Author Topic: Should I move 13 mo DS to 1 nap? (long)  (Read 1615 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Paulsmama

  • BW Aficionado
  • ***
  • Showing Appreciation 2
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 216
  • Location:
Should I move 13 mo DS to 1 nap? (long)
« on: April 22, 2006, 03:36:29 am »
Hi folks, I would love any advice about how to handle DS's naps.  Right now they are all over the place, and we have nightwakings too.  He seems to have more sleep on his 1-nap days.  Would you just ride it out and follow his lead or push him towards 1 nap?  I'm worried about him getting overtired.  He is quite spirited and hard to keep up with (but typically a joy!!!) and I'm pretty beat with the nightwakings already. 

Over the past 2 weeks we have had three kinds of days:

1-nap:
7:30 wake (bottle, breakfast)
11 eat half a lunch+
11:30/11:45 asleep for 2-2.5 hrs
1:30/2:15 wake, bottle and half a lunch+
(snack sometime in here)
5:15 dinner
6 bath, bottle, bedtime routine
6:45/7 asleep for the night (2-3 brief nightwakings)
6:30 wake

1.5-naps (2 days only):
6:30/7 wake and eat
9:30/10 nap for 1 hr max
10:30/11 snack
12:30 lunch then bottle
2:30ish nap for ~15 min  :o
3:15 give up on going back to sleep nap, eat snack
5:15 dinner
6:00 bath, bottle, bedtime routine
6:45/7 asleep for the night (3+ brief nightwakings)
6:30 wake

2-naps:
6:30/7 wake and eat
9:30/10 nap for 1 hr max (99% of the time wake him)
10:30/11 snack
12:30 lunch then bottle
2:30ish nap for 1hr 15 min (usu. wake him)
3:45/4 wake and snack
5:30 dinner
6:30 bath and hang out with dad
7:15 bottle and bedtime routine
asleep for night by 8 (3+ nightwakings including 1 for 30-90 min)
wake between 6:30-7:30 depending on length of nightwakings

The main reason I am hesitant to push him to 1 nap is that he can't handle much more than 4 hrs A time in the morning.  The 1-nap days have all involved at least 1 hr in some combo of the stroller/car so that he is relaxed and quiet (he won't fall asleep there).  One day we did push him to 12 (4.5 A) for falling asleep but only got a 1hr15min nap!  On days he wakes around 6:30 he easily falls asleep for a morning nap at 9:30.  The A time after his first nap has always been his longest of the day except for a couple of weeks after we dropped his third nap at 9 mos.

Any thoughts?  Should I just try to go with the flow until it sorts itself out?  Push him to 1?  A friend told me to try to keep 2 naps as long as possible because once he starts walking properly he'll be tired and want 2??
Cynthia

Paul--spirited/March 2005
Joseph--touchy-textbook??/Sept 2006

Offline Harrisonsmummy

  • BW Devotee
  • ****
  • Showing Appreciation 17
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 271
  • Location: Kent , England
Re: Should I move 13 mo DS to 1 nap? (long)
« Reply #1 on: April 22, 2006, 09:46:57 am »
A quick thought about the night wakings - you mention when he starts to walk properly - sometimes there are developmental night wakings. Many los seem to have a couple of weeks of night wakings just before they walk properly.

With Harrison, he woke 2 or 3 times a night for 3 or 4 weeks just before he walked properly, he would seem to wake up in his sleep standing. Once he got some practice walking in, he settled back down on his own. He was still on 2 naps a day then and wasn't overtired.


Offline Paulsmama

  • BW Aficionado
  • ***
  • Showing Appreciation 2
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 216
  • Location:
Re: Should I move 13 mo DS to 1 nap? (long)
« Reply #2 on: April 22, 2006, 20:41:22 pm »
Hmm.  Do you think the nightwakings are making his naps wonky or is it just because I let him sleep in a bit if he's had a really bad night?
Cynthia

Paul--spirited/March 2005
Joseph--touchy-textbook??/Sept 2006

Offline zelkad

  • BW Aficionado
  • ***
  • Showing Appreciation 10
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 220
  • Location: Thunder Bay, Ontario
Re: Should I move 13 mo DS to 1 nap? (long)
« Reply #3 on: April 23, 2006, 02:16:23 am »
We moved our ds to one nap at a little after 12 months of age.  I was finding that he (like yours) was in a stage where 2 naps was too much and 1 was not enough.  I can honestly say that it took a good month of "playing" with his routine.  The last month and a bit has been fantastic with one nap. 

