Nap question

I thought this might be a better place to ask instead of in the First Year Forum. At around 10 months my girls went through a phase of not always taking their afternoon nap, but then they "got through it" and were taking 2 naps again. Well, lately they aren't wanting to take their afternoon naps again. They usually sleep from about 8 pm to 8 am, although sometimes they're up slightly before that (and they probably fall asleep slightly later than 8 pm). So for quite a while they've had a nap from about 10:30 until about 12:00. Then another nap around 3 pm until 4:30. Sometimes it takes them a while to fall asleep so it may actually be a total of 2 hrs. sleep. To get them to take an afternoon nap, I've been waking them up at 12 pm. But a couple times lately I've just let them sleep until 12:30 pm or later. Then, of course, they won't take an afternoon nap.

Anyway, I'm just wondering when your kids dropped to just one nap. It seems like most kids need two for a while after they turn one? With my first DD she basically went to one nap at 10 months because I had her in Day Care where I worked and there was just too much going on for her to get a morning nap and we went home at lunch time. But I really think she still "needed" two.

And did you wake yours from their first nap so they would keep having two naps? What was your schedule around a year? Thanks!

 

Ours just switched to one nap. They are in daycare, so they follow a certain schedule there. In the infant room they napped 2 times a day, but once they switched to the next room (12-18 months) they only do one nap a day. The kids actually made the transition amazingly well, so I guess they were ready for it. The nap from around 1230-230 or 3pm. Besides that, they get up around 630 or 7am, have breakfast at home around 730am, a snack at daycare around 10am, lunch at 12, nap 1230-3, snack at 330, dinner around 530, and then bed at 7pm

Maybe then are ready?
Erica

 

Mine transitioned to one nap a day between 18 - 20 months. They are now 39 months and beginning to drop naps all together, it's soo sad for me!

Amy

 

We dropped the 2nd nap at around 18 mos.... I had ebbs and flows with it as well around a year. Stick to your guns if you can!!

 

14 months.

 

I'm in the middle of this too! My oldest did two naps until around 18 months....but these guys fight naps a ton. I'm sick of 45 minute naps, so I wonder if cutting to one nap would at least lengthen it. *sigh*....I wish the nap conundrum were easier!

Reyna

 

I took away the 2nd nap when they were 15 months old. It was the start of summer and my older 3 where home from school. 2 naps did not work in our schedule (having to be home twice a day at predictable times) so I moved them to one and they did fine!

Cindy

 

Mine just dropped to one nap. They went through a few periods where I thought they were ready for just one.....but pretty soon they were back to 2. Our pedi told us that until 2 yrs they should get 2 naps.....but I figure, every kid's different. You probably know the best if they're getting enough sleep. How I could tell was just how cranky they'd get towards the end of the day.

 

Mine having been taking one nap since they were 11 months.

 

16 months, but I probably should have given in and switched at 14/15 months. I will probably switch Elizabeth to one nap around the beginning of the summer to make it easier to take all of them to the pool in the mornings. So she'll be around 13.5 months or so...

 

QUOTE(~* dfaut *~ @ Apr 28 2008, 12:16 AM) [snapback]742453[/snapback]
We dropped the 2nd nap at around 18 mos.... I had ebbs and flows with it as well around a year. Stick to your guns if you can!!



We just went down to one at around 18 months, too! Sometimes, however, they still take two naps.

 

We were done by 15 months. When I decided to cut the morning nap, we spent about 5 days going out in the morning during that normal naptime so that they would forget they should be sleeping. That really helped us make the transition.

 

10 or 11 months.

 

Still fighting the transition at 16 months!

Every couple of days they won't sleep in the afternoon, then the next day or two they will. So I'm just going with that for now, until they start consistently not sleeping in the afternoon.

They're also perfectly happy having quiet time upstairs in their cribs on the days they don't sleep so...who knows?

ETA: Around a year, they had a rough couple of weeks that they really didn't want that second nap, but for them, it was way too soon to drop to one nap (very cranky babies!) but I kept with the routine and they settled down again for a couple of months and now we've been doing the every few days thing for a while now!

 

We went to one nap shortly after their 1st birthday. They have been doing really well on it and take about a 2 1/2 - 3 hour nap starting at noon.

 

Arwen was down to one nap by 12 months. Lorien didn't switch to one nap until about 14.5 months. I think Lorien would have given it up sooner but she seemed to ALWAYS wake up and just play in her crib for about an hour in the middle of the night so she needed that extra nap.

 

Thanks for all of the replies. I guess for now we'll keep trying and I'll keep waking them from their morning nap so they'll take their afternoon one. I'm guessing by summer we'll be down to one nap though.

So no one else wakes their little ones from naps?

 

My oldest DD dropped her morning nap around 11 months. This was after months of her being up during the night for several hours. She dropped her afternoon nap around 3 years after months of her getting up during the night again. She is a grump by 6:00pm, but it's the only way I can get her to sleep all night. I guess my point is some kids just don't require a lot of sleep.

My twins are 13 months and still taking 2 great naps a day plus they sleep 8/8:30 until about 8:30 the next morning. Obviously they are much better sleepers.

I just think you have to follow your child's cues. I'm all for naps, but if they are up all night or refuse to nap you have to change something.

 

My older DD didn't go to one nap until about 20 months. It was great!!

My Dtwins are now 13 months and still do 2 naps, most of the time.