Dropping Second Nap?

I personally think this just comes with the age. My daughter is 11 months and is in the transition of giving up a nap however she takes 2-3 a day not 1-2, in our case however, it varies from day to day; depending on when she woke up, how well she slept the night before, and what we are doing that day (playdates, classes, etc). I have found it best to just wing it woth her and when she shows signs of tiredness I put her down for a nap. Overall she is pushing her morning nap back later and then she will go down again between 2 and 4 depending on all factors. I don't allow her to nap later than 5:30 anymore as it makes for a difficult bed time.

I can totally relate to what Monica said too about the sleep training as we are currently getting our daughter to sleep through the night as well. She had been off and on for a while but with illnesses and colds it was more off than on and it had become the "norm" to be up once a night for a nursing and go right bac down, but we're weaning her off of that now. She actually went the entire night last night, thank goodness. I forgot what a difference an entire night of sleep can make.

Best of luck!!!

Hi. I'd actually be interested to hear what responses you get. I have sort of the same situation going on. My daughter is 10 months. She used to go right down when I put her in her crib or at most cried for 1-2 minutes. Now she cries for a good 10-15 minutes before she falls asleep and then only sleeps about 1/2 hour. The other day she only did one nap but then by the end of the day she was REALLY tired. So I'm not sure which is best. Let me know if you find out!

However, she is sleeping through the night. A couple of months ago she was up once a night and my doctor said to work on it because at this age she should be sleeping through the night. After 2 days of letting her put herself back to bed she began sleeping through the night.

Well, my daughter who is 1 is still taking 2naps a day. Usually the first nap is about 2-3hr after she wakes up in the morning (this nap will be anywhere from 1- 2.5hrs long) Then she will take an afternoon nap say aroun 3/4pm & sleep for
1-1.5hr) Then she goes to bed between 7-8pm) My 1yr old also sleeps thrugh the night- she may get up 1x for a diaper change & a bottle if she didn't get even for dinner or drink her whole bottle when we put her down at night. She sleeps I'd guess around 13-15hrs a day.

Every baby is different some need more sleep than others I guess.
Perhaps she is teething too & is having a hard time sleeping because her gums hurt??

Have you tried those books on getting your baby to sleep better?
Here's a few suggestions:

How to Get Your Baby to Sleep: America's Foremost Baby and Childcare Experts Answer the Most Frequently Asked Questions
by William Sears

Nighttime Parenting: How to Get Your Baby and Child to Sleep (La Leche League International Book) by William Sears

The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems (By Teaching You How to Ask the Right Questions: Sleeping, feeding and behaviour -beyond the basics through infancy and toddlerdom
by Tracy Hogg

Dear Natasha,

About this age I would start to put her on one nap a day. But there are some days that she just may need two. I run a daycare and at about this age I put them down for a nap around noon, most kids will sleep for 2-4 hours depending on the days activities and what time they wake up. I would give them an early lunch and then put them down for a nap while I fed the other kids. Then when they wake up I would give them a snack. I try to stick to a routine with the kids, which anyone that has kids knows that is not always posible.
Good Luck!
B.

Natasha,
I think your daughter is ready to drop one of her naps. Why not let her do this and see what happens? You both might be happier if she goes to one nap, anyway. It looks like she is getting enough total hours of sleep. Follow her cues. I don't know much about sleep training, but it sounds like the opposite of what you have been doing (co-sleeping and nursing her to sleep.) 'Just wondering if you can practice both approaches at the same time. I am a co-sleeping breastfeeder, so any sleep training or scheduling sounds completely different from what I do.
Don't try too hard. All of this will work out soon. Either she is going through a phase or she no longer needs one of her naps.
Happy New Year.
Amy

I went through the same thing with my daughter when she was about 11 months old. Like you, I felt it was too young for her to be giving up her second nap. She was going down about 10:00 for her morning nap and then 3:00 for her afternoon one. So, I decided to try to push her nap to 11:30 and see what happens. She ended up sleeping even longer than usual during that nap so I was able to just cut out one of the naps. She was on that schedule for a whole year. She just turned two and she's been messing around when I would put her down at 11:30 so I tried putting her down later and later and I find that 1:00 works for her. Maybe try putting her down at different times and see when she will actually go to sleep. Also, a good book to read about sleep is "The Baby Whisperer" by Tracey Hogg. I found this to really help, too. Good luck!