What is the reason to transisiton to one nap

Our pedi has been saying for 6-7 months that our boys will start to give up their morning nap. They are 18 mths and really seem to need it. Is there any reason to try to transition them? They are actually better giving up their afternoon nap then they are their morning one. (if we have to run errands on the weekend, they often won't sleep in the car)

They wake about 6am, nap about 9-1130..nap at 2-330 and bedtime around 6:30. It seems like they sleep alot, they have always been really good sleepers, should we try to change something, or go with the 'if it isn't broke, don't fix it'...

thanks!
reb

 

Mine are still on two naps and need both of them. I think mine sleep a lot as well. Not sure what the reason is for dropping from two to one, but I'm not going to fight it.

 

I'm a big believer in "if it isn't broke, don't fix it." It sounds like 2 naps are still working for your guys.

My boys transitioned to one nap at about 11 months. It was obvious that they were done with their morning nap. At around 10 months, they started sleeping for shorter and short periods of time. Then they went from a 30 minute nap to not sleeping even if I left them for a bit. They clearly weren't tired and wouldn't even fall asleep in the car or on walks in their stroller. On the rare occasions that one or both did nap in the morning, they wouldn't nap in the afternoon and things got ugly around 5 pm.

ETA: I think the reason to drop the morning nap is to preserve the afternoon nap. Kids tend to need that nap more and sleep longer in the afternoons so it's recommended that you try and keep that one in place when kids drop to one nap.

 

I would just leave it. My girls were not sleeping when I put them down in the morning about 75% of the time and they would just talk for over an hour so I knew it was time to get rid of it. We did it around 14 months.

 

i wouldn't worry about it - a lot of kids transition to one nap between 15 - 18 months but some kids take two naps until they're 2. there's nothing detrimental about taking two naps for a longer time. they'll let you know when they only need one.

in terms of the actual transition, some people find that their kids do drop the afternoon nap instead of the morning nap, but that it's helpful to gradually push the morning nap later until it's more in the middle of the day, otherwise the stretch between the nap & bedtime can get a little hairy.

 

We are in the process of dropping from 2 naps to 1 right now just based on their cues. Personally, I will be happy when they get to just 1 nap consistently, because it will free up more time in the mornings to do things with all 3 boys. However, that is purely for my benefit and not theirs, so when they need 2 naps, they get 2 naps. Some days they are fine with a 20-30 minute cat nap in the car in the morning and then do a longer afternoon nap, but other days it is obvious that they need a longer morning nap. Those days, they usually end up sleeping 1.5-2 hrs in the morning and then another 1.5-2 in the afternoon. We are just trying to stay flexible with their schedule until they fully transition to 1 nap. One benefit I have found with 1 nap is that they tend to sleep later in the mornings. My guys are usually early risers and up by 7 at the very latest. This past weekend when we did 1 nap every day, they slept until 8 both mornings!

 

I would keep up with the two naps until they start telling you otherwise. I went to one nap at 15 months because both of mine were consistently boycotting their AM nap. I moved the afternoon nap up an hour.

 

My two started boycotting their PM nap at about 15 months. We started by dropping that nap, and moving the AM nap up to where the PM nap used to be. Yeah we had a few weeks of earlier bedtimes, but it's so much nicer now! (And now that they're closer to 3, they can actually go a day without a nap if they go to bed early.)

 

If your kids are doing well with two naps, then keep them. Once they want to give up on a nap, then remove that nap and start adjusting that naptime to where you want it. It takes time for that part, but that's what I did. The boys gave up on their afternoon naps, but their morning naps were too close to their wake up time, so I slowly moved it further until it was closer to 12noon or 1pm where I thought it was a better time for a nap.

They have adjusted well and have kept that naptime for a while. Of course, NOW, Cameron wants to give up his one and only nap. I was so needing that time to rest myself. Ahh well, he's rarely that cranky until it's bedtime, so I guess he'll nap when he feels like it. Kiefer is still great at naps! He's now going to bed at 12:30 and sleeping for 2 hours straight.

 

I believe the reason for transitioning to 1 nap is that children need less sleep as they get older. Most newborns sleep for something like 13-14 hours per day, and this gradually diminishes until adulthood when you can function with about 8 hours (depending on the person). My guys went from having an average of two 1.5 hour naps to having one 2 hour nap, but slept the same amount at night. The "net nap time" ended up being less but the afternoon nap is longer than it used to be, so they are now averaging about 1 hour less of sleep total per day than they were 6 months ago.

Your guys will tell you when they're ready to get less sleep. They will boycott one nap, and gradually need less and less sleep. Until they're teenagers and sleep 20 hours per day! :lol:

 

My boys just dropped to one nap. They also preferred their morning nap...which made them really cranky at the end of the day. We would put them down for their second nap but they just did not sleep. In the past few days we have been able to push the nap to 10am. They sleep till 12pm and bed at 6:30. I would have kept the two naps..but they just stopped needing it.

 

The drop is to preserve their night-time sleep (as their total sleep needs decrease in hours) and stay in the body's natural biological sleep pattern. If they are only going to nap once during the day, you really want it to be into the afternoon so the gap to bedtime is not too long. From what you are describing right now though, I would not touch it until they show signs of wanting to move to the 1 nap. Then I would guide it toward the afternoon one rather than the morning. We have been transitioning for literally more than 8 weeks and we are almost there. Currently we nap 10:30 - 1 every day. Bedtime 6 - 6:30ish. I am moving toward a 11:30/noon nap time until hopefully 2:30/3. One was ready a while ago...just waiting for her sister to catch up. LOL.

 

I boycotted dropping the nap as long as possible as did my friend, a mom of twin boys. Finally both of us when our twins were about 20 months old noticed that they were napping fine for both naps but waking up from the 2nd nap REALLY cranky/fussy etc and not sick but taking a long time to stop crying after waking up. That was when we switched to 1 nap and it made a huge difference. So look for this cue as well as if they stop napping in the am or pm. For us that didn't happen, it was the crankiness but all kids are different....

 

My guys are 19 months and still take a pretty solid 2 naps. Some days we only get one and they manage, but prefer and do well with two. I've tried to transition to 1 and mine just are not ready. I asked tbe pedi at their 18 month if they should try to get them to one and she told me "no, no, no". She said if they are sleeping, let them.

 

I say if it's working keep it!! We just went to 1 nap like 3 weeks ago and I SO miss 2 naps. LOL They just weren't sleeping well at all for either nap and were just crabby all the time so I went to 1 nap and they're doing better now but we still have some days where I have to get them down from lunch and get them to bed cause they are falling asleep at the table. LOL Also they aren't consistent with the length yet. Some days they sleep 3-4 hours and others only 1.5 hrs. I really like the 3-4. LOL

 

I didn't read everything, but for us, we transitioned to 1 nap a day when they started waking at night. They had been on 2 2-hr naps a day and 12 hrs at night but in month 20 they started waking at night. So... we switched to 1 nap. At first it was just a 2 hr nap, then it lengthened to 3 hrs. And they started sttn again!

anyway - I'm with you, if its working, don't change a thing!

 

I couldn't read all the responses, but I would say if it is working for you - leave it! Mine started not wanting to take the afternoon nap at about 13 months....and sleeping longer and longer for their morning nap. Then they would be so crabby in the evening! We also were taking a 10 day trip to see family and I didn't want them to have to sleep in the mornings so we could have fun activities with the family! So we transitioned to one nap. I think they were ready because it was pretty easy. They now go down at about 12:45 and sleep until at least 3:15. Then the go to bed at 7 and sleep until 7.