how to transition to one naphow to transition to one nap

If I do an early nap (3 hours after wake up) then I cant get her to nap in the afternoon and she is then awake for 6-7 hours. When he wakes up early, should I try and put him back to sleep (what I usually do)? Thank you for this. I have been alternating with bringing back the two nap every couple of days to try and catch up her sleep but not sure whether to stay consistent. Not sure what we do wrong. By the third month, she barely ever made it to a 2 hour nap. That said, it does help to be as consistent as possible all other times. Ideally back to 6:30-7am would be great! Thank you so much for the above explanations I am struggling right now with my 10.5 month old who has always been a rockstar sleeper (after training at 4 months) anyways shes pretty consistent with her first nap which is at 10 am (she wakes up around 6/630 depending on the day) and I wake her at noon, wake windows before naps are currently 3.5 hrs minimum or she will lose her marbles and skip a nap She is starting to fight night time sleep as the wake window is 3 hrs in order to get her enough night time sleep I dont know how to have 3 x3.5/4 hr wake up windows and provide her enough sleep, not wanting to transition to I would also work on training your LO to do this for naps. Its normal for your toddler to need some 2-nap days while making this transition. We would be happy to help you transition smoothly in our naps program: Im not sure if its too soon and I should stick with maybe a 10:00 morning nap for a while. When in doubt, we always say to preserve bedtime over naps, so dont do a cat nap and just move bedtime up. Weve now had multiple days where she has managed a total of 30 mins for daytime sleep but still manages to sleep through the night. /Alyssa, BSMS Support Team. Sometime around a babys first birthday, parents often reach out to me and ask When should I start the, When my daughter turned 15 months old everything changed! You could definitely try going down to one nap, since toddlers tend to drop to that one nap a day schedule around 14-18 months old. Hi! But if the nap is less than 1.5 hours, you may need to give a 30 min cat nap (as long as it doesnt interfere with bedtime or night sleep.) When Do Babies Go to One Nap? - Healthline when she wakes at night she is up for 2-3 hours(brutal for mum). I suggest this schedule for your 12 month old: Time to transition to 1 nap even though her nap times seem normal? If he is sleep trained then I would make sure you are consistently following through with his sleep training method throughout the night. My almost 14 months old has been fighting bedtime for 5 days in a row now. Good luck mama! Hope this helps. Everyone I know has had a smooth transition with their little ones. Comment * document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "a507323a1952cd82adb0ad3bf44520e6" );document.getElementById("e6a9b80292").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Baby Sleep Made Simple . Any other tips? However, the actual time your baby is ready to switch to one nap differs from many factors. Offer half of lunch before nap time and half when your toddler wakes. Bedtime was moved as early as 530pm now he is waking at 5am! So we are going to try your transition method and hopefully get some more sleep! But as they grew up, we began to see patterns emerge and created schedules and routines. Hi Tanya! We have slowly pushed nap time later and later by 15 minutes every few days and we are at 11:15. My 16 month old son has just transitioned from 2-1 naps this week. I just dont know what else to do!! He starts 2 days/week of halfday daycare next week, so on those days he will up be awake until I pick him up at 1! I leave him in his crib until 6:30. I was able to get him to stay up until 11am but he would only sleep 1.25-1.5 hours and wouldnt take a catnap but I put his bedtime earlier to 6:30. As well, a nap transition doesn't just happen overnight. 1) what the heck do I do when I put him down for 1 nap around 11 and he wakes up around 12:30 or 1? If a late cat nap disrupts bedtime, skip it and move bedtime earlier. Instead, allow him to sleep in as long as possible. (We have been on this schedule almost 2 weeks) they seem to be struggling to have long naps. My little boy is 13 months his naps are getting pushed later and later, he wakes around 7/7:30 then naps 10/10:30. He is going to sleep at 630 pm. =(, Hi Maria! Our routine tends to be Another option, especially since you said shes waking up early, is to nap at 11am, and if she only takes a short nap, move bedtime earlier so she can make up for lost sleep. You can do this by pushing the morning nap later by 15 20 minutes every 2-3 days until you get to 11 am. Continue to treat anything before 6am as a night waking (so dont get him out of the crib until 6pm). Tomorrow we will do the same. If nap is short, move bedtime as early as 6 pm to make up for lost sleep. Do you have a peaceful nightly bedtime routine in place? For babies younger than 12 months, it is rarely time to drop to one nap. Youll likely find yourself with a grumpy child struggling with the lack of sleep as she makes