Need advice on going from 2 naps to 1

I think "it's time". They both rustle around and babble for most of the a.m. nap. By the time they fall asleep, it's time to wake them (I wake to preserve the p.m. nap which is important to us).

Additionally, in 3 months they will be going to day care and they nap them there at 12:30 so I want to try and get them on a schedule to match that.

Any advice on how to transition well? Lessons learned. How do integrate snacks or move lunch to adjust with the new schedule

Current routine:
6:30 or 7am - wake
7:30 - bottles and breakfast
9:30 - in cribs for nap (may not fall asleep till about 10am or shortly after)
10:30 - wake them
11:45 - sippy and lunch
1:30 - in cribs for nap (most of time they don't fall asleep right away...maybe around 2pm they fall asleep)
3:30 - wake them
4:30 - dinner
6:30 - get ready for bed, bottles, etc.
6:45 -in cribs for the night...usually fall asleep quickly

What do you think is the best way to adjust this and keeping bedtime around the same time or earlier?

Thanks!

 

When we went to one nap, we moved lunch earlier because they were getting so sleepy that they were falling asleep in their high chairs! But like your LOs, my guys were fighting the am nap and just played and babbled the entire time. Basically we just incorporated a lot of play and a slightly earlier snack into what was the am nap, moved lunch to 11:30, and put them down for nap right afterward. My guys have always slept at night from about 7:30-7:30, so you may need to adjust a bit earlier.

Our 1 nap schedule looks kind of like this:

7:30 wake, breakfast
9:30 snack
11:30 lunch
12:30 nap
3:00 snack
6:00 dinner
7:30 bed

Hope this helps!

 

I don't remember the exact schedule. I think we pushed the morning nap back and the eventually were doing lunch at 11 and then nap. Eventually it became lunch at noon and nap at one. The transition was pretty easy and fabulous for us. They did 3 or more hour naps for about a year (they were 14 or 15 months when they dropped to one nap). So don't stress too much. Good luck!

 

I didn't do much in terms of changing their schedule. We just kind of stopped the morning nap, dealt with a couple of slighty irritable babies for less than a week, and that was it. I still feed them at noon and put them down at 1:00 and it's great. At first I resisted the notion of losing a nap, but it got to the point that all I was doing was fighting w/ them to get them to sleep 2x/day. It was stressful on all of us. Once we got them on one nap, it was beautiful!! They go right to sleep and stay that way for close to 3 hrs most days. I think you can probably expect a short spell of time where you have cranky kids before that afternoon nap, but it goes quick and is SO worth it! Good luck!!

 

I agree with just dropping the morning nap cold turkey, and moving the afternoon one up earlier to compensate. But I will add you might have to make bedtime earlier for a few weeks until they adjust to the new schedule. That's what we did. I am, however, very envious of people who have babies who nap 2-3 hrs. Mine have always napped about 1.5 hrs back when we first switched at 13 months, and now, since the time change, they are napping about 1 hr 15 mins, or so, sometimes less! :faint:

 

We had an earlier morning nap for a while cuz they just couldn't make it. Our morning nap was at about 11 for the longest time so we had a snack then had lunch when they woke up. This lasted for at least a month. I just followed their cues. I didn't push. Slowly we were at noon for naps but I think that was at 18 months! We are 3 now and going down at 1. Also, if the one naps is shorter (at first) earlier bedtime will be crucial

 

we never had morning naps but we did have early afternoon and evening naps (Cos they sleep ard 9pm), but gradually we weaned them off the evening naps, just by bringing them out for walks or to the playground during that time, so they do not remember or feel sleepy. :rotflmbo:

 

My two dropped their morning naps on their own, so I pushed up the afternoon nap from 2pm to 1pm and eventually they started sleeping from 1-4. The first week or so, they'd sleep for an hour and gradually stretch it longer.

Our schedule looked something like this
7:30-8-wake up
8;30 breakfast & milk
11:00 or 11:30-lunch
12:30 snack if desired
1:00 -4:00 nap
4:30-5-dinner
6:00 night time milk
7:30-8 bedtime
*evening snack if desired...they got a water sippy throughout the day.
I also would put them to bed earlier on days they only slept 1 hour or so for nap time. Good luck!

 

we just switched our boys to one nap last week when they were 17.5 months old (or around 15 months adjusted). We really didn't have any issues and it has worked out great for us! Prior to moving to one nap our boys would wake around 6:30am and go down for their first nap a little after 10am and they slept anywhere from 45 min to 90min. Then they ate lunch at 12pm, then we put them down for their second nap around 4pm but they usually fought it for 30 minutes if they napped at all and we woke them up by 5pm. Because they were waking up so late for their afternoon nap we weren't able to put them to bed until 8:30pm (they just weren't tired enough).

Now everything is wonderful! They wake between 6am and 6:30am, eat lunch at 11am, go down for a nap at 11:30am and sleep for 1.5hr to 2 hours, and they are in their cribs by 7:45pm and asleep by 8pm. It is so nice not having to work in 2 naps that were usually short and consisted of lots of whining. I much prefer one long nap, and we are able to put them to bed about an hour earlier than before so we have more "us time" at night. Our boys seem happier too and usually not as whiny in the evenings.

GL! I think you will be surprised at how well your LOs transition to one nap. At least I was

 

Ours transitioned very early (around their first b-day) and we basically started laying them down at 11ish and over the course of a few months they gradually moved it later. Now we wake at 7-8 ish, nap 1-3, and go to bed btw 7-8. Our schedule is a little different because they are not very hungry at normal lunchtime (they eat a huge breakfast) so they eat breakfast at 9, a snack at 11:30 or 12, eat lunch when they wake from nap, and dinner about 6.