Introduction and already a question

Hi everyone - I am thrilled to be joining second year forum...although a little dazed that I have 1 year-olds now. I am a SAHM with two little girls, Zoe and Jude. I love being a mother - it is the hardest, but most rewarding job I have ever had. And it doesn't really seem real, yet here I am. Seems like the pace is very quick with them now, I see changes every day practically. I hope to really take in this year with my eyes open, now that I am getting more sleep.

I would love your opinion on my nap situation for Jude. I know 12 months is a little early for the majority of babies to move to 1 nap a day, however, Jude has always done things her way. She is a ball of energy. For about 3.5 weeks now we have fallen into a morning nap issue with her. She used to go down like clockwork after being up 90 mins - 2 hours but now she puts up a huge fight most days. She would normally sleep around 8:30/9:00 for about 70 - 90 mins and then take a 90 min afternoon nap. I would say that has happened maybe 5 times in the last month where it used to happen every day. What is occurring more frequently is that she fights me hard in the morning until I finally let her up and then ends up taking a nap around 12 instead for about 2 hours, and then is up until a 6:00 pm bedtime. She doesn't seem to be overly tired or affected by this. Although I wish she would stay with two naps, it would seem she is making a steady transition to 1 nap. Do her habits sound to you like this may be what is happening? She is generally pleasant all day long. Not sure where to go from here except to let the transition happen. This is a bit of a bummer since I used to have some me time when they were both sleeping. This seems crazy, but another thought I had was to move her morning nap back to 10 or 11 and then try to sneak another nap in around 3 pm. I am pretty stumped on this. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

 

Ahh, I lost my reply!
It sounds like Jude seems to be in a pretty decent mood on days when she takes one nap, perhaps she is ready to make the transition. Could you put her in her crib with some books and toys and stress to her that this is quiet time while her sister naps (not sure if she shares a room with her sister or not)? I also think it would be good to try a later AM nap and the later PM nap and see how she does. If she does not go for it, you can always go back to what you were originally doing.
Good luck!
:welcome: to the SY Betsy!

 

:birthday: Zoe and Jude, and :welcome: to SY Betsy!

Nate did the same sort of thing to us that Jude is doing to you, but at about 16 or 17 months. We'd put both of the boys down for their morning nap (they share a room), and he'd fussle and babble (never really crying) for over 1/2 an hour and would almost never fall asleep. Luckily this didn't keep Jack from napping, because he still needed a morning nap. We'd put a book in Nate's crib and let him chatter and "read" for a bit. Most of the time he wouldn't fall asleep and we'd end up sneaking in there and getting him, while leaving Jack napping. This went on for over a month, then Jack started fighting the morning nap and we ended up abandoning them. Now they go down just after lunch, and sleep anywhere from 1 hour to 3.5 hours!

So it really sounds like Jude is making the transition. It's kind of early, but if she is not cranky or tired with 1 nap, maybe she's ready. I agree with Nancy that you should try some "quiet time" while Zoe naps in the morning, just to make sure this isn't a fluke. Sometimes they will go through phases when they fight 1 of their naps, only to go back to 2 naps for a bit.

Good luck!

 

I would stick with trying the later AM nap or at least giving her quiet time in the morning so you have some time to yourself. Her sister will probably catch up eventually, but for your own sanity I would encourage two naps. My girls just made the transition to one nap at 18 months, but yesterday they took 2 naps. You may have different days of different napping schedules. That's where having twins makes life a little crazier! Good luck!

 

I think I would try pushing back her nap until after she has been awake for 3 hours in the morning. (My DS actually need about 3.5 hours of wake time before nap #1). At around 12 months my DD started taking 45 minute naps in the morning when I was doing the 2,3,4 schedule. She started taking longer naps again when I increased her wake time to 3 hours. Of course, that also means her afternoon nap is later. If that doesn't work, you could try doing the one nap a day since she seems to be doing fine with that. Eventually your other daughter will catch up.

 

ours kept up the 2 naps until 15-16 mo. when I thought they needed to move to 1 a day. but shortly after we were back to 2 naps. at some point after 19 mo. I think they started going down closer to 9:30a or 10a instead of 9a... and still sleeping the same amount of time, so it just pushed the 2p nap to about 3p... it all worked out for us.

I would try to keep getting 2 naps a day, seeems like a long time to stay up for longer than 2 to 3 hours at a time at that age. good luck.

p.s. we finally transitioned to 1 nap a day around 20 months. and its a nice 3 hr one!