2 to 1, how - what - when and the bumpy ride!

[LindseysMom]

Hello again.  I can not decide what to do here.  Lindsey has been refusing her afternoon nap for about a week now.  Except yesterday when it took her an hour to fall asleep for her am nap and then she only slept for 30 minutes.  Then she got a 30 minute nap in the car on the way home from the doctors.   She slept last night from 7:30 til 730 this am.  I was thinking about trying to just keep her up til 12:30 and feed her lunch at 11:30 but I just don't know if that is the right thing to do.  Her ped says it is fine to keep offering 2 naps even if she does not sleep for one of them.  For those of you that have transitioned to one nap, did your lo start waking early int he am, like before 6 am?   That is the main reason why I am so weary about changing for fear she will start with the early wakings again.   Has anyone transitioned without your lo resorting to ealry wakings?  She has not started with the ealry wakings this past week but I have heard they do fine with 1 nap for little while and then the troubles begin.  Stacy, I remember reading where you put Max down to 1 nap at 11 months old, did he start with early wakings?   I guess I just wish I knew the answer for sure if this is what she needs or not.  She is almost 13 months old.  When she does not get her afternoon nap she can get pretty cranky in the evening around supper but once she eats she is usually ok til bedtime.  Any suggestions.  Megs Mom, what do you think I should do?  Anyone else?

[jayne]

gina is 15 months and i transitioned her to one nap because when i would give her an early nap she didnt need the second nap until around 5 that being too late she was so overtired when i would push her until 6 or 6:30 for bed..

i found that at this point everyday will be different for you.. somedays she will need an morning nap and others she wont..

what i did was try to push the morning nap later--gina's ideal amount of wake time at this point is 5-6 hours so if she gets up at 7 am i am looking to put her down around 12 she sleeps for about 2 hours and then bedtime at 7pm--

but you need to find what works best for lindsey...follow her lead and watch closely for tired signs and make a note of when she is tired.. if you can give her quiet time in the morning or afternoon and it doesnt interfere with bedtime or lead to a complete meltdown in the early evening i would just go with it for now..

good luck

[tylersmommy]

I transitioned Tyler to 1 nap on 2 separate occasions. First time, he was 10.5 mo and was refusing his AM nap. It didn't go so well. The early wakings started after a few days, the nap got shorter and shorter, and he was one overtired baby. It got to the point where he was falling asleep during lunch with a mouthful of broccoli. After 2 wks of it getting worse and worse, he was just miserable, so we went back to 2 naps but I limited each one to 30 min (unheard of, huh? :lol: ). That fixed the early wakings quickly and he was fine.

At 13 mo, he was skipping his AM nap every single day for about 2 wks. I bit the bullet and just started putting him down for his PM nap early, and the transition went much better. He truly was ready. After several days, that nap got longer on its own. IMHO, it doesn't hurt to give it a try. You may have a miserable couple of weeks while her body adjusts, but at the end of those couple of weeks (sometimes longer), you'll know for sure if she's ready for the transition or not. If not, you can always go back to 2 naps. Does that make sense?

[LindseysMom]

Well, I tries to do one nap today but I don't know if it is going to work or not.  I kept her up and I did not see any yawns till 11:15, so I gave her a snack and put her down at 12:00.  So, I went to the store and of course she was awake when I got home.  Dh said she coughes at 12:30 a few times and then was awake at around 1:00. :roll:  I know she was tired when I put her down and I really thought she would have slept a while longer, at least an hour and 15 - 30 minutes.  Now I guess I will just have to see how she is doing later today as to whether I put her down again or not.   This sucks!  Should I give her a real lunch before I put her down instead of a snack?  I gave her milk and some goldfish creackers at 11:15.  Maybe her cold bothered her this am since she was coughing some.  She does have a little cold going on.

[jayne]

i feed gina lunch before i put her down..but not usually something that is too heavy..

it will take a little while for her to settle in... and a cold never helps--hope tonight goes well for you..

[LindseysMom]

Well, this may have not been the best thing to do but I put her back down at 4:50 b/c she was tired and fussy and I knew she would not even be able to make it til 7:30 if I did'nt.   I guess this will move her bedtime to a little later but I guess that is ok for tonight.  I have found that the less sleep time she gets at night the better she takes naps for me during the day.  I had been putting her to bed earlier this week due to the lack of afternoon naps so maybe she was getting so much sleep at night that is why she would not sleep much during the day?   Who knows. :roll:

[jayne]

that actually may help you as long as she doesnt sleep too long.. if she goes down later and sleeps later in the morning--that is the key-- then you can hold off the morning nap until later..otherwise she will wake up and be tired and will need a morning nap..

but this is normal when you transition from two naps to one

[Meg's Mom]

Hi Lynne, we were out ALL day.

