Going from Two Naps to One?

Hi L. -

My boys (triplets) dropped their morning nap on Christmas Day, when they were 16mos. Since it was a cold winter, they had already been sleeping in late (until 9am!) and on xmas they were so excited they just powered through until after lunch. They haven't taken a morning nap since (except sometimes short ones in the car). I always suggest the book The Sleep Lady's Guide whenever someone has problems with their kids' sleep. If you do decide to shift her to one nap, you definitely want to keep the afternoon one. While transitioning, you can start out with an earlier afternoon nap (1130 ish) and just gradually shift it later into the day as she becomes accustomed to it.

Good luck
Dana

Go by cues from the child and thier moods, not a book. My first son took them all they way until after a year, my newborn (8 months) takes a morning nap and that's it for the day now. It's up to how they do best.
Good luck,
C.

Yes.. my happy go lucky baby boy.. born on 6/11/07 dropped his morning nap a couple of weeks ago.. He also started sleeping longer at night.. He used to wake up at 5 am and need a morning nap by 9 am.. now he sleeps until 7 am and can stay up unitl 11 am sometimes noon.. He does take a 3 hour nap.. He gets about 15 hours of sleep per day.

My daughter ont he other hand took 2 naps until she was 20 months old.. she needs every minute of her sleep or she is crabby.

I knew that my daughter was ready to give up her nap when she started fighting it-- she would go to bed and bounce and talk but not sleep..

Every child is different.. You will find your life is easier when she goes to 1 nap.. then you will have several hours in the morning to do things without your child getting tired and crabby..

I was hesitant about my duaghter giving up her nap.. but it has made my life much easier..

Hi L.,

While neither of my 2 children went down to one nap at just 9 months, I am glad that others here have told you that their children have. The reason I am responding is to tell you: don't pay attention to what books tell you! Our babies don't know how to read yet, so they don't know the "rules"! LOL!

My son (2.5 years old) started to give up his nap around 14 months old, but it was a 2-month process and you never knew from day-to-day what he was going to do. (I've read that several children can take that long to make the transition, while others do it much more quickly.) My daughter (who just turned a year old last week) started to go through the same thing at 11 months old. Still, I never know from day-to-day what her sleep schedule will be. It's a pain in the butt because it makes it harder to plan things, but I've just had to throw my hands in the air and so, "Oh well!" Kids never seem to do what you want them to do, WHEN you want them to do it!

I know exactly what you mean about your daughter not sleeping if there are things going on, but that she might need that 2nd nap if there is nothing going on. That is the exact same thing we are going through. Like you said, you are going to try this week to see if you can keep her up and just put her down for one nap--but if it doesn't work out, then just accept the fact that your daughter may need 2 naps some days and 1 nap other days. If she seems sleepy in the morning, put her down for a nap--if not, keep her up. (Heck, even if she seems sleepy in the morning, she might fight the nap! And that's okay too.) I know it won't be easy on you, but this is a temporary transitional period and before you know it, she will regularly be down to just one nap.

Sorry to make this longer, but I wanted to add something else: books and "experts" tell us how much sleep our children need, but those are just AVERAGES...they are not necessarily the amounts of sleep our own children need. My 2.5 year old son just started to transition from one nap to NO naps. Books say he needs at least 12-14 hours of sleep a day; he only needs 10. When he started to take himself off naps, I was concerned that he wasn't getting enough sleep, so I talked to a nurse at our doc's office. She told me that two of her four children never even came close to the amount of sleep she was told they needed; in fact, one of them AS A TODDLER would only sleep 6 hours a night, and had no naps during the day. He was fine and happy and fully functioning. So that just goes to show you that each child is different! You just need to figure things out through trial and error, and that goes for ALL aspects of raising a child, not just sleep issues.

(I just love Mamasource and other websites because I can always find someone else who has gone through the same thing I am when I find that my children are not acting as the books say they should!)

Good luck!

D.

Hello, yes my daughter drop her naps around that age as well. She will still take a nap ocassionally but there is nothing wrong with that, she just does not want to miss anything that is going around her. It did not make it easier for us or the babysitters but there is nothing wrong with an energetic child and she was just so good, nobody cared anyway. Once she starts running and exploring more, she might take a few more naps here and there, it is just about having an schedule of doing things. Sometimes they are a lot more tired than you think, they just don't want to go to sleep. I let my child cry for a little bit, not desperately but within a few minutes she was sleep and woke up so much more refresh from her few naps and was a lot nicer than when she had not slept at all. Each mother knows her child best but we do need a break for ourselves once in a while too. I do not know if this will help, but we used to put a very dark blanket that covered the window when we try to put her to sleep, she knew that meant nap time and with less light in the room, she even slept a longer nap. Good luck to you both. :)

My story is a little different but might help. My little guy went down for 2 naps on schedule and with no complaints. At 10 months, I went back to work part time and the sitter was only giving him one nap. I was quite frustrated at first, but then he began to have a really rough time going down at bedtime - especially on the days when he was taking two naps. It was his actions that told me to try one nap. We did that - and it is rough at first. But I comitted to it for two weeks to see what happened and it was much better once he got used to the one nap. His two little naps turned into one longer one and bed time became easier again.
My advice is to go with your gut, not books or experts. You know your little one and can probably sense what she needs. The other part of this is you can always try something and then change it if it doens't work.
Good luck.

my first daughter took two naps almost untill she was two, which is unlikely, but they were short naps, maybe an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon, if your daughter takes a longer nap in the afternoon she will be fine.

