When do you drop a nap? (3 to 2)

When do you drop a nap and how? My guys are still doing 3 naps a day and I'm wondering if they should be at 2? I'm not sure which one to drop? We just started this schedule this week(went from 5 to 4 bottles and from 2 to 3 meals) and I only had 2 naps listed morning nap(9a) and afternoon(3p). Well my sitter says it's not working and they still need 3. She tried it a couple of days and said they were miseralbe starting around 1-2pm. So I added a short nap back in the middle of the day. Will they ever be able to drop 1? I desperately want them to have the afternoon nap b/c if not they are so cranky at night and end up going to bed by 6:45p and I would like for them to move that to 7:30 so I can spend some time with them when I get home from work. HELP

What we are now trying with 3 naps:

7 a.m. Wake / Bottle (8oz)

8 a.m. Breakfast- Yogurt or Fruit

9-11 a.m. Nap for 1-2 hrs anytime during this period

11 a.m. Bottle (7oz)

12 p.m. Lunch Fruit & Meat or Veggie & Meat

1-2:30 p.m. Short 45min-1hr Nap

3:00 p.m. Bottle (7oz)

3-5 p.m. Nap for 1-2 hrs anytime during this period

5 p.m. Dinner Meat & Veggie, Cheese Crumbles

7:30 p.m. Bedtime / Bottle (8oz)

 

When do you drop a nap and how? My guys are still doing 3 naps a day and I'm wondering if they should be at 2? I'm not sure which one to drop? We just started this schedule this week(went from 5 to 4 bottles and from 2 to 3 meals) and I only had 2 naps listed morning nap(9a) and afternoon(3p). Well my sitter says it's not working and they still need 3. She tried it a couple of days and said they were miseralbe starting around 1-2pm. So I added a short nap back in the middle of the day. Will they ever be able to drop 1? I desperately want them to have the afternoon nap b/c if not they are so cranky at night and end up going to bed by 6:45p and I would like for them to move that to 7:30 so I can spend some time with them when I get home from work. HELP

What we are now trying with 3 naps:

7 a.m. Wake / Bottle (8oz)

8 a.m. Breakfast- Yogurt or Fruit

9-11 a.m. Nap for 1-2 hrs anytime during this period

11 a.m. Bottle (7oz)

12 p.m. Lunch Fruit & Meat or Veggie & Meat

1-2:30 p.m. Short 45min-1hr Nap

3:00 p.m. Bottle (7oz)

3-5 p.m. Nap for 1-2 hrs anytime during this period

5 p.m. Dinner Meat & Veggie, Cheese Crumbles

7:30 p.m. Bedtime / Bottle (8oz)

 

I recently dropped the third nap because my babies were just too awake at bedtime and wouldn't go down, yet they are super cranky. But my schedule was slightly different:

7am - bottle
8:15am - cereal
9am - nap (about 1.5-2 hours)
11am - bottle
12/1pm nap ( about 1-2 hours)
3pm - bottle
4 - pm fruit and veggie or yogurt
6/6:30pm - bath (every other night), bottle, book
6:30/7pm bedtime

Around 4:30pm/5pm I did a short 45 minute nap, but now that's gone. They go down for bed a lot easier.

Mona

 

If you want to get rid of a nap I would suggest the last nap that they have. For their 1:00 nap, is your sitter waking them after 45 min. or are they waking up themselves? Mine still nap from 9:30-11:30 and 1-3. Most of the time they sleep the entire 2 hours, sometimes it's only 1.5, but it is never less than that. They were taking a nap around 4:45-5:30, but it just got too hard on me to try and put them down with getting dinner started, my oldest having dance class one day, that I decided they weren't going to have it anymore. My son could probably still use one as he gets cranky at night, but we just deal with it. They also go to bed at 7:30 and I wake them at 7:30am.

I would say if you think they are ready for just 2 naps try and give up the 3ish nap and see how they do. Maybe they will sleep longer for the 1ish nap and then won't need the third nap after all.

 

try 3 meals, 2 snacks. a bottle could be considered a snack, but i usually also did 2-3 crackers. the nap you want to keep when you go to one nap is the nap that starts around 1 pm. it will gradually move up to 12 noon (maybe earlier depending on your kids).

at 8 months I moved the 9am nap to 930 then to 10am and finally dropped that one around 13 months. I wouldnt let them sleep longer than 1 hr in the morning. I actually have woken my babies during the day so they would sleep straight thru at night and that has worked for me all along. I had them nap for 2 hrs starting at 1pm or maybe 130 around 8 months. then snack at 3pm, dinner at 530, and in bed by 730. the time for the afternoon nap has been flexible. it used to start at 1pm, then it moved to 2 pm, then it was back to 1pm, then it was 1230 (at 14 months). now it's back to 1 or 130.

 

With my first, she dropped it at 6 months, but she had a 6 pm bed time to make up for it (which I loved!!!).

 

I was just going to type the same question when i saw this one! My two have nearly the exact same schedule as your two. Except they go down at around 4.30pm to 5.30pm which sucks as they start to get fed to go to bed at 6pm. SO hopefully trying to get rid of that one and see if they will finally sleep through the night! Fingers crossed x