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

[Jenifer]

Yes, I've been trying to shorten the am nap for 3 days now.  On the first day I got her up after 30 mins and it went smoothly in the pm.  On the second day it took her over 30 minutes to settle in the pm.  Today, MIL let her sleep 45 minutes in the am and DD didn't nap at all in the pm.  I don't know if this is really working.

Can I ask .. why do you have to do this?  Why can't I just push her to one nap?  I understand it may be a shock to the system .. but this business of nap times all over the place, guessing how long to nap / when to put her down, waking her from a dead sleep in the am (she's a zombie for like 10 minutes) .. to me this seems worse than just going to one nap.      This way she's getting 45 - 90 minutes a day napping .. if she goes to one nap, I think she'd have a better shot at 2+ hours. 

I just don't get how this is supposed to work, why it works and why you can't just go to one nap.   

[Layla]

Jenifer, if you think it will work better for you, push her towards 1 nap. Like I said before, some babies transition like that better than shortening naps, etc...

Agree with Stacy 110% if there are signs towards overtiredness, then you can go back to 2 naps and/or play around with times. I did it also with Isabella at 13months & then went back to 2 naps (& it worked well until she was done at 16months) & with Jasmine at 11ish months, it worked good for 2 days and then I had to go back to 2 naps.

Honestly, if you feel like all this cutting and timing business is too much messing about, do it the other way. There is no right or wrong way. Cutting the morning nap might work for 80% of the babies and for the other 10% it might be long morning nap and short pm nap & for the other 10% it might be straight to 1 nap.

hth
Layla

[texasmom]

Been reading all of the posts/frustrations.  So sorry guys.  I hope things sort out quickly!   

I think this question has probably been asked a hundred times, and I apologize for asking again.  I just can't remember what was said.  As of now, Collin's A time is about 3.5 hours.  If I shorten his am nap to 45 min/1 hr, what A time should I start with (before 2nd nap) to make sure he doesn't get OT? 

[Carmela's Mom]

For 45 mins, I'd start with 3.5 hours.  Then you can either up it to 4 hours or go down to 3 as you see fit.  My son does just about 3 hours on 30 mins. 

Just to let you girls know, yesterday I had to give Joey a one nap day.  Well he only napped 1.5 hours, and went to bed at 6:30 pm.  He woke up in the middle of the night for a good 45 mins, then went back to sleep until 8:00 this morning when I finally got him up!  Not worth the NW IMO

[OliverRowland]

we had a good 1 nap day yesterday (2 this week).  It wne t as planned:
woke at 6:20ish
nap 11:25-1:30 woke up 2 times but easily resettled
asleep at 6:45pm
He woke this am at 6 without NW....so I think successful.  Back on 2 naps today.  I htink we may try having 2-3 1 nap days per week and see how that goes.  Did anyone else do that to start?

[Carmela's Mom]

I did that with DD and then got frustrated and put her on just one.  But she was like 14 months old at that time. 

Ugh now my son was tired so I put him in and he's not going to sleep!  Arrgh!

[Carmela's Mom]

I am so mad right now.  Joey woke up late but normally when he does that, he's fine that day for a morning nap.  Well today he's refusing it.  es me off because I KNOW he's not ready for one nap and I know I'm setting him up to be up all night but its 10:40 and no sleep yet.  The thing is he's crying (which i've been in his room this whole time and just left now because I was too flustered) so I KNOW he's tired.  Oh well .... looks like one nap whether I like it or not.  Tomorrow I'll just have to make sur I wake him at 7:00 to keep the am nap! 

I was supposed to go to the gym and meet friends and now I have to cancel.  That makes me so mad!

[OliverRowland]

What is next after 30min am nap?  Is it 20min?  And if so, what A time would you do b/w naps?

[Carmela's Mom]

20 mins = 2 hours I believe.  Of course some kids are different to drive us nuts 

[UNCMomma]

Jenifer, I did the same with DD1, got tired of the guessing game and just went for it with one nap.  She got OT after a few weeks and we still stuck with 1 nap, although EW became part of our life (and I mean EARLY) for so long I thought it was just her personality... looking back, definetly b/c of OT. 

My LO is so sensitive about that AM nap... when she takes it... it CANNOT be over 30 min, and it works best when it's 20.  45 min and it would be her only nap of the day too.   

Carmela's mom, I'm so sorry about your crap day and having to cancel plans, that is the WORST.  Makes me mad too  when it happens here. 

OliverRowland, we're currently in that world, of a few 1 nap days a week and a couple 2 nap days.  We're on our 3rd or 4th day in a row, I can't even remember.     My LO does something sorta weird that allows her to sleep later and have good one nap days and she's bee doing it a lot in the last week or so...

She wakes in the middle of the night and plays happily for up to an hour, then goes back to sleep and sleeps in LATE in the AM.  It's weird, I dunno the explanation, but I've accepted it (doesn't happen ALL the time) and learned to turn off my monitor.  That's the only way we get so many 1 nap days these days though...

[debo620]

UNCmomma, we were getting those 1h play sessions in the middle of the night when DS was getting too much sleep too close to te end of the day.
I think you guys are so close being that you have those 4.5hrs of awake time in the morning, that you should just go for 1 nap and see what happens, I bet she would do well.

[Ydnic]

Well, it's time for me to jump in on this thread.  After reading some of the posts I find myself feeling 2 things.  The first is tremendous relief that I'm not alone and in unchartered territory and the second is dread for the coming months!  If only I could fast forward...just a little bit.

My ds will not take an AM nap.  I offered him one today after an A time of 4 hours and he wouldn't have it.  He just screamed.  I laid him down an hour later and he slept for 1.25 hours.  I just now laid him down again and he fell asleep at 5:15 and his bedtime is 7:00.  I'm ok with giving him a later bedtime, if that's what this will end up doing.  It's a little bit of a bummer at times anyway to have to leave a get-together or whatever because he rarely sleeps anywhere but his crib. 

My wish/hope/prayer is that someday his first nap will become long enough to be the only nap of the day that he needs.

Well, I hear him now after 20 minutes, so it looks like we can keep the 7:00 bedtime for now!

Cindy

[UNCMomma]

Thanks Deb.  I guess I know the early AM playing is an indication of too much sleep and her need to break it up, I'm just thankful it's not resulting in EW's or NW's with fussing... I can handle the playtimes!   

You're right, we really are close.  For the past 2 weeks, we've had LOTS of one nap days. 

Here's a question... on a day she wakes at 7 AM, do we go ahead and start the nap at 11:30, and then stick with 7 PM bedtime, even if it's HOURS after her nap wake up?  Or do I push the nap later, til 1?  Many days I end up doing the latter, and if she's not OT the nap is still good and long.  If she IS OT, it's short.  What do you do?? 

[OliverRowland]

wow, 2 hours A time after 20min nap....big jump from 3hrs after 30min....I guess we are getting closer and closer to the actual 1 nap time!

[debo620]

UNCmomma,

I think that with a 7am wake, I would aim to start the nap at 12 and then you can slowly move this foward to 12:30-2:30pm.
bed 7:30. 5.5hrs before nap is apparently ideal. I would think that when she is tired (11:30) she will be distracted by eating lunch etc, and then you go straight from there to winddown and nap. I guess depending on the timing of the daily poops! some leave time after lunch for that.