Welcome to the 1 nap transition club  :twisted: sorry. 

For those of you that have transitioned to one nap, did your lo start waking early int he am, like before 6 am?
We didn't have any early waking during the transition.  The only early wakings we had was when the time changed but by that point we were doing great w/ the 1 nap so i don't think it was due to that.

They all undergo one nap is too little and 2 naps too many phase – so expect it too take 2-3 wks.  I found this to be SO true.

I know she only slept for 1hr today but remember, you know you have decided to give 1 nap but she doesn't.  Was she sleeping for 1hr for her am previously?  Megan was stuck at 1.15hr for 2 weeks, i tried awake to sleep and immediately she started sleeping 2hrs.

Since the time change, on some days, i have had to give her a 30min catnap or she can't make it to 1pm for her nap.  But as you may know from my other posts, she hasn't been well for a few weeks now (ear infections, allergies, possible reflux, teething and cold)...so try to be patient and give Lindsey time to adjust especially if she is sick.

So, i would continue on your 1 nap plan - expect it to take a few weeks - make bedtime earlier if needed - take a walk or drive in the am to distract her - offer a catnap if needed – I give a normal lunch and then offer a big snack after nap.

It wasn't as bad as i thought it was going to be, really!  So don't let your mind get ahead of yourself.

Hope that helps, feel free to ask questions!

[Keren]

Lynne

Josh too refused his afternoon nap. The only way I could get him to nap was to go for a drive in the car. After two weeks this got a bit tiresome so I just bit the bullet and pushed him. The first two days he made it to 12:30 but then his nap went to 30mins so I started to put him down 5 hours after he woke up. Now he is at 5.5 - 6 hrs before he goes down for a nap. He never woke early in the morning except when he started to get used to the one nap and I was putting him down 30mins earlier than usual. He started to not add that 30mins onto his night sleep so I pushed him back o 7pm bed and now he wakes around 6-7 in the morning.

So now he goes down around 12am and I give him half his lunch at 11:30 and the rest when he wakes.

I only get around 1 -1.5 hrs nap. I would love him to do 2hrs but I think I lucked out and scored myself a power napper who doesn't need a lot of sleep to get through the day.

I do remember once when I thought he was going to one nap so I pushed him but by 6pm he was crying (having a meltdown) so I knew he wasn't ready. When I started the tranisition he didn't have that meltdown so I knew he was ready.

Hope all this helps

Cheers
Keren

[Noelle]

Lynne,
I'm sort of having this problem too (she sleeps great at daycare though we do the same thing).  I wait and put Zoe down between 12 and 1 and she'll sleep 30 minutes - an hour at most a few days.  I then put her down again between 3:30 and 4 and wake her up after 20-30 minutes.  Just enough of a power nap to get her through to bed time. 

[LindseysMom]

Well, I swear no two days are alike.  Today I put her down at 11 am and she slept til 1 pm.   now I am guessing she will not need another nap but who knows.  We are going to Target.  Oh, she only slept 30 minutes yesterday so I did not have to wake her up but boy was she a crank when she woke up.  I ended up putting her to bed at 8:30 and she slept til around 8 am.  Thanks for the advice ladies, it really helps me get through this.

[Fiona (Leah & Kians Mom)]

Hi Lindsey,
You are having a rough time of it. Have to admit mornings here can still be a bit icky, dd is tired around 11.30ish but I have started to take her for a walk or have quiet time where I let her watch her bear dvd. She is going down 5 hours after wake up and does between 1.5 and 2 hours and then bed time is about 4.5 hours later and she does 12 hours more or less. I find on the days when dh is home or we are out and about somewhere in the morning she is easier to handle, when its just the 2 of us she seems to remember she is tired and gets cranky.
Fiona

[LindseysMom]

This just gets worse and worse.  Today she refused her am nap.  So tomorrow I am just going to keep her up til after lunch and then put her down.  Wish me luck please.

[tylersmommy]

Hang in there, Lynne. It's a tough age and can be soooo frustrating! You're totally right...no 2 days are alike. Hopefully things will straighten out soon!

[Meg's Mom]

Lynne

We did this too...day 1 nap, next day 2 (back and forth guessing at what she needed).  I then decided i wasn't go to do that any more (too stressful and wasn't working - totally normal btw!).