Schedule:

7 am - wake

12:30-2:30ish (sometimes 3 or shortly after)

7/7:30 pm - bed

As you mentioned, they do have a hard time with extending that morning awake time.  That's why it's such a difficult transitional time as you have to help them keep the afternoon nap and eliminate (gradually) the morning one.   We did ours in 15 min increments.  His morning nap was usually around 9:30 so we just made it 9:45 for a couple mornings, then 10:00 and so on until we eventually got to where we are today.  These days were hard because that was the only time he'd nap all day.  He would be super tired late afternoon so we just kept things low key. 

Our son was most similar to the second schedule you posted.  This would make him a bear around supper time.  I do think that your ds's night wakings may be due to the pre-walking stage and perhaps due to overtiredness because he is transitioning.  Our son during our month of nap transition was really tired at bedtime because he often had one nap that was only sometimes an hour.  I guess he was so tired from being up all morning that the afternoon nap wasn't as long as it should have been (does that make sense...overtired!).  If this is the case with your son, it could be that it may also be a reason for the nightwakings.  I do honestly think that if you consistently work on the one nap idea, he will adjust and both you and he will enjoy one spectacularly long nap and a restful night.

Also, once ours started walking a month ago at 13 months, sleep became more delicious for our entire household.  As your friend mentioned, they are really tired when they begin to walk.  However, if you can get him to one nap by then, he should sleep solidly for the one nap and even more solidly for nighttime. 

I only have my situation to compare yours to...it's just that it sounds so similar that I think one nap may be the answer you're looking for.  Like you , I was reluctant because I read that they usually keep two naps until 15-18 months or so.  They're all different I guess.  Hope this helps somewhat!  By the way, if we do go in the stroller around 11 or so, he'll still doze off...when it's been inevitable, we just deal with it.  He still will go down later though because I think the new schedule has been now implemented.  If this would have happened during that transitional phase, it would have thrown him right off.  Anyway, I'm rambling now...

Good luck!
Zelka


Offline mom2william

  • BW Aficionado
  • ***
  • Showing Appreciation 2
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 217
  • Location: Raleigh, NC
Re: Should I move 13 mo DS to 1 nap? (long)
« Reply #4 on: April 25, 2006, 14:37:01 pm »
Hi Cynthia,

Sorry you're having such a rough time of it!  :(  We, too, are experiencing odd naps these days.  I had also read and heard from people that LO's transition to 1 nap later like 15-18 months but they're all so different.  William is having some 1 nap days and that's just an AM nap, refusing the PM nap.  I hate limiting his morning nap although that might be what I need to do!  I definitely limit it to 1 1/2 hours but I may need to try to limit it to 1 hr. 15 or even 1 hour to get that PM nap in.  If he does fall asleep for the PM nap, it's way late like 3:30!  I have read that it can take a month or so to transition so I guess we'll just have to stick it out. 

How do you decide what days you push Paul to the later AM nap to have a 1 nap day?  I am confused about that and if I should just try to go for one nap.  I don't know if I should just go with his flow and have some 1 nap days and other 2 nap days.  Because the problem with us is that the 1 nap days he goes from like 11:00am until 7:00pm without sleep!! ::)

Our schedule is something like this currently:

6:30am Wake
7:30 Breakfast
9:00 BF
9:30-10:00 Nap #1  (I don't let him go past 1 1/2 hours)
11:00 or so get up and snack
12:30-1:00 Lunch
2:30-3:00 attempt nap #2 Sometimes plays or just cries.  Maybe he's just not tired enough when I put him down??  I can't ever decide how long to keep him up.  He seems to be able to make 4 hours of A time btwn AM and PM nap.  Which pushes this nap too late!
4:00-4:30 Awake or give up on nap idea
5:45 Dinner
7:00-7:30 BF and bedtime (maybe earlier if he doesn't nap in the afternoon)

Let us know how you get on.  I know it has to be rough for you being pregnant and all these shenanigans going on in the middle of the night so hang in there!!!  HUGS to you!

Also, Zelka I read your post and appreciate your insight and letting us know how you went about transitioning your DS to the one nap. 