L.,

My son (6 now) went from two naps to one around this same time. Then around 18 to 20 months he dropped napping altogether. I still insisted on 1 1/2 to 2 hours of quiet time in his room because we needed a break from each other. David also needed to wind down and process some of the frustration he had encountered during the morning. If he didn't get that rest time he would have a meltdown later in the afternoon.

Now that he is in school we get that break and he doesn't need to rest in his room. He is also better at dealing with frustration.

I hope this helps for now and in the future. Enjoy your little girl!

L. ~
Forget the books and do what you think is best for your child. Not every child follows what the books say. You know your daughter better than anyone. You have to follow your own instincts with alot of things with kids, not what the books say. Play it by ear and if she's cranky and needs a nap, put her down. If she's happy and playing, let her stay up.
good luck!
D.

My nephew dropped BOTH naps by 9 months. He's now grown and turned out just fine :) Do what works for you and your baby, not just what the books say, honey. I have two young girls and learned the hard way that books aren't always right--you gotta know your kid. Blessings.

Hi L., I you probably know by now, raising children cannot be truely written in a book. Your baby is probably starting to transition from two to one nap. Somedays she will take two long naps and sometimes a short and a long nap and sometimes only one long nap. Just watch your child's cues to know if this is OK or not. Be flexible and she will soon work it out soon!
D.

I think you're fortunate she took two naps for so long. By nine months both my sons were taking three hour naps in the afternoon which was actually sort of nice because I had a three hour block to get things done.

L.,
I say go with your instinct. My daughter was never a good nap taker, and she would fight me often. Even as an infant, I found her to be rather alert more often than my friend's infants. At 2 years old, I stopped making her take naps all together. I found that if she napped during the day, she would be up until 11pm that night... which did neither of us any good. It didn't matter if the nap was for 10 minutes or 3 hours... Sometimes she would lie down on her own and nap, and sometimes she would be so out of sorts that I KNEW she needed to nap, but usually I would just let her figure it out. The books can be great for some things, but I found them to be more of a guide than a definite. Good luck!!

Hi Lauri,

Got your email. Sounds like your little one may not be much of a napper right now.Some kids just don't need to sleep as much. My son, who is 2 1/2 yrs old gave up two naps at 10months (and then began to take lovely 2-3hr naps in the afternoon) . My daughter, who is 13 months has never slept like her brother and has only taken one nap per day for months (maybe she was 7months- can't remember). Don't worry too much about the books may say- just go with what is going to work best for you. *C.

yes...my last one did at about 7/8 months then at 18 months gave them up all together!

Around the same age as your daughter, my daughter started staying up later in the morning into the early afternoon and would take a 1 1/2-2 hour nap and then about a 30 minute one in the evening. Then at 13 months old she totally transitioned to 1 3hour nap a day from around 12-3, it's great!

Dear L.,
Follow your child's lead. If she does well with one nap -- especially if it's a long one, one nap is fine. I dropped down to one nap with my kids by 10 months. The books are guides, not mandates.
Good luck!
S.

My son dropped his morning nap at 8 mos. As long as she's getting her long enough afternoon nap (which 3 hours is good), she should be fine. Some kids have alot of energy at this age and after sleeping for 10-1/2 hours a night, they don't want to nap in the morning. My son is 2-1/2 now and still takes an afternoon nap from 1pm-4pm. If he misses his nap which occasionally we get busy and can't nap, he's one miserable little kid and it's hard to get him to go to bed without a struggle.

MC

Hi L.,
I am a SAHM of a 20 month old boy and I think that he dropped his morning nap around 11 months...and started taking marathon naps in the afternoon of 2-4 hours - usually around the 3+ hours range. This has been wonderful for me! We plan to do things in the morning and then try to be home for lunch and afternoon. His long naps allow me to shower, work from home, workout, clean, whatever! I don't think that it's too early for her as long as she's getting the total reccomended amount of sleep in a 24 hour period. Enjoy your new stretches of time! :-)

I have 3 sons they are now ages 3, 5, and 8, and all of them dropped their morning nap between 8-10 months. When they dropped the morning nap they would sleep for about 3 hours after lunch. After they woke they would be up for most the evening, doze for about half hour around 7pm, or after dinner, and then go to sleep through the night around 9:30-10pm. My boys rarely woke up during the night, and they would wake up around 6-7am. I will tell you this was a GREAT sleeping pattern for my boys and our family. My boys didn't get overly tired and cranky, and we got to enjoy them during the day, and get things done. It was wonderful. I know all children are different but if you are consistent it will happen for your daughter and you. Good luck. :)

Yes, my daughter went down to one nap at 9mo.