anyone want to chat about the 2-1 nap switch?

[UNCMomma]

Happy B day to your LO!!  Be ready to evaluate that AM nap, you may have to shorten it more than an hour (most of us do 20-45 min) to get a PM nap to work well.  It's all about experimentation, or as my friend Zoey says, chemistry!!   Good luck!

So....

My LO is seeming to need 4 hours A time before the AM nap, which I cut short (20 min), then about 2 1/2-3 hours before PM nap.  For heaven's sake, when can I just cut that out and make it one nap for the day?  When it's 5 hours A time?  It's getting OLD OLD OLD, this transition! 

[becky1969]

It's getting OLD OLD OLD, this transition!

Sing it sister! I'm so sick of tweaking!!! I just want to get to a routine and STICK TO IT! We had the same routine from about 7-11 months, and I loved that. i could plan events a month ahead of time and no what Owen would be doing at that time of day!

I think we're done with being sick for the most part, and THE SIDING IS DONE!! woohoo! They finished yesterday, and I celebrated by letting Owen sleep as long as he wanted. Boy, was that a mistake! He took two 2-hour naps yesterday, which I loved at the time. But then he didn't fall asleep until 9 pm, and woke up at 4:30-5:30.  Whoops. Today, back to limiting that AM nap again. Sigh. He needed 3.5 hours A time to fall asleep this morning, which is longer than normal (he was going to sleep after 2.5-3). I think now that he's feeling better he's reading to push the A time.

UNCmomma, I' with you - when do we just get to combine the damn things? Owen wakes at 8, so right now he's hitting that first nap at 11:30. but, he can rarely sleep until 2 - which is what I'd need him to do in order to have a 6/6:30 bedtime. Anything ealier than that and we've got an awful early waking. Boo.

[KathrynK]

I celebrated by letting Owen sleep as long as he wanted. Boy, was that a mistake! He took two 2-hour naps yesterday, which I loved at the time. But then he didn't fall asleep until 9 pm, and woke up at 4:30-5:30.   Whoops.

LOL! I am sitting in a hotel lounge reading this on my laptop and other people have just stared at me because I actually snorted out loud at your post!
Glad I'm not the only one totally sick of this transition already. Boooo. I've left lo with my mum for the day as I am working and have written her 2 schedules- one for if she has a nap this morning and one for it she refuses it! Poor mum is totally confused.

Becky- most lo's who wake at 6.30-7am are starting their one long nap at around 11.30 am so could you keep Owen awake till nearer 12.30 to start his? Then he is likely to sleep longer and you might be ok with one nap.

Sophie is moving up from babies to tweenies at daycare from next month and they have one long nap there- after lunch at 1pm! Arrrgh. She wakes at 6.15-6.30 every day so how is she going to survive till 1? She did it one day last week- napped from 1 till 2.30. She was a total ragged mess by the time dh picked her up at 5.15. I can't see her having made the transition in one month from now and can already feel myself getting anxious about it. 

[UNCMomma]

Becky, glad you share my sentiment!    I think Kathryn's idea about the 12:30 nap could work for you, you'd more likely get to 2??  GLad the siding's done!

Kathryn, enjoy your day away!!  I'd be anxious about the DC transition too, but it always seems these babies catch on rather quickly, so maybe after a couple of rough days she'll be fine!  I hope so!

This stupid early nap is ALWAYS a fight for us... (in progress) 

[becky1969]

Maybe that would work. It's been a struggle up to now to get him to 11 b/c of teething, sick, ear infection - all things that make him exhausted in the AM and ready for that nap ASAP. But it looks like he's stretching his A time again, so maybe I should push it? I've been in "Ack, we need 2 naps!" mode for so long, that I forgot the goal was ultimately ONE nap! One nap days just suck so bad, I'm scared.

Today he's up at 7:30, so defnitely he wouldn't make it to 12:30 or even 12. I'm going to do a 10:30 nap so that we're sure to have 2 naps today.

Last night he slept all the way thru. Ahhhhhhh. YAY TO NO SIDERS!!!!!!!

[rinajack]

Things are going well here.  While away had a couple of two short nap days (car travel ) but this was less total sleep than if she did one nap.  We are at the stage where the naps are so short (even at home) when she does two, that it is almost better if she does one.  One nap at home "most" days.  Yesterday it was just short of 2 hours.  And she is much much easier to put to bed for naps and bedtime on one nap days.  Has slept through every night, except for a couple of early wakings while away, and because she is sleeping in our room for now (which isn't as dark).  But still within about 1/2 hr of her normal wakeup time.

