16 Month Old Sleeping Habits??

Kids cycle and will go back and forth on naps. Sometimes mom needs them to have one as much or more than the child needs it. How about quiet time? She doesn't have to sleep but it's time to sit on her bed and read books or rest. My teens still take a reading break sometimes in the afternoon or when they are feeling stressed. Set a limit that you will read a couple of book to her then she can 'read' to herself or quietly rest. This gives everyone some dowm time without fight to get the child to sleep.

hi L.,

my second child, a daughter, never took to the second nap either. once i determined that this was the case every single day, she and my daycare provider (the neighbor next door) changed the afternoon nap to one of a "quiet time". for 20 to 30 minutes, she would go lay down in her room and look at her books until i came to get her (or her daycare provider when she was at daycare). we only came to get her up if she was quiet so that she would not learn that hollering and screaming is a way to get out of "quiet time".

my daughter was always different than others and i learned early on to pay attention to HER inner clock and once i learned to pay attention to what her body was telling her, she was a very happy kid.

best to you!

Every kid is different. My little one gave up his second nap when he was a little younger than your son. Try letting him have one nap for a while and see how he does. If he seems fine then he is ready for one nap.

L.-

I have a 13 month old boy and have been dealing with the same issue! We have gone to one nap now and life is so much better. So 4 week ago I would put him down for his morning nap and 15 minutes later he would be screaming, I would calm him down, leave, and sooner than later he was screaming again. After a day or two of this I decide not to put him down for the morning nap unless he really looked tired. I would put him down right after lunch during the transition he would sleep for about 3 hrs. This is way more sleep than his previous two naps combined!!! So for the first week or I would say we did two days one nap and one day two naps, all going on his clues. (I am signing with him so I can ask if he is sleepy...very helpful). Fastforward a few more weeks and we are consistently doing 1 nap a day that last 2.5 hrs to 4 hrs. Now he goes down for his nap about an hour after his lunch.

Yep, mine too. He's 18 mos now, but went to one nap 4-5 mos ago. He sleeps from 12-2 and back to bed at 8-8:30pm to 7am. I think there is a lot of variability at this age (I researched sleep for my first, now 8), so every child is different. At first, my son was REALLY cranky from 5-6, and there were some days I couldn't not listen to him telling me he was tired. I'd put him down at 5:30 and he was chipper until 9:30. But that transition took just a month. I highly recommend "Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child." I bought it to help my 3-year-old sleep better, but you may want to consult it now, w/ his sensible advice, I've helped my 18 mo be our best sleeper.

My daughter started taking one nap a day around the same time, and it worked out well. She normally goes down right after lunch, around 12:30 or 1:00 and sleeps for 2-3 hours. It all depends on how tired she is.

Both of my kids started at 12 months. It makes life alot easier. Down around 11:30-12:30 and they usually slept for 2-3 hours. My oldest is almost 6 and doesn't take naps anymore, but my youngest is 20 months and does real well with the 1 nap schedule.

Hi L.,
I am a first time Mom, so by no means an expert, but I have an 18 month old daughter who has recently given up her 2nd nap. She usually goes down for one nap a day right after lunch. If she wakes up too early, she might go down about 11:00. She usually sleeps for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, but always at least 2 hours. Then we put her down to bed between 8:00 and 9:00.

I hope this helps!
:)
M.

Sounds like he's ready to transition to one nap. I would eliminate the morning nap and move the afternoon nap to right after lunch. As far as how long he sleeps depends on the invidividual. My oldest child would sleep for 2-3 hours. My youngest sleeps for 1-2 hours.

Funny! When my little guy was 14 months (about 3 months ago) I asked this VERY question to the Moms here. They were not only RIGHT but very gracious in offering suggestions & encouragement. Now he is down to one nap at 17mo. I gradually pushed his am nap back, over about 1 week, from 9:15am to 10:30am. After a few days without that second nap he began to sleep longer-about 2 hours. Now he goes down between 10:30-11:00 (depending on his mood/how tired he is) and wakes between 12:30-1:15pm. It tough at first because they're tired for the first few days and can be crabby. Also if he was really tired at night I would put him down a little earlier to bed (7:30-7:45 instead of 8:00pm). Hope this helps, good luck.

Hi L.,
My son is 21 months and has been on one nap a day for a few months now. He will go down for his nap around noon and sleep until 3 or 4 depending on how tired he is. Then he goes to bed around 8:30 and sleeps until 8 or 9 in the morning.

Maybe try having him take his morning nap an hour or two later than normal and see what happens. He might have an adjustment period of crankiness, but that should pass fairly quickly. I remember my son fighting his 2nd nap for a while, so I changed his nap time and we've been great since. He also loves to sleep, so I hardly ever have a problem getting him to take his nap.

Good luck!
S.

Both my kids switched to one nap at around a year old, but I babysit a little 15 month old who still takes two naps a day. The way I knew my kids were ready for one nap was basically that they stopped seeming tired during one of the alotted naptimes, which it sounds like your son is doing. Try giving him a nap around 11 am, after lunch, and see how he does. He may nap longer and better! My son naps about 3 hours in the afternoon now, at age 21 months.

