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

[sophiems]

HI ladies, just wanted to report that we've had major progress.  Luke is doing well with waking at 6:30-7am and napping from 12 to 1:45 or later.  He's been doing really well.  Sometimes if we are in the car around 10am he'll take a 10 min catnap, but if at home, he just keeps chugging along.  So it turns out that he just needed to have the nap pushed back.  So I was wrong about the "just needing a couple days to get used to the new schedule" but it's been about 2 weeks and he's pretty much got it now.  I was wrong to just go gradually with him, he just had no idea what to do!  He's a little different than most, I guess. 

The only problem i have is that from 10:30 to 11:30, he's really spastic.  He just turns into a mischevious little monster, getting into everything, if' I'm not sitting right with him and playing one on one constantly entertaining.  It's a little frustrating and makes the morning really long especailly now that I haev so much to do. 
Anyone else experience this? 

[*Natasha*]

The only problem i have is that from 10:30 to 11:30, he's really spastic.  He just turns into a mischevious little monster, getting into everything, if' I'm not sitting right with him and playing one on one constantly entertaining.  It's a little frustrating and makes the morning really long especailly now that I haev so much to do. 
Anyone else experience this? 

Sophie yep we went through for a few months of this after DD transitioned to 1 nap. I just distracted her as best as i could with a walk on a nice day and if the weather is lousy i use to put on her favourite DVD HI 5 

[Kat's mom]

Hi, I'm new here too. I enjoy reading your post and feel less anxiety knowing some of you are having the same issues I am. Kathryn has always been a pretty good napper, however recently (she's 16mo) she has started wailing for the first few moment when I put her down for naps or at night. It's not every time, but seems to be more frequent. I am wondering if it's her age (starting the independent streak of the two's??)or something else. Anyone else having this issue all of a sudden?

[x95stocchier]

lurking

[SuzanneF]

Hi  - Do you lot all find that your babies/toddlers sleep longer if they have one nap rather than two?  It hasn't worked that way for us - Our girl wakes after 55 - 60 mins and no matter what I do I don't seem to be able to extend it.  I just wondered if this is a common problem.  She's 16 months.  I'm hoping that if I keep persevering with 1 nap she will eventually get herself into a new groove and have a slightly longer nap. I am interested to hear other peoples experiences from this angle.

[Zoey]

We have taken a step backwards due to two more molars coming home for the holidays    For some reason they make Owen very tired (and cranky lol).  So he is doing 45m in the AM and however long he can in the PM.  Hopefully the teeth pop in soon and we can go back to our plan.  

Hope everyone else is doing well.

Zoey

[LeesMom]

Hi everyone,

I'm new here and am hoping for some advice. My lo is 14.5 mos. old and is in the process of switching from 2 naps to 1 (I think!). For the past 4-5 months, she has always taken a short nap (30-40 min.) in the AM, and then a longer nap in the afternoon, usually about 1.5 to 2 hrs. or so. Usually her afternoon nap doesn't start until around 2:30, because she needs about 3.5 hours of A time after she wakes up from her morning nap which ends around 11 A.M. I tried giving her a morning nap earlier than 10:15 or so, and she just wasn't tired enough and wouldn't fall asleep until 10:15 or so anyway. Actually, the 4:30 wakeup from her afternoon nap is not a problem at all at this point, because she is still ready for bedtime at 8:00 and falls asleep right away. For the past couple weeks though, she has started either taking a really long time to fall asleep for her morning nap (up to 45 min.) or hasn't fallen asleep at all. Then, when I try to give her her 1 nap on the days she won't sleep in the morning, she only sleeps for an hour and is WAY too tired the rest of the day, even with an earlier bedtime. On the days she only has 1 nap, I usually try for it to start at 12:30 or so. It seems that many people have the opposite problem, where their lo's have always slept well/long in the AM and then start refusing their afternoon naps. I think that when I give her 1 nap around lunchtime, she thinks it's her morning nap and won't sleep for any decent length of time! One day we had relatives visiting and her 1 nap didn't start until 2:30, and she slept for 1.5 hrs. even though I'm certain she was overtired. What time should I be starting her nap on 1 nap days? Lately, she has been waking around 6:00 A.M. but prior to this, she had been getting up around 7:00 every day (YAY!). Her molars are also coming in  so that could be causing the earlier wakeups too I guess. Today, she actually slept for 45 min. in the AM and has now slept almost 2 hrs. for her PM nap. Sorry this is so long! Thanks!

--- Jenny

[Tumbleweed]

just marking the thread 

[TDR'smom]

Hi  - Do you lot all find that your babies/toddlers sleep longer if they have one nap rather than two?  It hasn't worked that way for us - Our girl wakes after 55 - 60 mins and no matter what I do I don't seem to be able to extend it.  I just wondered if this is a common problem.  She's 16 months.  I'm hoping that if I keep persevering with 1 nap she will eventually get herself into a new groove and have a slightly longer nap. I am interested to hear other peoples experiences from this angle.

How long has your lo when on one nap?  It took at least a month before DS consistently took 2+ hour naps in the afternoon.  Just be as consistent as possible and they should lengthen.  Also, her night time sleep may increase slightly.

Good luck!

HTH.