    So it is all going OK.....for now Hope you are all doing great too.

[becky1969]

Yippee for you and Zara!! Isn't it amazing how sometimes they surpass our expectations? Way to go, little one!


I can't believe it, but Owen took his nap from 12:30-2:30 today! He woke at 7:30, so I thought for sure he'd need a nap by 11. I tried, but he just didn't want to sleep, so we got back up played a little, had a little snack, and then he was ready by 12:30 for sleepies. 2:30 is a great wake-up time! That means we can make it to 6:30/7 tonight for bed. We'll have to see how night sleep goes, but 2 hours should be plenty. So proud of him! Can't believe he did 5 hours A time, though. 

[Zoey]

Thats great for both of you!

Seems my Owen needs 1 nap for two days and then on the third day a 15m AM nap and then his PM nap.  So we are going with the flow while his body adjusts to the 5h A time! 

Keep up the great work babies and Mommies!!

[becky1969]

Zoey - that's interesting that every 3rd day he needs a catch-up. Guess that's something we'll need to keep in mind!

[OliverRowland]

HI, we just started the transition but so far so good.  I drop the am nap from 90min to 60 min and already in 2 days his pm naps are fabulous (90min).  should i stay here until pm nap changes again?

[KathrynK]

should i stay here until pm nap changes again?

I would, as it seems a 60 min am nap is what he needs for now.

Becky- hooray for Owen and his long nap!
Rina- hooray for Zara and her long naps!
Zoey- we always have a 2-nap day on a Thursday after lo has been to daycare Tues & Weds and only had 1 nap each day. Guess they need to catch up like you say!
Layla- how are things?

[debo620]

well yesterday we did the 20min am nap 3.5 after wake and then he was  asleep about 2hr50min later and slept 1hr40min, ending at 3:20pm,
so we had him bed for 7:20 an he was asleep about 7:45

but then aaaaagh! woke at 6am, so 1hr early
I'm wondering if its due to hunger, as I find he is starving by the normal 7:30am beakfast.
I never take him from his crib and he really isn't complaining til 7am or so,and we never feed him breakfast til 7:30/7:45

I'm wondering if you guys do a snack before bed?
Noah is a big eater and eats well at all of his meals and usually has 7oz breakfast/supper in a sippy, is offered 7oz at lunch but only drinks about 4oz at that time.
No bottle of milk before bed anymore, I weaned this slowly but I never replaced it with a snack or anything.

so we will probably push his am nap til 10am (1/2 early) and give him a full 30min.

[KathrynK]

deb- I too was thinking about doing a snack before bed although greedy Sophie still has 9oz milk at bedtime.

ok, I need some advice please girlies....
for the fourth day in a row Sophie has had 30 mins in the morning, and then 15 minutes into her pm nap has woken herself up pooing and completely refused to go back to sleep. So that's it. 30 mins am and 15 mins pm. Clearly not enough and we had an overtired early waking last night.  Also we have had to have early nights as a result and that means she is now starting to wake earlier and earlier as her body clock is adjusting. 
Now, she has always been one to poo during her afternoon nap, but it's never normally woken her, or if it has she has just stirred slightly and gone straight back to sleep. So I am wondering if this is telling me she is ready to go to 1 nap as she's not tired enough to go back to sleep during her second nap. I have been consistently trying to get her to have 2 naps every day, and I am wondering if I should just be brave and go for it with the one nap. And then maybe have a catch up day a couple of times a week like Zoey.
Thoughts please!

[debo620]

Kathryn, I don't think Noah would go back to sleep after pooping 15min into nap either.
Could you move lunch a little earlier to maybe get that digestive system going a bit earlier. I am now trying to have about 1hr btwn lunch and nap time for this very reason.

how was she after that 15min pm nap?
I know what you mean about not tired enough to go back to sleep though, the other day after a late to sleep and early wake night---Noah woke after 1hr30min into pm nap coughing and went back to sleep.

[UNCMomma]

I also try to have lunch OVER WITH at least 30 min before naptime to prevent this... and I give her some playtime to have her poop before I put her down.  Worth a try to move lunch up a little??  That's REALLY a bummer to have that happen, I'm so sorry.