this switch. It is not consistent every night but normally 3/4 times a week. She is normally up around 6-6.30am. Artemis, BSMS Support Team. He is waking between 6:00-6:15am, goes down for first nap at 10 and sleeps for 1 hour and then goes down again around 2:30pm and sleeps for an average of 1.5 hrs. And so frustrating after sleeping so well! Keep it here for one week. I think since the schedule has been changed a few times, he might just be adjusting to it still. Signs your child is (and isn't) ready to transition to one nap He is now 22 months old and we are approximately 2 months into this 2 to 1 switch. He was waking at 6am and I was putting him down for 11am. Drop the second nap and keep pushing her nap later, slowly, until it falls right in the middle of her day (which is around 2 pm.). 9:30-11 am: nap (meaning hes asleep by 9:30) He isnt fully fighting his naps like I described above, and they arent short in the 30-45 minutes sense, but it takes him so long to fall asleep at night (doesnt fuss) that I wonder if he isnt tired enough. It is not something we see often so it isnt addressed in our program directly. Get more tips on creating a toddler schedule. I have a question about the nap transition and early wakings. He is currently going to bed between 6:30 and 7:30pm (depending on how the days naps went) and waking 11.5 to 12.5 hours later, so he is generally getting plenty of sleep at night. Thank you so much!! And also my girls wake between 5 and 5:30am ever since I transitioned to one nap. Just wondering if it could be time to just go down to 1 nap. This one seems the toughest though! They have chronic early waking 5:15 am to 5:45 am. Good luck!/ Leena, BSMS Support Team. Whether a child is ready for this should be determined based on the overall . Is there any guidance or pediatric recommendations out there on when to change to 1 nap? document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. I can tell he is tired, and because he is active (and now cranky) I would really like him closer to 2.5hrs. Then offer an afternoon nap and try again tomorrow. Hello! Right now she almost always takes her first nap around 9:30 and if she naps in the afternoon, its a car nap. What is the wake window from wake up to nap time? :/, I would aim for awake times of 5/5.5 hrs. I would definitely check out the 1 nap guide and use Jillys tips for slowly moving to 1 nap, and also, check out this video. Into bed. Im doing bed time at 5:30pm. Baby Sleep Made Simple 5 5-12 months sleep tips 5 Nap Transitions 5 How & When Do Babies Transition to One Nap? Check out this guide as well! And what time should the cat nap be? Im trying to extend The wake time since its been 5 days of 11am, but since I see that their nap is not going well Im afraid to change it. Should I try to go back to two naps? Its hard to tell if something is a true pattern after just one day. https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/naps-getting-downtime-in-the-daytime. Bedtimes are havoc even when I get him down at 545/6. Becca, BSMS Support Team. Its a dream! I started the transition from two naps to one about 2.5 weeks ago and they are so fussy in the mornings and the afternoons. I feel I have hit the sweet spot for her nap time based on her tired levelbut maybe not? Id love to make the transition to 1 nap later in the day but I dont know how to get there! Baby Sleep Made Simple 5 5-12 months sleep tips 5 Nap Transitions 5 How & When Do Babies Transition to One Nap? Hi there Jessica. Lets say she naps from 10-11am, but youd like to establish one long, two-hour nap from 12-2pm. He wakes at 7, naps 1130-1 and catnaps 5-530. How to manage the transition from two naps to one nap Thanks so much! You can book it here: Today pushed me to write because of the excessive crying and 45 minute nap. Nap is now 11:30am and the length is from 45 minutes to 1 hour. I would try to make that 1.5 hours right in the middle of the day if possible. I am aiming fot her first nap to be 10:30-10:45am (was working fine until about 2 days ago) and she sleeps until 12-1230pm. Learn how to create a toddler sleep schedule. Required fields are marked *. Let your toddler nap as long as he wants for this nap. Panagiota, BSMS Support Team. Hi! She happily lays in her bed in the morning until 6/6:20, and I leave her in her cot after her short midday nap for an extra 30 mins or so. Usually he wakes at 7am and goes to bed at 7pm, but during this transition his wake up time went to 6:30am, then to 6:10am to 5:50am and then 5:30am this morning!! But Im really struggling with the transition because she wakes up at 5:30 or 6 at the latest most days (always has, probs always will) and she REALLY struggles to get past 10am. Her schedule has been: Hi Jennifer! I definitely recommend you stick to 2 naps its way too early to drop to 1 nap. Right now he usually is up by 6:30am and bed time is 7:30pm which i can adjust if needed. Maybe you could look into that as well. Since September she has been fighting her two naps. Grab your copy of The Five Habits That Will Make Your Childs Naps Easier! What would you suggest? One twin in fact wakes after 30 minutes during nap, then sleeps