Toddler Nap Schedule

I would wait until after lunch to put him down for a nap...around 12:30 or 1:00. He should sleep longer through the afternoon, and it helps to give you a nice, quiet break, too. =) Good luck!

I would try to hold off on the nap until after lunch and then he should have a nice long one and still be ready to go to bed early in the evening!!!

Hi R.- we just went through this same transition, My son is 16 1/2 months old. I found that if we could do an activity of some sort between 11am and 1pm, it would keep him awake and revitalized a little since we'd be doing something he's interested in. Then I put him to bed at 1pm and he crashes for 3 hours. It works pretty well for us. Good Luck to you!

L.

No offense, but are you joking?! The fact that you have baby that sleeps 12 hours straight at night and then also takes a 1 1/2 hr nap during the day means you are EXTREMELY lucky - especially at 14 months.

My first son never slept longer than 4 hours straight at night until he was 12 months old (and I worked full-time). His daytime naps were sporadic in 20 minute intervals. Plus he was colicky to boot.

So, if you have been as lucky as you mention, then you will be in for a rude awakening when you discover that the daytime naps will get shorter and then go away altogether.

Sorry this is so harsh, but I am jealous and you should know that you have had it very good! Your baby's sleeping patterns have been better than average.

I would scoot the nap to a little later, like 12:30 or 1:00. If I wait till noon, mine will sleep until 2:30. It's not only good for them, but it helps mommy out too!:)

If you're going down to one nap I would suggest you make it later. 1 1/2 hours is plenty long for lots of kids (my daughter for example), but it usually works better if it's later in the day. I would aim for 1 o'clock. I would never say to expect a 2 hour nap. If you think he needs a longer nap, try having him sleep less at night, push his bedtime back a little perhaps. The longer you keep him up in the morning the longer he'll (most likely - no guarantees) sleep in the afternoon. If you are laying him down so early in the morning he's not getting enough time to get tired. If he really is tired that early he may still need a second nap. When my kids were little they usually had two naps (one at 10:15 or so and one around 2:30-3:30 depending on the length of the first) until around 18 months old. When they transitioned I started moving the morning nap later and dropping off the afternoon. The idea is to sort of combine the two into one mid-day nap. I hope this is helpful.

R.,
A book that helped me (is helping me now - even with my third child!) is Dr. Marc Weissblueth's "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child". You can probably get it at the library. Get the newest edition if possible, (blue cover), but even if they have the yellow one, it's still good. I finally bought it because it has helpful, non-judgemental advice for children 0 - adolescent years. I reference it all the time!
Hope this helps!
Jennifer O'Brien

All 3 of my children took a while to adjust to the one-nap schedule. I would try to keep them awake about 15 minutes longer each morning before they went down until we reached the ideal time to start (1pm for me - right after lunch) and then they slept longer (2-3 hours). I would try keeping them outside playing in the nicer weather, or put some music on to dance to for a bit (then they also get some excess energy out before they go down) then get lunch before they napped. Good luck - be patient...it will come!

By the way, my daughter was a much better sleeper - still is.
Neither of my boys ever slept 12 hours at night, and my youngest still does not sleep through they night - he's 5.
Every child is unique and some need more sleep than others.

To me it seems like this happens more with boys, but it sounds like he is going to be one of those that just doesn't need much nap time, and I know of a few people that have said their boys outgrew naps by 2-3 yrs. of age.

It depends parly on how late you want him to be up, and how early you want him up.
Many think it's terrible because I let my daughter stay up as late as 10pm or 11pm. But, I stay at home, and I dont' want her up at 5am.
She gives me 2-3 hr. nap in the afternoon which I love.
She is now 21 months.

Our 16 month old has recently changed his napping a bit also. he goes to bed at 8 and typically sleeps until around 7am. At home I always put him down at 10am and he used to sleep for 2 hours, now he'll talk to himself and play in his bed before sleeping. Sometimes he's only up there an hour but it's still 'rest time' for the both of us. In the afternoon he goes down between 2 and 3 and he usually gets a good 2 hour nap in. He almost always goes right to sleep in the afternoon. He isn't quite ready for the 1 nap a day, he gets really cranky in the evenings if he doesn't nap enough. I think it's important for him to have down time, even if he doesn't sleep; it gives him time to digest all the new stuff he's discovered that day and to just be away from mommy. I don't know if this will help you at all but I figured it would be nice to know others are in your situation!

I just went through this with our son who's 20 months old. I started to lay him down later, and later for his morning nap until I realized what I needed to do is feed his lunch earlier and put him down for an afternoon nap right after lunch. When I did this he started sleeping for 2 hours. This lasted four or five months, and I realized he needed some stimulation after eating, so we read or go for a short walk, and then put him down. He now naps for 3 hours in the afternoon and when he gets up he's well rested and is more enjoyable for my husband when he gets home from work. Our schedule is he wakes between 7 to 8 AM. We get dressed and watch Seasame Street with milk and a bananna. Then we have breakfast around 9 AM. After breakfast we play or go outside depending on the weather or run errands. At 11:30 I start his lunch so he can eat by Noon. He plays or we read and he goes down for a nap around 1:00 PM. He sleeps until 4:00 PM and then helps with dinner and setting the table in his own unique way. Bath time by 7:00 PM and in bed by 8:00 PM. I rarely get a fuss putting him down for a nap or bed. He's usually exhausted.

