1 ready for 1 nap, 1 not

This is my first time posting, so I hope I'm doing it correctly!

I have 17-month-old BG twins. They are both good sleepers in that they go to sleep without any fuss and very rarely wake up at night. DD sleeps from 7 to 7 and takes 2 naps of 1-1.5 hours. I think she would easily transition to 1 nap and it would be long. DS sleeps from 7 to 5/5:30, nurses and rests or sleeps until 6:30/7, and takes 2 naps of EXACTLY 45 minutes. Never more, although sometimes less. He usually wakes up crying, which tells me he's not happy about getting up, ie, he's not getting enough sleep. He has recently cried bloody murder at morning nap time and ended up not taking the morning nap a few times so I thought he was ready to transition to 1 nap. I tried the last few days and also tried a few weeks ago, and it was a disaster both times. He took 1 nap for 45 minutes, basically cutting his nap time in half, and was cranky and crying all day long. DD did ok, not sleeping super long, but not being cranky, either.

I'm not sure what my question is, but I'm really losing it with the naps. How do I get DS to sleep later in the morning, and to take longer naps? How do I know when they're ready to transition to 1 nap? How do you do it if one is ready but the other one isn't?

Thanks!
Michele

 

We're in that in-between stage too with naptimes around here. Maddie still definitely needs two naps a day while her sister, Kelsey, could really take or leave her morning nap. We thought it was a little early for Kelsey to be dropping her morning nap but we realized it was a losing battle. When she spent her entire naptime playing in her crib for a few days in a row, we just tried letting her stay up straight until their afternoon nap @ 1:00ish. She did surprisingly well until 12:00pm and fell asleep eating lunch! We're finding some days she'll still take the nap and others she won't. We try to go by her cues. Regardless, they still take their afternoon nap simultaneously since we don't let them sleep longer than an hour in the morning.

Have you tried putting DS to bed a little earlier? We've always found sleep begets more sleep. Maybe pushing up his bedtime 15-30 mins earlier would help him sleep a full 12 hours, especially if he's not getting lengthy naps in. Is he really cranky by bedtime? Does he seem overtired?

 

My heart goes out to you! I was recently in the exact same position with one ready for one nap and the other one wasn't. So I ended up with my daughter having one nap a day and my son taking two a day and it was horrible. However, I posted about this very issue and someone suggested that I keep both of them very busy all morning long, going out for walks, playing games, doing whatever it takes to keep them happy and active during their usual morning naptime and then giving them lunch and then naptime. It worked. My son was exhausted by lunch time, which I had moved up to 11:00, and he took to the new schedule much better than I expected. I have slowly been moving lunch time back to 12:00 and now naptime is at 1:00. They sleep better at naptime and at night now that they are on this new schedule. It will be a rough week or two while you switch them but it's worth it in the end. You will love having them on a one nap schedule since it frees you up for the morning.

 

First off: :welcome: to the SY!!

I agree with the above. We're going through this right now; Nate is totally ready for 1 nap, but Jack still needs his "beauty rest". We're getting ready to bite the bullet and transition them both to 1 nap because Nate is keeping Jack up when they're in their room "napping" (squawking for Nate). We will definitely follow the suggestion to keep them busy during the first nap, move lunch earlier, and let them both sleep afterward.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will go well for me, and I wish you the best as well!

 

we are going through the transition too. My DS was the sleepy one too. You said he wakes at 5 to nurse, could you stop that and see if he would sleep longer. Maybe then he wouldnt be so tired. I was having trouble with my DS pooping at 5am which woke him up and then he was more tired in the am. After working that issue out and getting him on a different poop (sorry) schedule hes not as tired from waking at 5am.

I did the same as pp said, I keep them busy in the am feed lucnh at 11-11:30 then down for a nap by noon. Somedays we have 1.5 naps and some 2.5-2 hours.

GL!!

 

When I tried switching them to one nap, I did what everyone suggested. I kept them busy all morning, not taking them in the car or stroller so they wouldn't have the chance to fall asleep, and having activities all morning. But DS only slept 45 minutes and was miserable and cranky the rest of the day. I think he hasn't slept enough for a long time and don't think he will ever be ready to go to 1 nap, since he never naps more than 45 min and usually wakes up crying.
I have been working on getting him to sleep later than 5 am by no longer picking him up until 6, but it is no fun. He sometimes wakes up after 6, which is great, but on the days he's up early, he cries and wakes up everyone (I live with my parents). But slowly, he seems to be waking up before 6 less and after 6 more often. I hope with time, he's on a more normal schedule so we can all get a good night's sleep. But the 45-minute nap doesn't seem to change no matter what I do.
So we're still on 2 naps, which seems to work for now. I would like to be on 1 nap, but can't see how it will ever work.
Michele

 

I replied earlier and should have specified that my son had similar problems. The first week I was expecting him to have very long naps since he was so tired come nap time. That did not happen. He slept for about an hour at the most. I ended up putting him to bed at 6:30 most nights with him waking at 6:30. He was very tired despite his usual bedtime being 8:00. Once he got used to this new schedule everything just started to fall into place. Now he takes wonderful long naps in the afternoon and sleeps 12-13 hours at night sometimes! The stage you are in was one of my most difficult but it does get better. Give it time, try it again, and I am sure it will all work out.

 

I am in the exact same situation with my two at the moment, but both seemed pretty ready, perhaps one a little more than the other. The first would sleep 45 min - 1.5 hours in the morning, the second 1.5 to maybe 2 hours. Then in the afternoons they would scream, cry, talk, laugh, jump, kick the crib rails, whatever for almost half an hour, then usually nap a little. The second would sleep more deeply but wake up mad and grumpy and I always thought that that second nap was too deep and clearly not pleasant!
So we have just passed day 2 today, it seems to be going okay. We walked in the morning, I had to give lunch at 11:00 and put them to sleep at 11:30, then they both only slept 1.5 hours. We went out in the afternoon and they didn't even doze off in the car which is unusual. By 6:30 they were very ready for bed and fell asleep immediately, so we'll see how tomorrow goes.
My question is: when did you all attempt this? Mine are 13 months corrected. I was worried that this may be too soon but since they were fighting naps and my sister who is a mom of 3 said it would be a good time to try, I'm trying! Just curious at what ages you started the transition.
Thanks mamas!