They need 2 naps but won't do it!

My guys are 14 months old, we have been struggling with the whole nap thing for a LONG time. They sleep from 6:30pm-7am. I put them down for a nap at 10am but they cry and cry, today it was for 45min and finally went to sleep. They only napped for 30min. They clearly NEED another nap so I put them down at 2pm but they REFUSE to go down and will scream for an hour and I give up. Then they are grumpy until bedtime. I'm SO frustrated with the naps or lack there of....what should I do? I've tried holding them off until 11am but they still only sleep 45 min and seem like they need another nap later but then 3pm seems too late to put them down with a bedtime of 6:30. UGH

 

QUOTE(melissak @ Jan 12 2009, 03:48 PM) [snapback]1143611[/snapback]
My guys are 14 months old, we have been struggling with the whole nap thing for a LONG time. They sleep from 6:30pm-7am. I put them down for a nap at 10am but they cry and cry, today it was for 45min and finally went to sleep. They only napped for 30min. They clearly NEED another nap so I put them down at 2pm but they REFUSE to go down and will scream for an hour and I give up. Then they are grumpy until bedtime. I'm SO frustrated with the naps or lack there of....what should I do? I've tried holding them off until 11am but they still only sleep 45 min and seem like they need another nap later but then 3pm seems too late to put them down with a bedtime of 6:30. UGH


Seeing how your twins are about the same age as mine...and sleep about the same-and at the same times-I am SO looking forward to your responses! Anthony sleeps for 30 minutes tops. Both naps. Nicholas can sleep longer and has. And sometimes they switch roles as well. Over the weekend-they boycotted the first nap all together. I've been told it's time to think of one nap. I just don't know where to begin! So-no real advice as I just know how you are feeling!!

 

How about trying to hold off until 11:30? I was having the same issues and dropped to one nap a day. They would wake at 7:00 and by 10:00 Jake would go down, but Josh would just talk. Then the reverse would happen in the afternoon. So one day I put them both down at 11:00 and the both went down asap. For a good week, come 4:00 they were crabby and instead of putting them to bed at 7:00, I put them down at 6:00. Then on Saturday, they woke at 6:00 a.m. so I'm now putting them back down between 6:30-7:00.

My boys just turned one and had their Dr's appointment last week. She told me that by a year they only should be taking one nap a day. Total sleep should be 14 hours. I usually get between a 2-3 hour nap. What I think I'm going to do is feed them lunch before naptime. Today Josh woke up after 1 1/2 hours screaming because he was hungry which would make sense since they had breakfast at 7:30.

 

I am in the same boat as well. My boys are 16 months. They go to bed at night between 6:30-7:30 depending on when/if theynapped. They get up around 7:30 in the morning wether they are ready or not=). They can't not have a morning nap, they at least need some down time. They just start getting cranky, so they go in their cribs around 10. They usually talk forever and fall asleep around 10:45/11. I wake them up at 11:30 regardless. I am anal about schedules, probably a bit too much but there are other things in the day that can't be rearranged such as preschool dropoff and pickup for my older son. They then go down about 2 for an afternoon nap. Some days they nap and some days they don't. Up by 5 at the latest. Though it is usually closer to 4. Not sure how long this odd napping will take. My older son completely gave up his morning nap the mment he turned one!

 

I agree with pushing the morning nap back, we were in the same boat. We pushed the 10 a.m. back gradually to 12:30/1 and it is working well. We still have issues with them not sleeping long enough and then going to bed super early but its way better than listening to them play/cry for 45 minutes and not napping. During the transition (which took two weeks) I used snacks, watching their favorite video, pulling out new toys to stretch them to the new time. Now they are totally used to it and its not a big deal to stay up until after lunch.

Good luck, its a tough transition but once you are firmly on one nap a day it stays that way for a LONG time (hopefully at least).

 

i was so frustrated until I pushed the morning nap back to 12:30. It was painful the first few days but they caught on really quick. We did this at 17 months.

Good Luck!

 

We're trying to push the morning nap back and succeed when mean ole mommy is around. Daddy lets them sleep in the morning, which means by the time they get to see Mommy at the end of the day they are some major crankypants. So I keep asking him to put them to bed later and later for their nap but some days *he* just can't handle it.

 

QUOTE(becasquared @ Jan 13 2009, 05:38 PM) [snapback]1145212[/snapback]
We're trying to push the morning nap back and succeed when mean ole mommy is around. Daddy lets them sleep in the morning, which means by the time they get to see Mommy at the end of the day they are some major crankypants. So I keep asking him to put them to bed later and later for their nap but some days *he* just can't handle it.




Seems to me they're ready for one nap. A lot of people will say they're not but I think those people are thinking in terms of "they need to sleep 2 times a day" as opposed to "they still need x amount of sleep" as in quantity, not quality. Does that make sense? My boys actually get more sleep with one nap than they were getting with two! You guys are just going to have to get on the same page about it or it really won't work. I can only imagine how frustrating that must be! Luckily I am the maker and enforcer of all nap/feeding/bed and bathtime routines as I am the only one doing it so I don't have any advice on that matter. However I will suggest that you/your husband schedule in an outing/activity/playdate during the first half of the day. I PROMISE that time will fly by faster than if you're just home watching the clock slowly tick past that would-be nap time of 10 am. If you have a local children's museum or library story time (almost certain you do), 10 am is the perfect time to get there. We just left our storytime playdate at 11:30 and now that we're back home, they're eating their lunch/snack and then straight to their beds. I agree with another post- the first few days are going to suck. It took mine about 4 or 5 to figure it out but now I have babies who nap from 12 til 2, 2:30 on some days. It is well worth the work in my opinion. Try to get your husband to see that. Good luck and I hope it works out!

 

QUOTE(cjk2002 @ Jan 12 2009, 09:19 PM) [snapback]1144187[/snapback]
How about trying to hold off until 11:30? I was having the same issues and dropped to one nap a day. They would wake at 7:00 and by 10:00 Jake would go down, but Josh would just talk. Then the reverse would happen in the afternoon. So one day I put them both down at 11:00 and the both went down asap. For a good week, come 4:00 they were crabby and instead of putting them to bed at 7:00, I put them down at 6:00. Then on Saturday, they woke at 6:00 a.m. so I'm now putting them back down between 6:30-7:00.

This is what we did. Even now mine go down between 11:30 and 11:45 and sleep until about 2. I agree with pps...perhaps consider one nap.