Long Am Nap, Short PM Nap for 2-1 - what to do?

[Shellha]

My DS is 11.5mo and there has been alot of talk about the 2-1 nap switch on my Birth Board, and so it got me to thinking. As most LOs have a short am nap and a long pm nap, should I start to try and switch him now, or just wait till I see the signs that he is ready for the 2-1 nap and do it then.

At the moment he goes down around 9.15 and will sleep for 2hrs+ (I always have to wake him - he has been asleep 2.05hrs right now!!!) and then in the pm I give him a nap of no more than 1hr (3hrs total for the day but usually less).

What I was wondering is, would we just do it the other way round eg push the morning nap back and back till it is around 10.30/11 and then just give a short 30mins in the pm if and when needed?

I have had TERRIBLE sleep problems with my DS in the past, and I would like to be prepared for this next transition....forearmed is forewarned with this LO!

Thanks in advance

Shell

[KathrynK]

Hi Shell
some do keep the morning nap long and just push it later and later, having a pm catnap, which then gets shorter and shorter, until you just have the morning nap pushed back till lunchtime.
I don't think there is necessarily a right and wrong way, you know your lo sleeping habits the best! Have a read on the 2-1 nap thread, the guys there may have some good advice.

[Shellha]

Thanks Kathryn, I had had a bit of a read but will do some more now :-) Just like to be as prepared as I can!!

[*Natasha*]

Just wanted to tell you that is what my DD was doing before she went to 1 nap. She would sleep 1.5hrs in the morning (i wouldn't let her sleep longer than that) then she would do 45mins in the afternoon. I tried shortening her morning nap to try and get a longer PM nap this only worked for a few days and she would get grumpy after i woke her from her morning nap. I then pushed her morning nap out to close to 12pm and let her sleep as long as she wanted for her 1 nap with a slightly earlier bedtime until she was able to handle the longer awake time.

[Shellha]

Natasha - that makes me feel so much better as that is the way I see it playing out with us. He is still going down with ease at 9/9.15 if he wakes around 6.30 so the switch is a loooooong way off.