another 30 minutes. My daughter is nearly 13 months. So we moved it back to 11 am now. What other factor may be influencing this? So stressful! Thank you! Lol. You can find all the details about how to create a calming sleep routine in my Exhausted Moms Starter Kit. 12hrs from what I see, and his mood is ok during the during by sleeping only 1.5hr its ok. Wake her up if need be so she has enough awake time before bedtime. Morning wake up time? She is so tired in the mornings for the long stretch (4.5 hours) until her nap but fine in the afternoon. He was so fussy and closing his eyes, something he hasnt done before. We would love for you to join our Naps program so Jilly & members of our support team can walk you step by step through the nap training process. Fights first nap consistently and then falls asleep for 35-40 minutes at 9:50-10:30z Then takes an hour nap from 2:30-3:30. The recommended awake time for a 14 month old taking 2 naps 3-4 hours and if taking 1 nap, then 4-5.5 hours. To be honest its a bit early for your baby to transition to one nap. You will keep this just until his first nap gets a little longer and then you will cut the catnap and scoot bedtime up just a little until his nap gets really good. She fell asleep, self settles, for all 2naps within 10mins. Or like you said, put him down for a cat nap, but cut it short (30 minutes) and make sure theres still enough time for him to be awake before bedtime. It is definitely a little bit of a balancing act since you just night trained and we definitely want to preserve great night sleep as well. He wakes at 7 am (or I have to wake him again, to be sure to fit in 2 naps. If you think bedtime would be much earlier, then I would do a late catnap, but definitely try to keep the nap under 30 minutes (just enough to get the edge off). Transition Your Toddler To One Daily Nap With No Fuss! She sleeps around 11-12hrs at night now. She used to fall asleep no problem for morning nap and has always been a great morning napper. We are at a loss. Should I wait on the transition? It is definitely my favorite nap though once LO is on a consistent scheduleso lets get there! Hes also been SUPER cranky and I know its because he is exhausted. We hope to see you inside the program. Artemis, BSMS Support Team. He is still taking two naps, but I am trying to figure out if he is ready for one nap. He always wakes crying at nap time and every morning and has done so for months. Each step of the way you get advice based on your babys developmental stage, So if she only naps 90 minutes, try to keep her in her crib for an extra 10 minutes every 3 days (if she is content hanging out) to let her body still rest and hopefully that will help her extend her actual sleep time. I now feel like Ive shot myself in the foot with transitioning him and will never get more than a 1.5hour nap again. Wake 7am, nap 10:15am, wake 11:30am, nap 3:30pm, wake 4:30pm, bed 8:30pm (bed cannot be pushed earlier due to work schedules at this time). I would always leave my LO in the crib until the 2 hour mark, but she was usually content though. Ive recently started transitioning my 14mo to 1 nap, but she cant seem to nap for more than 1.25hrs. We tried one nap he can definitely stay awake long enough but his naps are 1.5 hours max, usually about an hour. Thank you for your help! He was sleep trained early and has always been such a great sleeper. Only wake him once the nap hits 3 hours length (it does happen!). Her wake windows right now are around 5.5 in the morning followed by 4.5-5 at night (usually closer to 5 because we need to make it to 6 pm for bedtime.). The first is to pick the time that falls in the middle of babys previous naps. She would wake up around 6:20-6:45 am, and wed have her nap around noon. Thanks so much for your message! When we went right back to 2 naps he started sleeping till 6 again and woke up happy. If your LO has a 7-7:30PM bedtime and a 7am wake up time, then a 2 hour nap is perfect and sufficient. You work on moving the nap in 15 min increments until you get to 11 am. She doesnt usually fight bedtime, but the last 5 days had been hysterical cries for 15mins+. You can either get our free guide here: https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/how-to-extend-your-babys-naps/ 1.5 hour naps are a good start! Can I keep his one nap from 11-2 instead of moving it later? (Gave it up around 10 months.) The Transition to 1 Nap: When and How to Do It Im wondering about the suggestion of moving the bedtime earlier to avoid being over tired. I am in the midst of transitioning my 15mo to 1 nap. Is your baby or toddler a serial short napper? Alyssa, BSMS Support Team, 16 months old twins struggling to transition from 2 naps to 1 nap. Long gone are those days when our babies napped so often we lost count. But its been worse lately sometimes like 4:45 am, Desired wake time: 6am (even if they wake up before 6am we dont pick them up till 6am. Im afraid if we put her down at 11:15 am for a nap, and she only sleeps an hour, her evening wake window will be even longer, only making her more overtired for bedtime. This can often be a super tough transition. When to Transition