My daughter(11.5mths) started crawling just under two weeks ago. She is a LO that likes her schedules. She used to go down at 0930-1130 and back down again at 1-2 and bed at 730. Last week she stopped napping in the afternoon. We switched her morning nap until about 8 days ago to 1030 until she wakes up about two hours later. Then again around 4. Worked great for a few days now she isn't wanting to nap at all. She naps in her crib and no where else. She goes down with a bottle with breast milk for both naps. She eats breakfast before her nap and bottle. She is dry and she has her seahorse that plays music that she usually goes to sleep with. I really know for her sake that she needs to nap and it is important. The past 4 days have been tough for and my husband during the day. At night she is tough to get to sleep but she does down better than right when she learned to crawl so that at least is getting better. I just need ideas for nap time or words of encouragement.
So she has completely stopped napping now. Heck can't even get her to nap for a short time in the evening. She is always playing and crawling around during the day. She is eating fabulously which she hasn't been recently so that is nice. Oh to know what is going on in her brain would be so nice. Hope this passes. Thank you everyone for your thoughts and ideas!
Sounds like she's gearing down to one nap, and may not need as much sleep as she used to. It's common for that age.
My son dropped his second nap at about 12 months, and instead slept almost 3 hours in the middle of the day. Once my shock wore off, I liked it better because I didn't feel we had to race home from errands twice a day to get those shorter naps in!
A couple of weeks ago, we were going through the exact same thing with our 11.5 month old! He refused his second nap even when he was tired. We ended up switching to a one nap schedule. As with your daughter, our son really loves his schedule, so this is our new one:
7:30- wake and breakfast
8:30- bottle
Play (he used to nap from 9-10:30, so he gets a little crabby, but If I keep him active he will forget about being tired)
10:45- bottle
11:15- nap
1:15 (approximately)- wake and lunch
Play (usually in a great mood because of the rest!)
3:00- bottle
4:00- small snack (this is the other time he starts to get a little crabby, but a few cheerios and some cold water wake him right up)
5:30- Dinner
6:30 or 7:00- bottle and Good Night!
We originally tried to feed him lunch a little early and put him down for a nap after (so his feeding schedule was would remain almost the same as before), but he was so tired that he would fight his lunch. So, we ended up changing his lunch to after the nap and it made a world of difference. Eventually, we will move his lunch before nap and his nap a little later in the day, once his body is a little more accustomed to only one nap. That way, his nap will be more in the middle of his waking hours.
I had read that the majority of babies switch from 2 to 1 nap between 15 and 18 months, but many children do make the switch around 1 year. Good luck and hopefully this helps!
It's a wonder period. It will pass soon and she will go back to sleeping. meanwhile, don't mess with her schedule, just keep on as is, and she will go eventually go back to sleeping.
Hi.
I would perhaps switch back her nap to earlier in the morning so that she will want that afternoon nap.
In addition, I would ensure plenty of stimulation, sunlight and activity throughout the day.
You are not alone. we have all been there.
Jilly
She is plenty old enough to be down to one nap per day, from about noon to 3 would be the longest I think.
She is still going to bed really early too. Once she goes down to the one nap and is doing that really well she'll start being harder and harder to get down that early. You'll need to start bumping it back 15 minutes or so each night until she goes right off. Then that will last a few months then she'll start again with the not going down easy. It's the nature of the beast, as she grows she does not need that much sleep and going down that early she will start getting up around 4-5 am and not going back down until nap time...that won't be fun.
I had to take my daughter off naps at 18 months because she would go on jags of not sleeping at all for three weeks and then sleep all day for a week to make up for it. Unbearable! So no more naps for me or her. Harder on me than her.
Increase her activity level if you can....and don't let her go to sleep to early. No late naps, or falling asleep into the dinnerplate. Do let her have a week of sleeping all day and night.....it will do you in. My daughter had a lot of temper tantrums at first cause she was so tired until her stamina increased.
Good luck. You probably have a live wire on your hands.
Have you tried just one nap and an earlier bedtime? Could just be a phase--and she'll revert back in a week or two.
Both of my boys were down to 1 nap by 10 months. However, they never ever really did a morning nap, I gave up and stopped fighting it and just worked in 15 minute increments to get them to one nap a day, usually between 11:00-12. This meant bedtime was between 6-6:30pm sometimes as early as 5 depending how well they napped.
My kids would always fall asleep in the car. With that in mind, I always took them somewhere that they could be tired when they got back in the car. During the 10 minute drive home they'd be passed out. It wasn't convenient but it helped me survive and sometimes, you do what you have to do... :)
