What to do about mealtimes when moving to 1 nap

[knackered]

The last couple of weeks my 11 month old DS has really been struggling with naps. Sometimes he sleeps well in the morning but then will only take half or three quarters of an hour in the afternoon, or only half an hour in the morning and three quarters of an hour in the afternoon. So I'm thinking I might try him on 1 nap today. However, I'm not sure what to do about his lunch - should it before the nap or after? This is the routine that I'm kinda still working on:

6.30-7 wake and BF (he is still waking once in the night for food and has a big BF so usually doesn't take much in the morning)
7.30 breakfast of baby muesli
9.30 - 10 Nap
If not already awake - wake him at 11
11.45-12 - Lunch - solids with formula as a drink
2-2.30 - Nap - This one becoming a real struggle. Sometimes only sleeps half an hour.
3.30 - 4 - drink of water and a rice cake or two and a bit of banana
5 - Tea - solids with formula as a drink
6.30 BF - he takes quite a bit at this time
7.15 - bed

I think he could stay up till at least 11 - 11.30 but I'm  not sure he'd be ready for his lunch before then. Should I give him his breakfast later -say 8.30 - then his lunch when he wakes up from the nap?

Any thoughts?

Thanks
Anna

[*Mona*]

hi

I won't of much help as my dd is younger than your LO but surely others will come to help you on this

one question- why do you wake him at 11 if he's sleeping? maybe if you let him sleep longer he would be more rested for the rest of the day? does he go down easily for this nap or are you struggling with this one too and therefore want to move it to 11/1:30 ?

Monika

[knackered]

I wake him at 11 because if he sleeps later than that it's really difficult to get an afternoon nap in. His A time is about 3.5 hours in this section and if he sleeps after 11 I'd be putting him down for his pm nap at 3 and then that would affect his bed time. Maybe I should let him sleep later and then not worry if he doesn't sleep for long in the pm. Confused!

[*Mona*]

hm, if he's showing any signs of being ready for 2 to 1 nap switch, I'd let him sleep longer in the am so that he wouldn't nap in the afternoon at all.

but, have you checked 2-1 nap switch thread? her's the link:
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=59266.0

[rebecaq]

Hello!!

Welcome to the 1 nap club!!  When they are first making the switch his naps will be all over the place. 2 naps one day, 1 nap the next  .  We moved everything up a bit, breakfast as soon as he woke, and I also gave a little bit less so he would be hungry a little bit earlier. Then lunch at 11, and in his crib by 11:30 the latest.  We also had to include milk with meals because if I kept doing them apart it would cause mayhem.  So we also went from bottle to cup when the 1 nap switch. 

I have a big sports bottle and I make all 22oz of milk in the morning.  Santiago's cup holds max 6.5 oz, so he has 4 cups worth of it during the day. One at breakfast, another at lunch, one with his snack and one with dinner. The snack with milk really helped with the early lunch time so he wouldn't be straving during the rest of the day.

The link that Monika sent you is great! That thread really helped me out when things got tough.

- Beca

[* Paula *]

When we switched to 1 nap we too moved lunch up a lot earlier.

We did breakfast and bottle as soon as he got up in the morning, he had a very small snack about 9:30ish, just to tied him over to lunch time which was a t 11:30 and he was in bed for 11:45 / 12 the latest.

I do agree though, some days your lo will tell you when he needs 2 naps one day.

I would definitely watch out for overtiredness too.  If you think that your lo is not going to make it to lunch time, then would perhaps offer a milk feed to tide him over until he wakes and then offer lunch.

Keep us posted on how you get on.

Paula x

[rebecaq]

Funny Paula should mention the milk to tide him over........that is EXACTLY what happened here today.

Goes to show you gotta roll with the punches 

- Beca