K. H.

Hi,
Don't worry, my three year old has been taking 1-1 1/2 nap (once a day) since she was about the same age as your son. Maybe try to keep him from his morning nap until after lunch and he might sleep a little longer. Good luck. I;m married with three children 14,9,3.

Hi R.. My son is now 19 months old. He had pretty much the same exact schedule as your son at his age. Right around 14-15 months he started transitioning to one nap, but, like your son, could not last until after lunch for his one nap. I would give him a large snack around 10:30am, put him to nap at 11am and then give him lunch when he woke up around 1pm. There were days when he was exhausted by 6-6:30pm. From my experience I would say it does just happen gradually. Soon he will be able to make it until 11, 11:30am, etc. and his nap length will stabilize. In my son's case it took about 6 weeks for him to fully transition. He still naps only 1.5-2 hrs, but it really seems to be all he needs as he sleeps a full 12 hours at night. 13+ hours of sleep should be ok for his age. Just follow his lead! Hope this helps!

http://www.babycenter.com/0_how-much-sleep-does-your-chil...

Try holding his nap off until 11.30 and feeding him lunch or a generous snack before nap. He is not sleeping long because he is probably waking up hungry.

My daughter at that age was also up at 6.30, and would cat nap at 9.30 and then go down for another nap at 11 or so. Once I started the naps after lunch- she slept much longer

Do your best to keep him up as long as you can & feed him lunch before you lay him down. He may be waking up because he's hungry. Most children only take an afternoon nap at this age especiallly when they sleep 12 hours at night.

Hi R.!

My son is at the same spot! He sleeps from 7:30pm to about 8:00am and does one nap in the afternoon. I have to stretch him till about 1:00 and then he'll take a 3-3/12 hour nap. Since he's still in that transition phase, I've found that we may have a day a week where we have to go back to 2 naps (usually an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon.) You'll be able to tell when/if you've hit that point with your child. Transition can be tough because they are so tired by late morning, but if you can stretch him till early afternoon he should sleep longer. Good luck!

Ok well i can relate to this right now b/c my 20 month old has been doing a nap around maybe about 10 am than wakes up maybe 1 to 2 hours later but for this age a good 3 hour nap would be better i think but not everyone. if she gets where she is crying or fussy i put her down again if it is 1 or 2pm and if anything she might sleep maybe 30 to a 1 hour or most 1 half hours but she goes to bed on time at 7 and we do good for her on this.
I do have other children that i didn't do it like this but what ever goes for you than that must work. I do know that my twins well always had a nap in the day always till about a month ago and well they turn 3 and i thought ok if there older sister is watching tv for quiet time i call it than they can start doing this ok and if they fall asleep than ok but i found out that my twins have been looking really tried in there face. So am having to go back to taking nap at the right time again for them. Also all children are not like this also b/c well i have also got a 6 and 4 year old and well it was not the same for them either so go with your feelings and what ever goes for you guys do it that way no matter what anyone says. or even if they say your child is sleeping to much or is not sleeping to much just know your the mom. i hope this help but i didn't mean to type so much but when you got so many kids and a topic you kindy been messing with then well you type to much

My daughter quit the naps earlier than 14 months. She would yell and scream, so I finally got to where I didn't worry about it. She slept good at night and I let her alone other than then. There were times when I would check on her because she got too quite and would find her asleep in a soft chair or on the floor or couch. Those were her cat naps and worked out for her and me. If she was twisted like a prtxel, I made sure she was straightened out and comfortable. Good luck. I couldn't see any sense of her and me being upset at nap time.

As kids get older they will sleep less. He may only nap now for an hour to an hour and a half and that will be all. Each and every child differs. There isn't really a whole lot to do as far as extending nap time. He is old enough to where he is going to go on his own schedule now. Don't force him to sleep any longer than he needs to.
D.

I am 31 and have been married for almost 12 yrs. My husband and I have 3 boys ages 10,7 and 4.

Many toddlers need two naps until they're 18 months or so. You may want to shorten his morning nap, and encourage a later day nap if he seems to have fussy evenings. Or, until he takes a longer single nap, you may want to push his bedtime up by a half hour or so.

Every child varies greatly in whether they take a nap and how long it is. My first son stopped napping at 10 months and slept anywhere from 10 - 12 hours at night. My second son slept 15 - 17 hours a day until he was almost 2 years old and now at 3 y/o rarely will take a nap. All I can say is he may not again take a 2 hour nap. Things can change fairly rapidly, good luck!