When did you drop to one nap?

Our boys just moved from the infant room to a young toddler room (for 11 - 16 month olds, and our boys are 12 months adjusted). I wasn't notified of the transition until this morning when I went to drop them off in the infant room (they were out of daycare all last week too while we were on vacation), which was a highly annoying way to find out about this change. But my main concern is naps. In this room they only have one scheduled nap time from around 11:30am to 1:30pm. Our boys wake up around 6am and they are so overtired if they are kept up 5 or 6 hours. And they are just NOT READY for one nap! The daycare teachers say that if a child gets tired before or after nap time that they will get their cot out, but with other kids running around I doubt they would get much of a nap then. And I'm really surprised they even try to implement a single nap at such a young age. These babies are only around 11 to 16 month old age! The older toddler room has 16-24 month olds. It seems to me they should be waiting until that room before taking away a nap.

Anyway, I was just wondering how long your LOs dropped down to 1 nap? And any advice on how I should deal with this situation? When our boys "visited" the young toddler room 2 weeks ago and only had one approximately 2 hour nap then they were cranky little monsters that evening and we had to put them to bed at 7pm instead of 7:30pm, and then they woke up at 5:30am. I am not looking forward to having to deal with that on a daily basis!! :diablo:

 

I agree that they are way too young for one nap. I would have a discussion with someone there. They obviously aren't ready and this will make your life harder. We dropped to one nap around 16 months.

 

wow, that is young ... ours did 2 naps until 20 months. we weren't in daycare so I'm not sure how you address that situation... but you don't want to have cranky kids either. they need their sleep and that one book Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child (?) book talks about sleep begets sleep. which is what you're seeing... lack of sleep is not allowing them to sleep in longer in the mornings etc. I'm sorry for the situation!

 

I have 4 kids and none of them dropped to one nap at that age. 15 months was the absolute earliest. My twins are still transitioning to one nap and they are 18 months old now)

shannon

 

Well my boys only have the one nap (they are nearly 15 months), since last month, they were more than ready for it. They get up at around 5.00-5.30 and go down for a 3 hr nap at 9.30, then they go down for the night at 6.00-6.30. My oldest dropped the second at 2yrs and my second oldest at 16 months. All babies are different, if they are just not ready for it, i would just talk to the daycare and explain it to them, after all, you are paying for care for your children, so it should be your choice. Sorry I don't have any experience with daycare.

 

I agree, it is early to be dropping to one nap. I´d definitely talk to the director of the daycare centre if you can. I would use their early birth as the excuse too, saying their adjusted age is 12 months. Also, you know when your kids need to change to one nap and it sounds as if yours aren´t yet ready.

I changed my 2 to one nap when they were 15 months old and the reason was because they started nursery. They were sleeping for 4 hours during the day (2 two-hour naps) and it was taking away from their night sleeping. I went cold turkey and took away the morning nap and kept them up until 12pm. They napped, had lunch then went to nursery (I tried giving them lunch before their nap but they didnt want it as they were too tired). After about 3 days they had adapted. They were ready for the change though.

Now, at just over 2 years old, they still have a nap but go to bed around 1.30pm after lunch. At nights, mine sleep 9pm-9am.

In your shoes, I´d go with your gut instinct as you´ll be right and I´d also talk to the nursery.

GL, it´s no fun dealing with cranky babies AND being woken up at the crack of dawn!

 

I started tranisitoning to one nap at 15 months. One was very ready and one was not. BUT at one year...no one was ready. You know when they need two naps a day and it sounds like yours still do!

 

Both of mine transitioned to one nap at 15 months and they let me know because they consistently boycotted their AM nap. I agree with PP's that I would discuss it with the daycare director. At 12 months mine would have been no where near ready for one nap.

 

My guys are 15 months and some days can do one nap but they are super cranky and have to go to bed at around 7 instead of 8. Unfortunately this makes my DS wake at 5:30 AM. I thought going to one nap would make them sleep more at night I would tell the nursery that if there are not two naps given then you will remove them from the center. They could also consider letting you stay in the other area for a while longer.

 

Mine didn't go to one nap until 16 months and they had trouble with it at first because they couldn't stay up that long in the mornings without constant stimulation. Of course, they were also boycotting their afternoon nap after taking the morning nap so we knew it was time, but still it was just barely time at 16 months!

 

Thanks for all of the replies! Though apparently it seems that most daycare centers around here only schedule one nap a day in their toddler rooms It is really annoying to see the director say repeatedly in previous emails that "every child is different" and then the center assume that all babies can tolerate one nap at 12 months :diablo: My husband wants to schedule a meeting with the director to see if our LOs could stay in the infant room until they are ready for one nap, but I highly doubt they will be that flexible. In the end we may switch to another daycare center (even though they will have a similar napping schedule) because I don't like this center's lack of communication regarding this room transition. Though we have a very limited number of daycare centers around here (almost all with waiting lists) and I can't just move the boys every time I get in a huff either (even though I'd like to!)