[x95stocchier]

HI!  early riser here...We've been working this week on finding the "ideal" catnap time & length, and then naptime, and about got it sorted out (Thanks Zoey!) 

normal routine (normal means "so far this week")
wake: 4:45~6:30 (it's getting better!)
catnap: 9:30, 30 min--he usually falls right asleep...
nap: 12:30, usually 1:50--again, usually falls right asleep
bed: 6:30/7

I have a Quest for you all experienced at this....do you ever have a routine buster?  I'm scared since we're just getting sorted out...but tomorrow we have church at 9:30.....I thought I'd try to put him down at 9 for a 20 min catnap before church.  I tried today, but it took him 15 min to fall asleep, so tomorrow I'd have to get him up after a 5 min catnap!  I think he was not tired enough.

What should I do tomorrow?  try again with catnap at 9 (maybe put him down at 8:45 to give him more time to fall asleep?) I'm afraid he'll be too awake, kwim?  Or should I postpone the catnap till after church...more like 10:45 (! that's so late!) and if so, what time do I offer the long nap?

THANKS!!!! 
Sarah

[brightside]

Hi Sarah! I would be tempted to get him up a little earlier in the morning to ensure he has a catnap just before church. The last thing you want is an overtired baby screaming at church. Or is he ok when he's overtired? Would he sleep in the stroller at 9.30 whilst at church? If not, I'd got with the earlier nap.

btw: looking at your routine. Have you tried bed at 6pm? I'm wondering if 6.30 is a little late, if he's slept for less than 2 hours at 12.30. Ben sleeps better if he goes to bed earlier.

[x95stocchier]

Thanks for the replies Cath & Stacy! 

He woke on the early side, so I ended up putting him down for catnap at 8:45...it took him 15 min to fall asleep, but he got 20, so that was good.  He was a little tough to put down at 12:30....a few pd, but I don't think he was too overtired, b/c he talked and played for a while after that.    But we have company for the holidays, etc. so I guess it's to be expected.

Anyway, Just wanted to say thanks and let you know how it went.  He was in a jolly mood at church, so I am glad he got that rest before, instead of being overtired.

Cath-about the early bedtime......does Ben wake earlier?  I'm concerned b/c Daniel's waking 5-6am these days (was 7 a month ago!) and I am certainly trying to improve that!  But if he's overtired or had short naps...I go with the 6:30...did 6 a few times but didn't seem to make a difference.  Did it take a consistent 6 pm bedtime to help Ben?

He's still waking mid nap in afternoons, so I am doing about 2 pd if necessary...sometimes self settles.  Yesterday I had to go in 2X! after 40 min and again after another 40 min!  BUT, after that, the next stretch I had to wake him so he didn't sleep too long!  I'm hoping as I sort out ideal timing and length of the catnap, this will improve.  But really, I can't complain since he IS going back down...I've been getting a total of 1:40+ as long as his catnap is no more than 30 min.  It's a dance, and I'm starting to learn the steps!  Anyone do w2s at this age for nap wakes?

[shelliz]

Sarah...

  I use W2S with pretty good sucess!  Actually, the only time I've gotten 2 full hours it has been after using w2s.
Good luck!

BTW....it is truly a "dance"!! Great analogy!


  Shelby

[brightside]

Sarah: We have had all sorts of bed times with Ben. They tend to vary because of his sleep at daycare is so erratic. He sometimes has a later bedtime because I squeeze a catnap in to prevent a 5pm bedtime! I have noticed though that Ben sleeps much better when he goes to bed at 6-6.30 than if he goes at 8pm. When he goes earlier, we will get 11.5-12 hours out of him but if he goes at 8pm he often just sleeps for 9-10 hours (not long enough for him), messing up the next day. So in he answer to your question, does wake a little bit earlier if he goes to bed at 6 but not much and he has had a much better/longer, higher quality sleep-kwim?

Have you tried the afternoon nap at 12p or 12.15?,-maybe 12.30 is a bit too late meaning he is overtired and the reason why he is waking mid nap. When I've been doing the morning catnap, Ben can't last 2.5 hours after it.

Leesmom: have you thought about doing the am nap a bit later but only for 20mins until she can make it to 12pm without getting overtired?

[BabyBsMommy]

Ok, I'm jumping in here!  DS is a few days short of 1 year (Jan 2) and over the past 3 weeks or so has intermittantly been dumping his afternoon nap.  This past week he ditched it 3 times, including today.  For about 3 months consistently he has been taking a 1.25 -1.5 hour nap in both the morning and afternoon, this seems to work best for him since he is so active. So our sleep has looked like this:

7am wake up
10am nap til 11:15-11:30
pm nap is 3.5 hours after the morning one ends (2:45-3:00ish) and ends somewhere between 4:00-4:30
asleep for the night by 7:30

He is still having a good 1.5 hour am nap but when he bunks the pm one he does pretty well but needs to go to bed about a half hour early.  I put him down for the pm one but playing turns to fussing, then a poop usually happens and that's all she wrote!  He definitely won't go back to sleep with a dirty bottom (nor would I want to!) and he won't have anything to do with nap time once he's changed.  He is also starting to wake up earlier in the mornings.

Are we moving towards 1 nap?  I'm wondering if I should try to slowly cut back the am one over the next few weeks to make it shorter.  Any thoughts?