali*]

I wonder if bringing the nap even earlier would help. My DD is a few weeks older but naps much better if she isn't OT. She wakes at 7ish and I've found she will nap much better if I have her in bed again by 10.45 or earlier. Then she will usually sleep until 1 or 1.30. Honestly anything later and she is still mostly up by 1 or often only naps 1.5hrs at the most (e.g. 12-1.30). It's taken me a while to realise that she just naps better after 3hr30-45 in the AM and then a much longer A in the PM of 5.5-6hrs. Might be worth considering for your LO.