Thanks again for your comments!

 

Wow I'm shocked as well. We transitioned at 13 months but my twins weren't ready for it either, but I also didn't have a choice. Both my older kids were in baseball this spring, and my dd's baseball games were at 5pm. Right when the twins normal second nap started. So I had to switch them to one nap a day, and it was a rough 3 weeks while we transitioned. A lot of grouchiness, and early bedtimes. I hope having a talk with the director will help, and they definitely need to take into consideration how early your boys were, that makes a difference in milestones such as this. :hug:

 

i hope the daycare will be flexible on this but if not, your best bet at this point will be to go with a super early bedtime (6:00pm or 6:30pm) while they adjust & then gradually move the bedtime later as they seem able to tolerate it. GL!

 

Saddly both of mine went to 1 nap at 11mths. I was shocked when they started fighting their pm nap at just 10.5mths. Anyway after 2wks straight of not taking their 2nd nap I gave in. Gl

 

Well I exchanged some emails with the director earlier this week expressing my concerns about our boys dropping down to one nap at only 12.5 months adjusted age and things went downhill fast. Her job is to calm upset/concerned parents and she failed miserably at that, and instead escalated the situation with every email reply. Even though I have stayed calm in all of my emails and haven't made any demands but instead pointed out the lack of communication about the room switch and my concerns over their sleep, twice she referred to me as being "emotional" and said one of my assumptions was "utterly ridiculous." Even though we generally like the daycare and the teachers there, I refuse to deal with such a condescending director so we are looking for a new daycare center. And that is never fun, especially in this town that has very few options :-/

And of the 6 or 7 daycares in this area I think all but one schedule just one 2 hour nap block for all toddler rooms starting at 12 months. And they will wake the kids up if they are still sleeping after 2 hours! I just find that ridiculous. Obviously they make these decisions based on what is easiest for the teachers and not what is best for the children! The one daycare that treats all toddlers as individuals with individual needs has a waiting list a mile long (I've been on it since I was 4 months pregnant). So we are just going to have to begrudgingly accept this new change to the boys sleep schedule, regardless of what daycare they are in. So instead of 2 naps my husband picks them up shortly after 4pm and then has to ride around for about 45 min allowing them to get in a 30 minute cat nap so that they can make to their 7:30pm bedtime That's the only way to get them to wind down and take a short nap at that hour, unfortunately.

 

This IS ridiculous and I'm so sorry that you have to deal with such ignorance! Obviously one nap is not going to work for your LO's at this time. Have you guys thought about hiring someone to stay at home with them like a nanny? There are many qualified caretakers out there that sometimes charge less or just as much as daycare. Maybe that's an option for you guys. Good luck!

 

we transitioned around 13 months. it works really well for us; not because of anything in particular. i am home with my boys. but they started extending their morning nap at 10 and would not go down for an afternoon nap until about 4 and that is ridicilous when bedtime is at 7.
SO - i am in the minority!! we love 1 nap. we wake here at 7, nap at 12 and my kids are in bed at 7. :FIFblush:

 

I think this might be something to look into; is that an option for you? We have a nanny that we and the boys just love, and she can adapt her schedule to theirs because they are her only focus. At a certain point we will be sending them to preschool for socialization, but right now this really works well for us.

 

That is definitely something to consider. Though the downside of that, for me anyway, is dealing with nanny taxes, all your eggs are in one basket (when they get sick you have no child care), and our boys wouldn't get as much socialization. But they are still really young for the latter and have plenty of time for that still. Ordinarily we wouldn't be able to afford a full-time nanny but the in-laws recently started helping us with daycare costs (yay!). So that is feasible now. But I've posted Craigslist ads before for childcare and inevitably I either get responses from people charging crazy high rates, or those that offer to do it at a scary cheap rate which makes me question their qualifications.

Finding affordable childcare that suits you and your children's needs sure can be difficult! Thanks again for the replies.

 

Try looking on sittercity.com if you haven't already. They charge a small fee if you find someone you like to contact them, but you are able to do background checks on them as well. I hope you guys find a solution soon!

 

:hug: that really sucks! do you know if any of the other parents are upset with how things are run? i'm just wondering if maybe enough people are frustrated you might be able to get some changes implemented. :unknw:

i was also thinking a nanny might be a better option.

whatever happens, toddlers are so resilient, and they will adapt & be fine - it just means you're probably in for a stretch of cranky evenings.

 

I second Sittercity, and also Care.com. We found our current nanny through the latter. Yes, taxes can be a pain, but you can also Flex the costs (if your company allows that) and get a childcare tax credit from the IRS.

Good luck, I hope you find a solution that works for you!!

 

I'm surprised they do one nap at that age, too; most LOs don't drop to one nap until 15-18m, from what I recall from reading HSHHC.
My boys are 19.5m and still on two naps most days! They're definitely in a transition period where some days they take a long morning nap and don't sleep in the afternoon but they would NOT have done well with one nap before 18m!