12 month old naps all over the place

[robyndb]

Hi lovely ladies!

First up, I've posted before and I just wanted to say thank you so much for your help.

My little one is just about to turn 12 months and has never been a good sleeper, but, from about 7 months I had her in a routine of:

Wake up: 6am - 7am
Nap: 10am - 11.30am
Nap: 2.30/3.00pm - 45 minute nap (at best)

That is the longest I've ever been able to get and I was happy with it.

Then, at around 10 months old she straight up started refusing her afternoon nap, so I started having to try and drive her around for a while to get that nap to happen, and then her morning nap went bananas too.

If her second nap ends after about 3.30pm she'll be a handful at bedtime too.

She's totally got me confused. Yesterday I was able to put her down at around 10.15am with no drama and she slept for about 45 minutes (and then we couldn't get her to sleep again for the rest of the day and ended up putting her to bed at 6.00pm and she was so tired she fell asleep one the boob).

Today, it's 11.45am and I've tried putting her down twice and she's kicked up a fuss. On days like this, I just keep trying and some days it's got to about 1.30pm and I still haven't got her to sleep!

I've thought that maybe she is ready for one nap, so for about a week I tried just putting her down at about 11.30am - she either went down and woke up 30-45 minutes later, or I couldn't get her down and had one of these days were I just kept getting a tantrum every time I tried to put her down until 1.30pm or later.

So, what do you guys suggest? Kid's got me stumped!

I'd just like to get on a regular routine again, and stop having her so tired before bed that she falls asleep on the boob.

Thanks in advance lovely ladies xx

[Bella89]

Hi there,
I think you're right about 2-1 transition. It sounds really familiar :/ Transitions are always a difficult time, but don't worry. It will all get better
Please, read more about 2-1 here:
From 2 to 1 nap transition (10-12m and older)

Believe me, we were all there. The key to a smooth transition is to do it gradually, so i.e. if she goes for her first nap at 10 am one day, it's probably not a good idea to put her down for that nap at 11 the next day. 1h difference is a lot to take in 1 day.
I would suggest doing it in smaller increments, so let's say 20 min. Then your whole day will change a bit and maybe be a mess for a while, but 20 min will make it better nevertheless. Do you know what I mean?
It is also possible, that this will cause her BT to be earlier for a while, but it doesn't mean it will stay that way for good. It's just temporary.

What if you ried something like this for the next 3 days:

6:30 WU
10:20 nap 1
3:00 nap 2 (try for no more than 25 min if she refuses, try again after 1h for 15 min - that's of course if you think it's sufficient)
If the second nap does not happen start BT routine at 5:30 (6BT) if she will sleep at all start it at 6.

Wdyt?

The key to a good transition is to push that morning A time, so the second nap would disappear by itself and will not have time to happen

[robyndb]

Thank you. Yes, I need to start over and this sounds like a good time for the first nap. I'll keep you posted.

[Bella89]

Keeping my fingers crossed for you

[robyndb]

Hello!

So, pretty much here is how we've been going:

Wake up: 6.30am
Nap 1: 10.20 (the most I can get is 45 minutes, although she goes down a dream)
Nap 2: can't get her down for a second nap, at all. I tried 3pm as suggested (and for 25 minutes), and I've tried a bit earlier (as she hasn't been having a long morning nap) - doesn't make a difference, she won't go down.

So, based on that, what do you suggest I do with her morning nap?

I've been putting her down at about 5.45pm - 6.00pm to compensate for the crap nap.

[Bella89]

Look at the link I send you. I think you could try approach #2 (based on the long AM nap she took before we tried the trasition).

This is what I did and I think our LO are similar:
Every 3-4 days I increased morning A time by 15 min- 20 min. There were set backs i.e. I sometimes put DS down sooner than planned, but that was just 1 day and I was sticking to the plan after.
So tomorrow you could try:
6:30 WU
10:30 nap1
3:30 offer nap2, but only for 20min then get up
6.00 BT if she doesn't take nap2 longer than 30min

3 -4 days later depending on how she will take it do something like this:
6:30 WU
10:45 nap1
3:30 or 3:45 offer nap2
6:00-6:30 BT again, depending on nap2

We're aiming for this probably:
6:30 WU
12-2:30 nap1
7 BT
How do you like it? Wdyt?

Short naps and fighting sleep is a common thing during the transition. That's why it is so easy to give up, because we feel like we're distroying one good nap LO was taking before. But that will all pass. Believe me.

Also, you will probably hit the time when she will nap late in the afternoon, but Tracy was right when she said napping after 6 is not a good idea.
There was a week late in the transition when DS slept like this:
7 WU
11:00 - 1:30 nap
5:30-6:00 nap 2
8 BT
After waking him up at 6 which he hated, it took 3 days for him to change that to 7BT. But that was only because I knew he wouldn't do 6 BT.
Do you see where I am going with this?

What do you think?