anyone want to chat about the 2-1 nap switch , thread#2

[debo620]

Sorays mom, I think the 30min am nap could work, but have her in bed for the pm earlier.

so maybe try:
nap 10-10:30
crib for 12:45/1---asleep by 1:15ish--sleep til 3pm or so.

the trick is to totally cut that 2nd A time, have  her in her crib earlier then you would expect her to need it and let her play/fall asleep when she needs to.

[NiknLily]

Sorayas Mom, Hi sorry shes still not napping properly.  Its a real shame her am nap seems to be suffering as a result.  You have 2 choices as I see it, extend her morning A time further until the morning nap is once again the longest and just offer a very short catnap late in the afternoon or try cutting the am nap short and reducing the A time after considerably and hope for a good afternoon nap.  If you do this don't expect her to be very happy about being woken after 30Min's for a few days, it takes a while for them to get used to the short nap.  If you give her 30min nap have her back in bed 2.5-3hrs after for next nap. 

I think at this point I would maybe give this a go first before extending her morning A time any further, that way should this fail to result in a good afternoon nap after giving it a fair shot, you then still have the option of trying to extend her am A time and letting her take best nap in am. with a late catnap.

It seems to be the trouble with this transition, there is so much experimentation until you get the right formula for your LO and from what I've seen the saying 'all LO's are different' really comes into its own at this time.

Hope you hit on the right answers for your DD really soon 

[sorayas mom]

Ok, here is what I tried...
10:00-10:30 - sleep
12:45 - in crib
12:50-1:30- sleep, couldn't get back to sleep in crib, tried for 15 minutes so..
1:50-2:30 - sleep in sling

So, not sure what to try next.  She just can not seem to get through the 40 minute mark.  What time should I put her to bed? 6:30?  I think I may try to keep her up longer in the am tomorrow....what do you think?

[NiknLily]

I'd say give it a few more days to see whats really happening and to see if she starts to settle into that routine.  The other thing you can do is try wake to sleep for pm nap, its a risky tactic but when it works it really works.  It may just be that she has got into a habit of waking at 40Min's, habits like that can form very quickly.  You will need to do that for about 3days for it to take full effect. If all else fails and you still cant get her to sleep any longer in pm then try extending her am A time further.

It sounds as tho you can generally get her to sleep in the sling, if you have to extend morning A time and struggle to get the late catnap, at least you can fall back on that to get a catnap in.  It wont be forever as now shes on the transition she will sooner or later loose the catnap altogether.

HTH

[sorayas mom]

Thanks again new mum.  Sorry if I sound negative...I'm just really frustrated.  I will try it again tomorrow but the bad thing is I have to travel out of town to my parents house sunday thru tuesday, so I have no idea how things will go there.  But I will just have to start again when I get back.

You are right about the sling.  Most times it works and it is the ONLY thing that works.  She will not sleep in the car or stroller!!! 

Thanks again.

[katakow2]

I'm glad I'm not alone with my 2 to 1 nap transitioning difficulties.  It sounds like a lot of us are in the same boat, but I'm wondering if you think I'm pushing my dd into one nap too soon.  Thanks to BW, she is a wonderful sleeper, but her PM naps have been getting shorter lately and she is already 19 months old so I thought.. maybe time to switch?

Her normal schedule is:
8:00 am  wake
10:30-12 pm  AM nap
2:30-3:30 pm PM nap
7:30 pm asleep for the night!

We've been trying the switch this week with one nap at 12:30 pm and she's been doing pretty well, but not napping as long as she needs to (because she's been a bit overtired).  She usually naps for 1.5 hours (which is a big change from the 2.5 hours she would usually do before!)  We've been doing some earlier bedtimes and some later sleep-ins, but I'm wondering if I should stick with this or just wait and try again later???  OR just take it one day at a time and see if it's a one or two nap type of day??

Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated!!!
Thanks, Sara

[lena]

Hello girls.I decided to post here because we need some advice.Mu lo is 12,5 months old,and we are going now through the switching-to-one-nap-a-day nightmares!He used to be a good sleeper two months ago but now he is just not sleeping at all!!!!!!I tried to move his morning nap to 10.30 now,and he only takes 30 min.,but his afternoon nap is 50 min or so,not longer now.And he fights to go to bed for his second nap.
Our routine is:
6.30-7am-wakes up
now 10.30-nap,so min.
ab.3-nap,50 min.
7-7.30-bed.
I don't know what i should do now,and how to move this first nap further 'cause he needs to have at least 4 hour A time in between naps.HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

[NiknLily]

Katakow2 - IMO, if her old routine is still working and she isn't getting OT by taking shorter pm naps I would stick with it as long as possible and let her be your lead.  If you want to push for 1 nap I would use Tracy's technique by extending her am A time on by 10-15Min's every 2-3 days, if at all possible try to get a late catnap in for as long as possible until the morning nap is getting towards lunch time, by which point you probably wont have enough hours left in the day to get catnap in, so offer an early bedtime instead.

Lena - I think in your case I would try leaving the am nap where it is and cutting the am nap to 20Min's and then have him back down for (hopefully) a good pm nap 2-2.5hrs later.  IMO at his age I would try everything to hang onto 2 naps for as long as possible.

HTH

[katakow2]

Thanks for the advice HTH!
I think that was what I was THINKING and just not DOING.
Thanks for helping me get back on track!

[NiknLily]

Sorayas mom - I see your online.  Your not sounding negative at all, your just going through what we all are on this thread and it stinks! Hope you have a good weekend, I would just get her to sleep as much and and often as you can this weekend and hope for the best.  Sometimes when away they sleep better than at home  As you said, start again when you return.

Katakow2 - HTH is short for 'hope that helps', your the second person who thought that was my name in the last couple of weeks.  It did make me chuckle  Glad to help, hope it goes OK for you, you know where we are if you need us 

[JAEmom]

katakow2 - I agree with new mum; it worked that way with both my dd & ds.  DD is 19 months now, too, has been on 1 nap for a little while, 1.5 hrs.  It's slowly been moving a little later (she kept the am nap).  DS also kept his am nap, and it seemed to take a while for his nap to move back a bit (now it's around 12:30pm/1pm), and he's almost 3.  I also remember that it took a while for his nap to extend to 2 hours.  Everyone's different, but that was my experience with them.

Lena, also agree that if you could keep the 2 naps at this age, that'd be optimal!  not to ask a stupid question, but he's not teething or anything like that, is he?  I know my ds went through teething (molars) around then and absolutely refused naps, crying & all, which was really unusual (he was an angel baby).  Turned out his molars were coming in and when we helped him with the pain/discomfort, he slept well.

[sorayas mom]

New Mum,

We finally had success today!!!  She slept 30 minute in am and took a 1 hour 15 minute nap without waking!! It just made my day!  Of course, she gets used to it the day before leaving town for a few days!

So should I not wake her up after 30 minutes while away?  I should be able to work around naps during the trip to retain the same schedule.  So should I do that?  Or just let her sleep as long as she wants in am and pm?

[debo620]

Sorayas mom, thats great! I would keep with the 30min am nap even while on holidays, since it doesn't seem any other am nap is leading to a good pm nap (and I wouldn't want to fight for a pm nap while on holidays). this worked today, so keep it up. sohaw much A time after the 30min am nap today?

[NiknLily]

Thats great, I agree with Deb, now its starting to work stick with it as much as possible while away.  Hope you have a good time 

[stheo]

HI ladies... i new to this section.. my LO is 11.5 months and i think we are getting ready for the 2-1 transition. she is on a 9-9 routine.. she goes down for 1st nap after 3 hr A time and sleeps 1.5 hr but fights afternoon nap.. i would like to keep the am nap the longest and afternoon catnap. but i dont want the catnap to be so late in afternoon that she ends up going to bed at 1000.. she seems to need 3.5 -4 hr Atime before bed... she is not ready for just 1 nap.. i have tried to push it back and she would be ok if she would nap 2 hrs or so if she took 1 nap but she doesnt and is overtired by the end of the day.. any suggestions