Two seperate naps?

Ok, so my guys are 13months, and we are trying to transition them to one nap a day...how ever it appears DS1 is fine with it, but DS2 is not.

Should I just deal with DS2 being cranky or try to still give him two naps a day and after he gets up, put DS1 down for his one nap...then when he gets up, put DS2 back down for his second nap? I would really love to keep them on the same schedule (as I love the break during the day).

If I try to keep them both at two naps a day, DS1 fights the second nap..and ends up talking/playing in his crib for 45mmins before he falls asleep,
then I have to get them up so I don't mess up bedtime.

Will DS2 get used to less sleep? Will the one nap eventually get longer (it has only been 2 days) and they have only been napping for 1.5hrs total. They were getting 1.5hrs two times a day.

Am I making this transition too early? Should I keep them at two naps and try again in a month or so?

Thanks!!

 

One of my boys transitioned to one nap at 11 months at daycare (attend 3x a week) since he moved to the toddler room at 11 months and they only got one nap a day in the toddler room. I was a bit concerned at first. I went ahead and transitioned both of them at that point to one nap a day at home so they would have the same schedule all week. Their daycare went ahead and transitioned my other boy in the infant room to one nap a day after I talked to them (very lucky they understood keeping them on the same nap schedule). It was difficult the first week. After that they adjusted. They would sleep 2 ½-3 hours after they adjusted in the afternoon.

I did have them do quiet activities at the morning nap time for awhile. I would read to them or have them sit and work with me on one activity (puzzles etc.).

I would try to keep them on the same nap schedule whatever you decide.

 

I would keep them at two naps for now. I think it's fine for your first son to spend a bit of time talking and playing in his crib during the 2nd nap-it doesn't sound like he's upset-that way he's getting some downtime plus a short nap while his brother is getting the sleep that he needs. If you get to a point where your DS1 is not sleeping at all during the second nap (but DS2 is) then you could keep him up while his brother sleeps. It's more likely though that by the time DS1 stops sleeping entirely at the second nap DS2 will be at the point of fighting it too and then you can transition them both.

Having said that the one nap should get longer if you stick with it, so you could keep it up if you prefer. The other thing you could do is officially stay with one nap (I assume from your post that you have moved their nap later in the day than their morning nap was), but put your DS2 down again late afternoon if he's cranky. Not for a full second nap, just about 45mins of sleep. Or move his bedtime an hour earlier to compensate for him needing extra sleep while keeping DS1 at your normal bedtime.

I would avoid having DS1 on one nap and DS2 on two naps if you can. I had to have that with Eleanor and Ethan for a while (because she was older she only needed one nap while he still needed two) and it drove me mad. It meant we were house-bound almost all day because someone always needed to be sleeping, and neither of them would nap in the stroller. I literally couldn't get out of the house for more than 1.5 hours a day.

 

I vote to keep them on the same schedule. I think 13months is a little early for one nap but i'm just going off how my 2 were. We didn't go to 1 nap until 16months. Maybe try limiting the morning nap, i don't know how long they are sleeping in the morning but maybe cut it by 1/2hr and see if DS goes down for the 2nd nap easier. Who know though, this raising kids thing is tough!

 

I'm all about keeping them on the same schedule, even if I have to tweak one's bedtime a little bit 13 months is early for the one nap transition but it's doable, we had to do that last year. Our second nap was always at 5pm, and when my older kids started baseball in the spring, it was at 5:15...which meant skipping our second nap anyways. My twins turned one in feb and baseball started in march. So I transitioned to one nap, and it took a good week -10 days before they started getting into a good schedule. I moved their bedtime up a bit earlier to compensate for the wacky naps until i got them sleeping good in the afternoon.

