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

[sorayas mom]

Thanks for the tips new mum and amy!

Things have certainly been looking up lately!  She is finally taking longer naps and falling asleep rather quickly for them as well.  Here is what I've been doing lately that has been working:

In the morning she has between 3 hours 30 minutes and 3 hours 50 minutes A time.  This was a big jump from what she was doing, but now she will sleep between 1 and 2 hours.  I am going to retain this nap and just continue to push it back as necessary for a good nap.  I've just been really trying to watch tired cues and it seems to go in 3 day increments where it gets pushed back 10 minutes one day, then 10 more minutes the next day then it is brought forward 20 minutes to catch up on sleep. Seems to be working.

She then has between 3.5 and 4 hours A time depending on the length of the am nap.  If it is an hour she will take a good hour nap in pm, if it is two hour I try for a 20 minute cat nap to keep regular bed time and if it doesn't work it's early to bed! 

So it sounds similar to what you are doing Amy.  I'm glad to know I'm not the only one going through this with such a young one!  Did your ds start transitioning this early as well?  You are right about changing expectations and being a bit more flexible, that is an absolute necessary right now to not get too distraught over this transition!

[Clarepie]

Hi,
My DD has recently turned 1,and I have been going through the 2-1 transition for a few months.We've been on 20 mins in am,always around 10:30 to 10:55,(5 mins to fall asleep).I had been putting her down after 1 hr 50 mins of A time to avoid overtiredness,and she has beeb dropping off to sleep almost instantly.Over the past few days her A time seems to be increasing after 20mins sleep,it's now near 2 1/2 hrs,she lays in her cot babbling then drops off.the question is really,should I cut back the 20 min nap to 15mins now,or try for the one nap,by gradually pushing the morning nap forward?She always falls asleep instantly for her first nap,but I'm really not sure how tired she is.I don't want to push her too far though.Any advice...thanks.

Clare x

[debo620]

Clarepie,
I would keep a 20min am nap and jus accept the pm falling a little later---as long as that pm nap is not affecting bedtime or creating early wakes or short nights (less then 11hrs)
hold on to those two naps as long as you can!

[Clarepie]

Hi,
Thanks for your reply.We did a 15 minute nap this morning,then 2 hrs in the afternoon.Lily went down after 1 1/2 hrs from 12:30 to 2:30.I also extended her A time in the morning by 10 mins which she handled fine,so aslong as it doesn't affect her nightsleep,then i'll try the same again tomorrow.I suppose what i'm aiming for is to keep on moving that am nap gradually forward until it reaches a suitable time to go to one nap.Lily wakes at 6:40am and goes to bed 12 hrs later,so should I be aiming for one nap to start from 11:30/11:45am.It's difficult for her to wake later in the morning as the central heating goes on at 6:40am,and that usually wakes her.It's nice to have a bit more time to ourselves in the evening if she goes down earlier!

Clare x

[debo620]

well Clare, I actually just left the am nap at 3-3hrs A time (wake-up varied) so at 9:30, and once I though he could handle it, I went for a 5hr A time and he handled it fine---but this was at 15months or so.

[NiknLily]

I agree with Debo620, at her age I wouldn't push the am nap forward unless she does it her self, just follow her lead.  Plus with the way your doing it by cutting the am nap and leaving a long pm nap your not wanting to push the am nap forward as its the short one, you want to be left with the pm nap, being the long one.  The aim is to use that early catnap to break up roughly 5hrs from wake up in morning to a long pm nap, that will be the be your left with when she no longer needs that short catnap in the morning.

[Clarepie]

Hi,
We did a 15 minute catnap again this morning,again she lasted 1 1/2 hrs from wake up to putting down for her long pm nap.This time however she did wake briefly about 1 1/2 hrs into her nap.Not sure why?She did a mantra cry for 5 mins or so,but settled herself back to sleep without my intervention.She could possibly be teething(lots of dribbling) at the moment.I don't think it was overtiredness,as she went down with no problem,we usually have a battle on our hands if overtiredness has set in!I've learnt to read her cues fairly well now so know the signs!I suppose she could have had a bad dream and woken herself up?Anyway I'll keep an eye on things.Maybe going back to the 20 minute nap is probably the best idea,if that is the routine she is used to until she's ready to cut that nap out altogether.She has just under 12 hrs sleep at night,so 2hrs worth of daytime sleep should be fine? Thanks for your advice.

