11 Month Old Dropping Morning Nap...

Dear H.,
Neither of my children were day nappers, but they slept all night.
I still had a routine that I followed by putting them down for "rest time". There was never an expectation of actual sleep, but I put them down with some tranquil music and let them have quiet time. I loved it when I could hear them jabbering to themselves or putting a blanket over one of their favorite "loveys" and telling them nigh-nigh.
You can't force a child to sleep, but I think that quiet time is just as important.
Keep in mind that as children grow, their sleep patterns can really change.
Best of wishes!

Well sweetie, I learned with my first that as soon as I figured out a schedule, he grew and changed it!

You need to follow her cues - you are good at catching her signals of tiredness so continue to watch and pick up on that, and put her down a little later, or only one instead of 2 naps.
I think she is ready for one not two naps - even though she may seem tired and fussy and not ready to give up her morning nap, try to let her play and kind of wear her out, instead of "resting" her for an hour at 9. Let her play hard then put her down at 10 or 11 (whenever you see signs of tiredness) and you may find that she'll sleep longer and better with just one nap instead of "resting" all day long.
(Same principle applies with eating which I have found with my skinny little boy - it's better for him to eat as much as he will at lunch, then a good afternoon snack, then nothing, not even when he claims to be starving to death, in the hour or two before dinner, then he eats more of a dinner than he ever would if he were snacking constantly throughout the day.)

And yes, it can happen as early as this. :( My son outgrew naps completely about 2 3/4 years old :( I dont remember when he went to one nap instead of two, but that sounds about the right (same) age as mine.

My son is 13 months and right about the 11 month mark he also decided he wasn't going to take his first nap. He never gets fussy when I put him down, but he usually does not fall asleep. I will give him a pacifier, turn on his mobile and I also placed a baby toy mirror thing at the end of his crib. He usually will watch the mobile and when that stops will go over to the mirror to play with his "friend" and SOMETIMES I can get him to nod off. Maybe try getting some extra things for her to look at to keep her entertained and leave her if she's not fussy. My son also sleeps with a pillow in his crib. He will go over and rub his head into it over and over again. He loves the feel. Hope this helps and good luck.

Sounds pretty typical. Let her drop the morning nap and move everything else up --i.e. have lunch earlier and put her down earlier in the afternoon. These stages are pretty much all about readjusting the routine. Good luck, it will work out!

Hi, my soon to be 11 months old has been taking only one nap in the afternoon since she was about 9.5 months. I was shocked in the beginning, I thought it was too early. She slept 11-12 hours at night and 2 hours in the afternoon, so then I just figured out she is just this way and I did not push for any more naps. Now my 2.5 yrs old and soon to be 11 months old taking their naps at the same time! What a relief! You are a mother, listen to your instincts :)

Hi H.,
Everything sounds normal to me. I have 4 kids. My youngest is 14 months. Most of my kids dropped their morning nap around 11-12 months, including my youngest. I usually put her down around 1 now, and she sleeps for 2-3 hours. Now that it's summer and the other kids are home, too, I actually put them all down at the same time and get some alone time. My oldest is 7 and doesn't actually sleep, but she reads or plays her DS during that time. So yes, it's about that time. I know, bummer. But she should take one good nap in the afternoon if you keep her busy in the morning. Then, she should sleep better and longer at night, too.

My daughter dropped to one nap before her first birthday. Let her do it and put her down at 11 -- she'll likely take a while to adjust but will soon enough start sleeping for a two-hour stretch. My daughter did. Good luck.

My son dropped to 1 nap at around 9 -10mths He was never a good napper & unlike most he wasn't fighting the morning nap, but hysterically fighting the afternoon nap (even though he obviously needed). Once I stopped forcing the afternoon he went down for his morning nap (usually around 10-11 am) and had a good 3 hr nap. It was such a blessing for me. He was so much happier slept better @ night and I got to take a lil' rest myself. Now @ 18 mths he's transitioning to a mid-afternoon nap around 1pm. And right now it varies btwn 2-3hr nap. So just follow your lil one's cues she's letting you know its time to move on.

BTW I did the transition from 2-1 naps in 15 min increments for about 3 days. And eventually he wasn't as cranky during that time period. Hope that helps

Good Morning H.: As the mother of several children let me say that you are SO LUCKY that your child has napped this well for so long. None of mine did 2 good naps a day after 11 months and on the rare timesthey did I cherished it. So I don't think it is unusual at all to for your little one to make changes to your life and hers. I see that my grandchildren are doing the same to their mothers.
Is your little one alright in a playpen? If so you can get things done while she plays and entertains herself. Sometimes it helps to have music playing and you might get lucky. I hope that you enjoy the adventure of parenthood. It is the greatest thing that I have ever done. NanaG

Hi H.,
My son went through something similar just over a month ago (he is 19mo though). It was tough; and some days were just hard b/c of his mood. He would stay awake in his crib for the morning nap, and play, then he started to just cry the whole time.... so I knew it was time to get rid of the morning nap. The problem was keeping him busy all morning until around noon. He would go down for that nap and it was only 2hrs (he used to take 2- 2hr naps/day) when I thought it would be longer. Then he would be a little on edge in the evening. Slowly his afternoon nap got longer, and slowly he was able to make it until 1pm to go down. Now he seems to also be sleeping longer in the morning; till 730 instead of 6 or 630. It's taken almost 2months of transitioning, but it has gotten easier. The one thing that I wasn't prepared for was trying to keep him entertained all morning.... I run out of things to do and he gets bored. I use that time for errands, take him to the park, or a walk, and try to get some of his energy out. Sometimes he still only sleeps 2hrs in the afternoon, but mostly it is a 3hr nap. Good luck and hopefully she will transition well!

My daughter did the same thing around 13 months. We ended up pushing back the morning nap to 10 or 11 and then did the afternoon nap around 3 or 4 and pushed bed time back to 8.

Now she's 21 months and the morning nap has been pushed back to 1 and the afternoon nap is gone.

My second child went to one nap early (about 11 months). She takes one big nap after lunch. It used to be a 3 hour nap, but she's 2 now so it's more like 2 hours unless she has a big morning. It actually works out better for us. I get all the kids out in the a.m., feed them lunch, then I get a big chunk of much-needed time for myself. If you adjust your schedule and mindset, you may find it will work out for both of you. Good luck! One note -- I sometimes had to feed her a half hour early (11:00 - 11:30) if I thought she was looking too tired to stay up until after our normal 12:00 lunch.

My daughter also did this around that age. Naps were always a battle, even when she was doing two a day (and NEEDED them). She is now almost 2 and has been doing 1 nap that lasts 1 to 2 1/2 hours. I put her down around 12 or 1pm.
I know what you mean about her being fussy and grumpy and needing this extra nap, I felt the same way, but then I realized that there was nothing I could do about it. I tried everything too. I have come to realize that she just doesn't need as much sleep as some kids do- she's never being a 3 hour napper and never will be, and she'll never sleep more than 10 or 11 hours at night. But she's healthy and has a ton of energy.
I say don't worry about it and focus on one really good nap and see how she does.