I then stuck to the nap 1:
-putting her down after lunch
-about 5hrs after am wake up
-more lunch upon waking.

If she didn't sleep long enough i did pd for the rest of the entire nap time (s/b 2hrs).

Like Fiona, we also go for a walk, drive or something that makes her sit still to rest at about 10am - if she does fall asleep i let her sleep for 20-30min max.  I too find if we just stay in at that time, she is really cranky.

Good luck!  You will get thru this  :wink:

[LindseysMom]

This is so awful.  so, after she would not go to sleep this am I went and got her and fed her lunch and put her back down at 1:00.  She slept only 40 minutes! :evil:  I just hope this is her cold and not totally her.  So, she was so fussy after she woke I took her to the doctor's to make sure she does not have an ear infection, nope, we just got back.  She would not even fall asleep in the car for me.  So, she has had 40 minutes worth of napping today total.   I guess I am just going to watch her and if she needs to go down again around 5 i will put her down again.  If not I just don't know if she will make it to even 7 or 7:30.   

Does anyone mind posting what your schedules are with just one nap after lunch.  thanks.

[Meg's Mom]

Her cold isn't helping - that's for sure. 

For tomorrow - you might to think about trying wake to sleep...ever done that w/ her before?

Schedule:
6.30am bottle followed by breakfast
9.30 snack
rest – start NO Later then 10am
if tired, can sleep for 20-30min - car or stroller ok
11.30 -12.00 Lunch

12.45 start nap wind-down
NAP TIME 1pm to 3pm Minimum
3.00 or when up from nap - snack
5.30 Dinner
6.15 bath followed 6.45 snack (if wanted)
7:00/7.15 bed

I know this sucks, hugs to you both!

[LindseysMom]

Thanks, I watched her for tired signs and they never came before supper so she was up til bedtime. Needless to say she konked out while breastfeeding before bed.  I just hope tomorrow is a better day.  For me and for her.

[Meg's Mom]

just wondering are you giving any otc (over the counter meds) while she is sick?  For us the make her tired, but for you they my make her WIDE awake?  Just a thought.

Hope tomorrow is better! :roll:

[LindseysMom]

Argh.....and a few curse words too.  Well today was no better.  I put her down at noon and again she only slept 45 minutes.  I put her down at 4:30 pm just to see if she would nap but nope, she wouldn't.  She woke at 7:20 after bed last night at 7:50, so about 11.5 hours at night.  She breastfed at about 7:50, had breakfast at around 9:00.  I gave her some milk in a sippy at 11:oo with a few bites of a granola bar.  so, she started acting tired right at 12:00 so  I put her to bed.  I heard her cough right before she woke up too.   Do you think i should have just kept her up a little longer to try and feed her more?  The only thing is even on the day that she had more to eat like a real snack she still did not sleep very long.  Should I go back to the earlier nap and see what happens.  THis is so frustrating.

Oh, I had been giving her a decongestant but her doc said not too so I did not today. 

We are supposed to go to my parents for Thanksgiving and I usually travel during her nap time but now I don't even know when the best time for that is.   :roll:

[Meg's Mom]

I would try to push her a bit more - say 12.30 or so (that's 5hrs A) and i would also awake to sleep at 35mins. 

Like i said before, she doesn't know that is only getting one nap - so keep at it as best you can - hugs.

[Fiona (Leah & Kians Mom)]

heres our schedule,
8.00 or 8.15 wake up and breakfast, if she is not awake I wake her.
10.30-12.00 walk to shops and half hour quiet time watching dvd, she would never sleep anywhere except bed these days.
12.00 lunch.
13.00-15.00 sometimes 15.15 Nap
afternoon activities, bath around 17.30
18.00 Dinner
19.30 wind down and bed at 19.45.
DD gets no snacks because she eats almost nothing as it is and drinks maybe 3 oz of milk during the day  :cry:
Fiona

[LindseysMom]

Well, she did sleep a little longer today. An hour and 15 minutes.  That is better htan 45 minutes.  Although she only slept for 11 hours versus 11.5 hours last night so was that the difference maybe.  How do you know that they are really ready for one nap and not just overtired?  she shows no tired signs anymore before noon.  She just seems so wired too but is that just how toddlers are?    Today I put her down at 12:30ish after a snack and she slept til about 1:50.  She still was tired though at 5 or 5:30 but i did not want to put her down that late in the day.  I tried to take her upstairs for a nap at 11:15 but she started to really pitch a fit so I did not go through with it.     I tried to get her in bed early tonight.  Actually I did, put her in bed at 7:30 and it took her til 7:50 before she was quiet.  I am so afraid I am making her overtired.  She seems to be more whiney and touchy than ever before.  Is this normal when trying to transition to one nap.  How do you know for sure that this is the right thing to do?   I guess I just need reasurance that I am not messing her up and creating an overtired monster.

