Fighting naps at 12.5 months old....

I posted yesterday about my boys playing in their cribs for 30+ minutes before falling asleep. They finally fell asleep only to wake up 40 minutes later. So when I put them down for their afternoon nap I was fairly confident (ha ha, that should have been my clue) that they would take a nice, long nap b/c they were really tired! But instead, they would not go to sleep. So, yesterday they took one (1!) 40-minute nap when they usually take one 1.5 hour nap and one 1 hour nap. They went to bed a bit earlier and I just figured it was a fluke.

Today nap time rolls around (about 2 hours 45 minutes after they woke up this a.m.) and I took them to their cribs, did our usual naptime routine - and then I got in the shower thinking surely by the time I get out they'll be sleeping. Nope. Crying, talking, crying, talking.

So now we're on Day 2 of crazy napping. It wouldn't be so bad if it didn't result in having grumpy babies the rest of the day. Is this a phase? Did others experience nap protesting at 12ish months? I really don't think they are ready to go down to 1 nap yet - they act so sleepy. If your babies did this, how did you respond?

Thanks for any advice!

 

I would maybe try pushing the morning back a bit, mine started doing that around 14 months and it was the beginning of the one nap transition.

Good luck!!

 

My kids dropped their 2nd nap at 9 months, but they also started sleeping through th enight. It was a bit of a transition. DD needs more sleep than DS so occasionally I would hold her while we had a quiet time and she would nap for 10-20 minutes in my arms in the morning. But we started moving our morning nap later and they started sleeping longer. Now They go down 12-12:30 and sleep for 1-2 hours. I think DS thinks he can go without a nap...argh! they're not even 20 months yet!

 

I would try pushing the a.m. nap to 3 1/2 hours after wake time. I went through the same thing about 2 months ago (my boys just turned one) and I ended up doing just one nap a day.

They would wake at 7:00 and I'd put them down at 10:00. Jake would go down most of the time after about 30 minutes, but Josh would talk the entire time. Then a lot of times the reverse would happen at the afternoon nap which would be around 2:30.

So one day I put them down at 10:30...nothing happened with Josh, he still talked. Next day, 11:00 and they both went down. It was hard keeping Jake up that extra hour, but I stood firm. It took about a week or two for them to adjust.

Now they get up at 7:00 and I put them down for one nap between 11:30 - noon and they sleep for 2-3 hours. I make sure to feed them lunch right before because there have been times when they would wake up after an hour screaming because they were hungry.

When we had our 1 year Dr's appointment she told me that at 12 months they should only be taking one nap a day for a total of 14 hours of sleep. Mine need about 15 hours so they go to bed between 6:00-6:30.

My goal is to stretch it out to 1:00 so I'll have the entire morning to do things with them. I hope to have that done by spring.

It is great only having one nap. It really does free up your day not having to worry about getting home to get them to bed.

 

Mine went thru a period of fighting naps right around their first birthday. But it was just a phase! After several days of consistently putting them down for two naps a day they got back into it. Actually they just dropped their 2nd nap last month (at 21 months). So it might be a phase, or maybe they are dropping a nap. You know your kiddos best. GL and hang in there. :hug:

 

No advice, just wanted to say that my guys are doing the EXACT same thing right now (for the past 5 days or so). They are really into one another right now, so they will stand there in their cribs talking to each other. I have continued to put them down at their normal nap times, but, if the are still chatting after one hour, I get them out - otherwise, the schedule is way too messed up.

Yesterday, I tried to give them one nap rather than 2, and the same thing happened - an hour of chatting.

My DD went through the same thing between 12 and 18 months, and naps were pretty much not happening after 18 months - I continued to put her down every day, but she would chatter to herself for up to 3 hours, anything to keep herself from falling asleep. I kept trying until age 2, and I finally got tired of wasting hours every afternoon, so I stopped trying. I don't want the same thing to happen to the boys!! My DD is 4.5, but could still benefit from naps a few times a week... but she refuses to let herself fall asleep! She has to be sick to take a nap!

 

Thanks everyone! For some reason, I can't remember if my older DS did this or not. It sounds like it is pretty normal. I'm going to keep to the routine for now but also keep them up for 3-3.5 hours instead of their usual 2.5 hours in the a.m. before their nap. Hopefully that will help!

Well, they are both napping right now. Nothing like the night they had last night (both up between 10:30 and 11:30 - both came to our bed eventually as we just couldn't keep going back and forth to their room all night long - and they still woke up every 1-2 hours ALL NIGHT LONG!) to make them want to take a nap, I guess.

I'd say the babies, DH, and I got about 3 hours total sleep last night. Not a good night. But looks like it might be a good nap day. Hmm, wonder why?

Thanks for all of your responses, I appreciate hearing from others about their nap issues!

Jessica, our boys seem to do pretty much the same things at about the same times - have you noticed that?

 

My kiddos are the exact same age and doing the exact same thing. I'm calling it a stage because I NEED them to take 2 naps!!! I'm not ready to go down to one!