My first daughter was in a montessori childcare center and they took her off the first nap at 12 months and she did fine. When I stayed home with the second, I did the same and my now 2 year old is also doing well. She takes a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. My almost 4 year old is very different. She sometimes needs a nap,depending what we do during the day. He may also sleep longer at night without that 1st nap. Good luck

I don't think there is any right or wrong answer here. Just watch his cues. Once in a great while my daughter will take two naps in a day, but since she was about 15 months she's basically been taking one two-hour nap. Sometimes shes takes it around 10:30 or 11:00, but other times she won't go down until 1:00 or 2:00. They know what they need better than we do as far as that goes. I think the worst thing to do is fight with them to take a nap. If you really want him to still take two naps, maybe for one of them, just let him hang out in his crib with a couple toys or books. Chances are, he'll fall asleep. Good luck.

It is very normal for a child to transition to one nap a day anywhere from 12-18 months. My kids did around 13-15 months. It sounds like your son is showing all of the signs. Everyone is different with what time the one nap should be. For me, I always wanted more time in the morning to go get things done, so I pushed my kids' naps back to the afternoon - putting them down around 1-2 pm. I would start the transition from 2 naps by not putting them down for their morning nap at the normal time & keeping them up for an extra hour or two or until I could tell they were tired & really needed a nap. I would put them down 15 minutes later each day until they were going down in the afternoon. I just let them sleep as long as they want to. My kids have averaged anywhere from 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours for their one nap. I just put my kids down at roughly the same time every day for a nap and the same time at night for bedtime and let them sleep as long as they need to - they seem to self-regulate and get the amount of sleep they need to. Good luck!

Hi! Here's my experience with naps...both of my kids quit taking a morning nap around 16 months or so because it was messing up the afternoon nap. So I decided to eliminate the morning nap and start the afternoon nap earlier (since they were dog tired by the time lunch was up!). So naptime would be at 12:30 or 1 and they'd usually sleep for 2 hours, sometimes more. Sometimes they'd really seem like they wanted or needed a morning nap during this transition time, so I'd do something active in the morning so they weren't walking around the house whining, and then by 1ish they'd conk right out for a long one.
My son is now 20 months and naps a little later, like 1:30 or 2 and still naps for like 2 hours. My opinion is that I'd rather have time in the morning to be out doing errands, playdates, or whatever, and then have that nice long nap in the afternoon so that I can get some things done at home. Hope this helps! :)

My first child was the perfect sleeper...stuck to schedules, morning and afternoon naps until she was 4 and 12 hours of sleep at night! My second child never wanted to take an afternoon nap, but she was tired and when she didn't take one, she had problems falling asleep at night (you'd think it'd be easier, but it wasn't...she was too tired). So I finally started laying down with her. I can't remember exactly how old she was, but I know she was younger than 2 when this started. I ended up taking an afternoon nap with her for about a year until she was finally completely done with taking an afternoon nap at all. I was worried that she might get 'addicted' to laying down with me during her morning nap and at night, but she never did, never had a problem. The upside was that I was almost forced to get rest that I really needed. We just slept every afternoon! My 3rd child, who is 2 1/2 right now, is all over the place. She sleeps once a day, but she and I never know for sure if she is going to fall asleep at 11:00 or at 2:00...it all depends upon the day and our activities. Because she has never developed a definite natural clock time for her daily nap, I just go with the flow. I'm a stay at home mom, so this is not hard for us...in fact, sometimes it's a great thing because it frees our family up to have long day activities on the weekends without having to worry about any certain naptimes...if she falls asleep in the car or stroller, then great. If not, we put her down for a nap when we get home. Whatever way it goes, she still sleeps once a day and that's as scheduled as it's gotten these days. Just pay attention to him and what he is reacting well to, naturally to and what isn't working. You'll find his groove!

I'm going through the same thing with my 14 month old daughter. She used to sleep great, but her afternoon nap is disappearing. I think she's a little young for this, so I will continue to put her down for her afternoon nap for a while and hope it's just a phase. She is so tired later in the day if she refuses her second nap, so I know she needs one. Her schedule is something like this: 7:00 wake up, 9:00-10:30 nap, 1:00-2:00 nap, 8:00 bedtime. It varies a little based on when she woke up. Sometimes the naps get pushed back because of a late wake-up time, but bedtime is always 8:00.

If you decide to transition to one nap (and maybe he is ready for that: follow his body cues) then try pushing back his morning nap bit by bit. Keep him up an extra 30 minutes before laying him down for a couple days until that becomes the new naptime. Then push it back again until it's sometime mid-day.

Perhaps instead of naptime, you could make the afternoon a "quiet time". Put him in his crib with a couple of books or favorite toys and leave him alone for 45 minutes or an hour. That way he has something to play with and won't be screaming, but he also learns that he is still expected to have some down time every afternoon.

Good luck!