[Meg's Mom]

Hi Lindsey, ya!  that is improvement - it sounds like the tide is turning.  We started w/ small increases also. 

Nothing you have posted leads me to believe she isn't ready for the 1 nap.  How do we know they are ready - They refuse to take 1 or both naps, take 2 really short naps which don't restore them or you have to push the A times out so far that bed time would be too late. 

I think you are doing great.  Remember this is basically your last nap struggle and i think you 2 are almost there  :wink: .

[LindseysMom]

Thank you for the reasurance.  I appreciate it.  Hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!

[LindseysMom]

Ok, so just an update.  Finally after 2 plus weeks of total nap hell this past Monday I thought she was finally getting past the short naps.  She slept well Mon - Fri with at least 2 hour naps each day.  Now today she just went from 2 hours back down to one hour and 15 minutes.  And each day they have been getting a little shorter and shorter.   I have been putting her to bed at 7:30 and today she did wake up a bit earlier for her although I still did not go in to get her til 7:45 as she was not crying or fussing.    I have been putting her down for her nap at 12:30 after lunch around 11 or so.   I just don't want the nap problems to be starting again.  I thought things were getting  better.   :cry:   Do you think she was just catching up on sleep at the beginniing of the week and now she is going back to her old self?   She is still up there now not really crying but fussing a bit as I just want to see if she will go back to sleep because another thing I did notice this past week is that I would hear her wake up a bit at the hour and 30 min mark and then she would go back to sleep.    I so hope we are not going backwards again.  :cry:

[Meg's Mom]

Lynne - glad she is / was on the right track.  Don't rush in there!  If not crying and fussing like you said - then leave her be.  Megan does this sometimes...wakes at 45min or 1.15min and even some times at the 2hr mark (a couple time this week at the 2hr mark...I didn't get off the pc right away and she was talking - by the time i got up she was quite again). 

Long and short of it, give her plenty of time to resettle at these wakings!  Hold back, Hold back, Hold back...i know it is hard - but if you give her a chance she should go back to sleep.  Now you know i don't mean CIO  :roll:

She needs to know that nap time is 120min and NO shorter :twisted:

[LindseysMom]

Hey Michelle.  I gave her til 2:30 and she did not ever go back to sleep so I went and got her.  She got a little fussy but never really cried but I just figured she was not going back to sleep after that long( about 45 minutes).   One thing I have noticed too is that she has been getting really tired and yawning alot around 5:00 or so.  Is this normal.  I hate to put her down to much before 7:30 as I don't want her up at 6 am.  Also, she just cried out like she was maybe having a bad dream or something.  Has Meg done that?  Do you think it may be she is not sleeping well?  I think she is teething again.  Thanks.

[Meg's Mom]

thing I have noticed too is that she has been getting really tired and yawning alot around 5:00 or so. Is this normal.

Not sure, our sleepy hr is still between 10-11am...is it just before dinner...she could be needing food/fuel maybe try moving dinner up a bit?!

Also, she just cried out like she was maybe having a bad dream or something. Has Meg done that

Megan does this, but i think it is something bottering her...like teeth.  It can certainly disrupt her sleep.  Do you use the teething tab?  We have had good luck w/ them.

[Sylvia.]

well done lynne, it sounds like you have had your work cut out for you these past few weeks, we are also going having a few nap problems, somedays we do one and some days we do two, naps are never at the same time, and wake time is never the same, i have noticed that when she does two naps she sleeps an hour longer the next day, anyway i have learn alot and will be reading and rereading this thread many times as i am sure she will be on one nap before christmas, you should have it sorted out by then as you seem to be doing really well

[Fiona (Leah & Kians Mom)]

Hi Lynne,
Glad to see you are pretty much on track. We too have sleepy hour between 10 and 11. As Michelle says it could be hunger? If dd gets cranky around that time we go for a short walk, or put some music on or her famous bear dvd just for half an hour then bath at 5.30 which always puts her back in good humour. We have really bad teething going on here too and just added our first head cold in 7 months!
Fiona