Suzanne
____________
William born 3/23/05
« Last Edit: April 25, 2006, 14:39:55 pm by mom2william »
Suzanne

William born 3/23/05
Bennett born 3/3/08

Offline Paulsmama

  • BW Aficionado
  • ***
  • Showing Appreciation 2
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 216
  • Location:
Re: Should I move 13 mo DS to 1 nap? (long)
« Reply #5 on: April 25, 2006, 15:45:47 pm »
Zelka, thanks so much for the insight and tips.  It really helps to have the perspective of someone who has gone through this before!  I think we are heading in the 1 nap direction.

Suzanne, it's frustrating sometimes, isn't it?  I'm still offering Paul an am nap almost every day, but if he isn't asleep or very close to sleeping at 10 (which happens only if he's up close to 7:30), we just get up and go for the 1 nap -- take a long walk in the stroller and have half a lunch at 11 (he's so tired by then he'll let me spoon feed him so this part is fast) and nap at 11:30.  This has been working well for us with a 2-2.5hr nap and 6/6:30 bedtime.  But the past 3 days Paul has woken up early, around 6 am (but earlier bedtimes and fewer nightwakings -- I'll trade 6am for sleeping through anytime!) so we've been having 2 naps and bed around 7.  Also, in limiting Paul's naps I've found that if he gets less than 55 min in the am he is a big grump when he gets up and for around the next 30 min, so for now I'll stick to at least 1 hr in the am.  Weird but Paul has never completely refused an afternoon nap, a couple of times he's only slept for 10-20 min but we treat that as if there was no nap and put him to bed early.  His pm nap is still all over the place, falls asleep anywhere between 2:00 and 3:00 but usually takes about 20 min to drift off.  He shows no cues to read so it is just a guess every day as to when to put him down in the pm based on first nap, how much activity we've been doing, etc.  Yikes!
Cynthia

Paul--spirited/March 2005
Joseph--touchy-textbook??/Sept 2006

Offline Florencia

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 75
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 887
  • Playin' hide n' seek
  • Location: Mexico City
Re: Should I move 13 mo DS to 1 nap? (long)
« Reply #6 on: April 25, 2006, 17:25:34 pm »
Don't have much time but just a quick thought. Sometimes when lo have a hard time staying awake for longer periods within the one nap transition, introducing a snack at the time the old nap was it's really helpful cause it tanks them up with calories and redirect their attention. So let's say if when lo was in 2 naps he was going down at the 3 hour mark, at the 2:45 hour mark you give a snack (youghurt, cereal, crackers and cheese, banana, something on the "strong" side). THat would make him hold for another good extra 1.5 hours without being overtired. Sometimes a combo of quiet time and snack make an easier transition (that is a stroller ride and then the snack, or crib playtime or story time, or watching a baby einstein video while drinking juice)... that can make lo's get used to be awake for longer periods but also not reaching overtiredness levels.

Good luck!
Mom to Manolo, spirited monkey and Jose Miguel, an angel cupcake

Offline mom2william

  • BW Aficionado
  • ***
  • Showing Appreciation 2
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 217
  • Location: Raleigh, NC
Re: Should I move 13 mo DS to 1 nap? (long)
« Reply #7 on: April 27, 2006, 15:45:50 pm »
Well, today I am trying for a 1 nap day!  William woke up at 7:15 or so and wasn't tired by 10:00am.  We had another mom and her LO coming over to play around 10:30 (the baby is on 1 nap a day at 14 mos.) so I just decided to keep him up and he's asleep now and it's 11:45.  I'm hoping against hope he sleeps for at least 2 hours!!!!  We'll see.   ;)

Cynthia, thanks for letting me know what you've been doing with Paul for the 1 day nap scenario.  It is difficult to get in 2 naps if they wake closer to 7:30am.  I've found that to be the case with us as well.  So, I'll let you know how today goes!

Suzanne
___________
William born 3/23/05
Suzanne

William born 3/23/05
Bennett born 3/3/08

Offline Paulsmama

  • BW Aficionado
  • ***
  • Showing Appreciation 2
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 216
  • Location:
Re: Should I move 13 mo DS to 1 nap? (long)
« Reply #8 on: April 28, 2006, 21:13:43 pm »
I have started extending DS's morning A time, but am finding that his midday A time is getting shorter.  Is this normal?  It's only been a few days now, but am A time is up from 2.5-2.75 to 3-3.25 and he's falling asleep for his afternoon nap now closer to 2 than 2:30/3.  Same am nap length (1hr). I suppose the 2 naps will eventually converge to the 1 nap?

Suzanne, hope your 1 nap day was a big success!!
Cynthia

Paul--spirited/March 2005
Joseph--touchy-textbook??/Sept 2006