to One Nap From Two | WonderBaby.org How do you know shes ready to give them up? Right now she is 15.5 months old, sleeps through the night beautifully, and recently transitioned to one nap at noon. If your LO has been fighting the naps though for more than 2 weeks, it could also be time to transition to 1 nap. One day she absolutely refused the 10am, but shes exhausted. Its under signs to switch to one nap. I hope this helps, good luck! Is that too early? He would still wake up from 5:45-6:15am (prior wake up was around 6:30-6:45). The 2-1 nap transition can be a tougher transition, but it has been my favorite nap! Is there a way to make him wake up later? If your LO only sleeps 1.5 hours, keep your LO in the crib until the 2 hour mark if your LO is content. Im doing early bedtime! Prior to this change, they were sleeping 1.5 hours in the morning, and afternoon, and still sleep 11-12 hours at night. As with most sleep coaching, timing is everything. Each day naps and bedtime seems to be later and later, Hes only at my mums a hour which she feeds him for me, Dear Laura, let me share with you our 1y old sleeping guide https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/1-year-old-sleep-tips-toddler It really helped me to take my daughter outside a lot during the transition. A big change like this is hard on everybody, both parents and kids. How to Transition from Two Naps to One: a Step-by-Step Guide Hi! Im so sorry! Seems his nap should fall at noon based on the middle of his two naps before. Once the nap is dropped, they'll need to be able to comfortably stay awake for at least 5 hours before and after their one remaining nap. We still recommend trying this for several nights as it takes a while to see the improvement. Do you think we should go back down to 10:30 for a while or try to keep getting the nap a bit later and see if the naps lengthen? The first two days went well where they slept 2-2.5 hours at 11am (usual nap is 10). This one-nap schedule can be the one they might haveif youre luckyall through their preschool years. But bedtime has been super difficult. Hi Alyssaso shortly after my last reply, he started refusing afternoon naps, so we made the gradual switch to 11am and weve moved up to noon. Any thoughts or suggestions? Instead, move sleep times around by 15 minutes at first. Around the time you find a consistent routine with your little one, everything changes. Would I try an 11.30 sleep and if he doesnt sleep longer than 1.5hr I give him a cat nap around 4-4.30? Questions: how to help them lengthen their nap length and how to improve their food intake if they fall asleep in the high chair? I have a question however related to the method to transition from 2 nap to 1 nap. That transition can definitely be a challenge. 1. I personally think that trying to do two naps on one day will be tough for your twins because they will be used to a specific awake time which will then be altered on that one day. Been more than 1 month. It can take many days of consistency for your LO to accept going to sleep earlier. Yes at this age your LO should sleep longer than an hour a day. She wakes around 7, goes down around 10am til 11:30/12, and then goes back down at 3pm and wakes around 4:30. Try sticking to two naps for a few more weeks and see how she does. From the past 3 days, he has been crying at 10:30pm for a bit (doesnt need an assistant and he will fall back asleep by himself) and stirring from 3:30am onwards. Then bedtime will probably need to be around 6:30 pm. We would love to help you tweak some things to get your LO sleeping later in the morning. 1) Keep a consistent wake up and bedtime. In this case, either offer a 30 min cat nap in the afternoon or move bedtime earlier to prevent over-tiredness. So, I am working with her in 1 nap schedule but its not working ver well. Hi there Alessandra. The average time most toddlers transition from 2 to 1 nap is between the ages of 12 and 18 months. If she accepts it she then refuses bedtime. I would push his nap a bit and do closer to 5 hours. She works herself up and is hysterical. It is my favorite nap though once it gets locked down! Hello! Reverted back to two naps with the view to increase wake time more gently as you describe though today he didnt have second nap and still cried at bedtime. If I let her nap for more than 30 mins then, she wont go to bed till after 8pm. She currently wakes around 7-730am. I dont feel like she is developmentally ready for 1. Its been 4 months since then, and were struggling HARD. She fought me until 9pm! He refuses a cat nap. To give a brief history, he has been sleeping through the night since he was 3 months old, however the last couple of months he has been waking up earlier than usual (6-6:30am, before it was 7-7:30), and more recently has been experiencing night wakings. You can work towards 10-15 minutes longer every 2 days, until he is able to stay for the full 2 hours (hopefully sleeping). Any ideas? She sleeps mostly through the night. do i assume his wake window starts at 5:30 when he wakes up or 6:30 when i get him out of crib? What would you recommend us at this point? At first, things seemed to go