Switching to One Nap

[TwinMama]

At what point do you guys try and get little ones on one afternoon nap a day?

I've got an almost 15 month old....Mom says that he takes a nap at 10:30. Then he sleeps until noon. But after that....nothing. She said she thinks he really needs his afternoon nap, but she has to lay down with him when he's home.

At the center he was at, they would lay him right back down again at 2. Which I think is too soon. I tried it though to keep him on schedule and he screamed bloody murder. If he doesn't get a nap he's whiney and cranky for the afternoon from like 2:30 on.

I can put him in the nap area downstairs by the playroom and let him fuss a bit, but for the morning nap I just put him in the pack in play in our room. He goes down great for the first nap but he's NOT having the second one.

WWYD?

[Blackcat31]

I start transitioning mine to one nap per day once they are a year old.

I start by doing one nap (same time as everyone else) one or two times a week. The next week, I add another one nap day. I continue doing this until they are napping once a day every day.

Sometimes I may have to give someone a little snooze in the mornings (no more than 30 mins) during the transition but that doesn't happen too often. Depends on the child.

After 30 days, I've got them transitioned to one nap. I've never had one take longer than 2-3 weeks.

All my kiddos are full time (4 or 5 days a week) so that makes a difference I suppose. I also make sure the parents are on board and that we are working together during the transition. It's tough if parents are working against you or not supporting the change. You can tell if they aren't.

[finsup]

I start the transition process when they turn 1. It can take a little while though. Some days it goes great, others they really need that morning nap. Typically by 15m everyone is on the same schedule. I always hope for earlier though .

[TwinMama]

I tried to have him nap at noon yesterday instead of 10:30. He took a 2 hour nap and was pleasant beforehand. When he woke up from nap he was super mad for the rest of the afternoon.

[Blackcat31]

I tried to have him nap at noon yesterday instead of 10:30. He took a 2 hour nap and was pleasant beforehand. When he woke up from nap he was super mad for the rest of the afternoon.

Do the other kids nap at noon?

If so, try putting him down a little sooner than the other....build a half hour onto his 2 hour nap so he gets 2.5 hours...that might change his afternoon behavior/mood.

Most advice is to let him sleep longer and while I agree that helps during the transition I think that "longer" should mean going down a bit "earlier" verses sleeping later... kwim?

[TwinMama]

Do the other kids nap at noon?

If so, try putting him down a little sooner than the other....build a half hour onto his 2 hour nap so he gets 2.5 hours...that might change his afternoon behavior/mood.

Most advice is to let him sleep longer and while I agree that helps during the transition I think that "longer" should mean going down a bit "earlier" verses sleeping later... kwim?

I thought of that too. The others go to bed between 1 and 1:30. So I thought it was better putting him down earlier, but it didn't work. He also had a nice quiet room with a ceiling fan going. All to himself. Didn't matter.

[childcaremom]

What I am doing is waiting until the morning nap is either less than 45 mins or else they take longer than 15 mins to fall asleep. I then start transitioning them. For me, this usually is around the 14 mos mark. I will start transitioning by then if they haven't hit it themselves.

My group rest time is 12-3. During transition, I put them down at 11 and let them sleep until 2. Then after a week or so, move it back to 11:30. See how that goes. Eventually move it to 12.

By 16 months, usually every one is one the same nap schedule.