Clare x

[hkitty]

Hi there! So glad I found this thread! DS is 16 months and we've been transitioning to 1 nap over the last month. I'm getting frustrated because his naps range from 1 hr to 3.5 hrs. When he was doing 2 naps they were both usually 1.25 hrs. and we usually had to wake him from the second nap to make bedtime go well.
Here's his typically routine:
Wake 6:30 - 7
Milk - 7
Breakfast - 8
Lunch - 11:30
Nap 12, usually falls right to sleep, and will nap anywhere from 1 - 3 hours, most often it's right around 1.5 hrs. I can sometimes get him back to sleep with patting his back.
Milk after nap
Dinner 6
Bath/books 7:30
Asleep 8

Any advice would be VERY appreciated.
Thanks!

[debo620]

Hkitty,
I think aim for about 2hrs of naps, 3hrs really is getting a bit long---it may cause early waking etc.

so keep with the 12pm nap, aim to have him sleep til 2pm or 2:15 at the lastest
if nap is 2hrs then asleep by 7:30/7:45

but if the nap is only 1.5hrs, I would think try for asleep by 7pish, especially if the wake-up was closer to 6:30am,

try for no more then a 13hr day,

[danielina76]

Hello! Happy for this thread! I find this transition so difficult, and now I see that I'm not the only one!
My DD is nearly 11 mo, and is a mo now taht we have problems. She started having 2 naps a day and 1 nap another day. Now is not possible to have more than one nap, also if her first nap is soon. She is having A times of 5 hs or something more, that seems crazy for her age, but I tried to put her to bed earlier, but no way.
Here our routine, also if now is not so constant:

7.30-8.00 wake up
8-8.30 milk
11.45 lunch
12.30 nap, usually 2,5 hs, but sometimes also 1,5 hs
3.30 bf
6.45 dinner
7-7.30 bath and to bed.

If her nap is later, maybe 1-1,30 pm, bed time moves to 8.30-9.00. I see that she is tired before than 5 hs of A, but she resist, no way to put her to bed!
If I manage to have a second nap, a short one, no way to put her to bed before 10.30 pm!
We have NW but is not something new, we had NW also with 2 naps of 1,5 each!
What do you think? Is this possible at this age?
Thank you!!!

[jmoran544]

I'm wondering what the transition from 2-1 nap will look like for my twins (13 months, 11 adjusted), just so I'm mentally ready when it starts to happen. They currently get a catnap in the am and a longer nap in the pm. What happens to the am catnap? Does it shorten? Does it get later in the day until it blends with the pm nap?

Current routine:

6:30-7 wake
7:15 breakfast
10:15 catnap (30 min)
11:00 snack
12:45 lunch
2:00 pm nap (1:15-2hr)
6:00 dinner
6:30 baths
7:00 walk
7:30 bottle
8:00 asleep

[M and N's Mom]

jmoran544 - both of the situations you described are possible.  Most of us gradually shortened the am catnap while moving the pm nap closer to mid-day, until the catnap was gone.

So, after a 30 min catnap your LOs are doing 3+h.  Once the afternoon nap is getting too late in the day, or they start refusing it, then shorten the am nap to 20 min and then about 2h A time in between.  I had to get down to 15 mins before making it to 1 nap (although my DS just got there at 19mos  ).  I still throw in the odd 15 min catnap if he wakes early or is OT.

HTH.

[jmoran544]

Thank you M and N's mom. Any guesses on when it may start? 12 months? 14?

[M and N's Mom]

It could start any time.  My DD was fully transitioned by 13 mos, my DS not until 19+!  I think average starting time is probably 11-13 mos and being done somewhere around 15-16mos.

[NiknLily]

Hi danielina76.  It is young to be solidly on 1 nap but if that is all she will do then so be it.  I think probably on the days when her nap is at 1/1.30 she is probably OT by bedtime because of longer A time in morning, which is why she fights going to sleep.  I would say to always start her day at 7.30 rather than let her sleep till 8am and keep her nap at 12.30 and this will help maintain the earlier bedtime.

That said I would always advise to try to maintain 2 naps whatever way you can for as long as possible when they start to transition young, simply because the older they are generally the better they cope with it.