smoothly. And keep moving this back until you finally hit 12pm. I have been slowly working on moving to 1 nap and have done well for the most part. Bedtime routine starts around 7:15pm, and he is in his crib by 7:35pm on average, but he will lie in his crib awake for at least 30 minutes, so he falls asleep between 8:15-8:30pm. I hear youits tough when daycares have kids move to a new schedule when theyre not ready for it yet. I would just try to stick to a consistent schedule from now on; asleep by the same time every night, asleep for naps at the same time every day, and waking up in the morning at the same time every day, too. Should i do that or should i stick with 11? They only nap for 1 hour to 75 mins. When he was getting 3ish+ hours consistently on two naps, I feel like this is just not enough. On top of it all, Im thinking she may be beginning to pop some teeth, and she has just learned to walk the last few days. Bedtime about 4 hours after waking up from nap 2 (usually around 9 pm) Am I doing something wrong here? Some babies like to have that nap a little earlier and end up sleeping better and longer If you find that she is tired early, you might try putting her down for nap around 10:00 or 10:30. Shes likely going to resist the second nap with an 11am nap more so than the 10am one since shes waking up at 11:45 instead of 10:45 like before. My question is would you continue to leave her in the crib until she falls asleep or if she doesnt, do you move the morning nap up or just keep her up until her normal nap time? If youre up to it, I would try to temporarily offer a second nap and see if that lessens the over tiredness. It always takes him 30 mins to go to sleep at night, whether the wake window before bedtime was 4 hours or 5.5 hours. How do you get them to sleep longer? She will only nap for one hour at 11am but if i put her down a bit earlier will nap 1.5-2 sometimes , what would you suggest in terms of time of a nap time and time for bed time to avoid becoming over tired and night waking. AND DOES AT LEAST ONE OF THE FOLLOWING FOR 2 WEEKS: Again, this isnt a one-off event. If they cant, then adjust what you need to adjust for the remainder of the day, like making bedtime earlier or letting her sleep later in the mornings. 3) Go outside for lots of fresh air before nap and make sure your LO is very physically active. do i give him a cat nap and deal with the fussiness and late bedtime? If you have the luxury of time, this transition may take several weeks to a month. Would I need to wake them up earlier? What do you think? The issue Ive been running into is thay she will go down fairly easy for her morning nap and sleep 1-1.5 hours, the last two days Ive woken her after an hour (1030ish) and then tried a nap 3.5-4hours later and she just lays/talks/fusses in her crib for half an hour and doesnt sleep so then shes up from 1030-6 and passes out nursing within a couple minutes! For more information on the program, please dont hesitate to ask, here is the link to it: My 13 month old meets the criteria for transitioning AND Has recently started walking AND might be have her first molar coming in. And then I feel totally stuck when he wakes by 12. We do: If you feel like the change has not worked for you for two weeks, it could be that your LO is not ready yet. Then to compensate for potentially not getting enough sleep, you can also move her bedtime up earlier if shes super sleepy. What do you suggest I do? Its highly affordable and right now you get an additional 15% off when you use the coupon code 2022! How and When to Transition From Two Naps to One - What to Expect https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/21-days-to-peace-quiet-program. Nap transitions can take several weeks, so stay consistent and they should start taking a 2-3 hour nap each day and waking later. Sometimes when he gets two naps, he still struggles with early mornings. I think it is too early to start transitioning to 1 nap. I can also recommend a book on sleep training: https://www.parental-love.com/shop/toddler-sleep-training it helped us a milion! How to transition to a one-nap schedule When your baby's nap schedule changes, so does everything else. She doesnt ever sleep longer than 1.5 hours for her nap, but once were at 12, ideally Id like her to be down from 12-3 with a 7-7:30pm bedtime. I try to leave her alone to go back to sleep, but I usually cave after 10 minutes if it involves some whining. / Leena, BSMS Support Team. Currently he is screaming in bed now for an hour. Who says lunch has to be one big meal at noon?! Since the transition hes been waking at night around 9:30pm and takes about an hour to settle. during the early days. Usually a short afternoon nap is for those times when the one nap is too far away from bedtime, and the short nap offers a quick refresher before bedtime, so I wouldnt push bedtime back for that purpose, but rather wake your child up and keep the nap short. This is pushing his nap out 30 min from where it has been. He is miserable trying to stay up 4-5 hours after 7am. If your baby consistently refuses one of his naps each day, that could be a sign that he only needs one nap a day.