As for the amount they are sleeping, it's possible they will lengthen their nap, but they may not either. Mine never napped that long, when they were on two naps they were 45-60 mins long each. When they went to 1 nap it was 1.5 hrs long MAX, sometimes less. But they would sleep 12 hrs at night, and that way they were getting all the sleep they needed. So you may have to tweak bedtime a bit and see what happens, whether they decide to sleep longer at night or take a longer nap

 

I could have written your post except we did the transition a little later. We started transitioning months ago and naps have never been the same (or as good) since. They used to do two 1.5-ish hour naps. Then DS1 started fighting the second nap (flat out refuses it now even if he's exhausted). DS2 will sometimes nap a second time and sometimes not. I've tried putting both down for a second nap if they both seem super tired and invariably, neither sleeps because usually DS1 keeps DS2 up. Add to it that my boys want separate nap schedules. DS1 wants a mid morning nap and DS2 would prefer early afternoon. We have tried multiple ways and right now we put them both down mid morning because at least DS2 will eventually go to sleep (if we put them down early afternoon sometimes DS1 will skip a nap altogether!). I have forced this because the only other option is to have two separate naps and that means I can never shower during the day, I get no break, and on weekends we're stuck at home.
If I were you, I'd put them both down together for the first nap and then if your one DS seems like he could really use another nap and your day allows, I'd put him down again. This is what we do. We do not change plans or adjust our schedule anymore just so DS2 can have a second nap (this has been going on a long time).
My hope is that someday my LOs will start napping for 2.5-3 hours like so many others do (who are they???). We average 1-1.5 hrs/day and sometimes as little as 45 min.

 

I would try to keep them on the same schedule, too. I can't imagine having them up and down like you describe unless there was just NO way around it. I would probably try putting them down for two naps still - hopefully the one who needs sleep will sleep, and the other, if he just plays, he must not need it.

We transitioned at 14 months, so I don't think 13 months is necessarily too early. But it did take a couple of weeks to really get settled into our routine. Before we transitioned, they were taking two 45 min. naps, and now they take a 1-1.5 hour nap most days (some days only 45 min, some days 2 hours). Once we gave it some time to get sorted out, the one-nap schedule has actually been much better for us (easier to go places, etc.).

 

I would also try to keep the same schedule for sanity. My guys could be on different schedules, but we're sticking to two naps right now. I just have to make sure that I wake them up after an hour for the first nap, otherwise DS1 won't sleep during the second nap and then wakes up DS2 before he's ready.

 

I moved them both to 1 nap even though only 1 boy really wanted it. Orion was still napping 2x's a day happily. I got them out every morning for a while and he'd nap for up to 5 min in the car. I didn't mind as it was less than he'd nap at home but seem to refresh him to be able to make it to the afternoon nap. I did not allow my nap dropper, Sebastian, to nap EVER in the car as he only really needs 1 nap and I wasn't going to have it be for 10 min in the car at 10am.

 

I would do same schedule too. If one still idnt doing 2 naps well, you could wake that one in the morning after 45 min-1 hr & let the other one sleep , then put them both down together in the afternoon. Good luck!

 

I also vote for keeping them on one schedule. I moved them both to one nap once it was clear that we needed to move one baby to one nap. What I did to make the transition easier on the baby that still preferred/needed two naps was to offer an opportunity for catnaps in the morning and in the late afternoon. 10-15 minutes of sleep in the stroller, in the car or during after nursing cuddles helped him make it through the morning or afternoon. I just made sure there was an opportunity for a catnap - it was up to the babies whether they wanted to use it and up to me to wake them up soon enough before nap- or bedtime.

You might have to experiment around with this a bit to figure out what works for you to keep the one needing more sleep from getting too cranky without endangering the regular nap or bedtime.

 

I have 13 month olds as well and am going through the sames scenario. DD is ready for one nap and DS not. I have also tried two accommodate 2 naps for DS and one for DD, but ended up moving both to one nap. They are not quite ready for going down at midday, so they have a nap from 11h00 and now will sleep for 1.5 to 2 hours (not the 3 hours of the two seperate naps.) I have made bedtime earlier to accommodate the shorter nap in the day and they sleep 12 hours most nights. Once they are settled into this new routine ( we have only be doing it for a week) I will put them down for their nap a few minutes later till we get to midday and move bedtime on as well. Hope this will work. Good luck.

 

Thank you all!! Yesterday I put them down for a mid-morning nap and only let them sleep for an hour (at 10am). Then I put them down again at 2:30 or so, and let them sleep 1.5hrs. They were MUCH better when they woke up. DS1 talked a bit at the beginning of the 2nd nap, but he went down after a several minutes. This is what I was doing to help transition them to one nap earlier in the week, I started Sunday and by Wednesday we tried 1 nap..and it did NOT work...so I think we will keep this modified schedule for a bit longer and wait to fully make the transition.

Thank you all for your help!!