Giving up the Morning Nap? - Allen,TX

Some 2 yr olds still want a nap in the morning. I think it depends on how active they are and when they get up. If early then by the time it is about 10-11 they want a little rest time. Lunch more play and another nap. G. W

Sounds like she's at that rough in between stage where she still needs it, but is almost ready to give it up. I suggest starting to push the morning nap a little later, but cutting it off in time to take the afternoon nap still.

My daughter gave her morning nap up at 13 months. I determined each day if it would be a one or 2 nap day depending on how early she woke up. If she woke by 8- 2 nap day, after 8, 1 nap day. By 14 months 2 naps were completely gone. On 1 nap days we took nap at 12:30, but as she has gotten older(now 21 months) that time has moved to 1:30 or 2.

Around 1 is totally normal to give it up. You could just move up the afternoon nap because she probably won't be able to wait until then, and then if needed even move up bed time a little. You'll proabably have to fudge with it for a little bit to find out what is the new right schedule for her.

I just went to my 1 year checkup with my son and my doctor said that starting around 1 year children will drop their morning naps. The strange thing for my son is that he has dropped his afternoon nap and takes a power nap in the morning to get him through the day, or else he will take 10 minute cat naps several times. So she sounds like she is at the right age to be dropping that morning nap.

You could experiment with skipping the morning nap one day and seeing how the rest of her day goes. She may take an earlier/longer afternoon nap or perhaps go to bed earlier in the evening.

I don't think there is a specific age for giving up the morning nap---there wasn't with my eight children.

Experiment and find out what works best for HER.

every baby is different but mine gave up his about 13 months of age. there were a few weeks of adjustment time. Try holding off of the morning nap for abotu an hour (or more) from her normal nap time and see how she does. She might do great and then just take 1 long nap in the afternoon.

Hi J.,

Every child is different but somewhere around 12 mths. to 18mths. is what I have heard. My son is 16 mths. old and some days he will just take one nap from 1-3:30 and some days he will seem fussy and tired in the morning and take two naps. I think we are right on the verge of eliminating the morning nap but for every child it can be different. If you daughter still acts fussy and tired I would continue giving her both naps until you see her becoming less fussy.

Wow, that amazing to me, my youngest son, since he's two and my older ones are 11 and 13, but he stopped taking morning naps around 5-6 months old, then he just went to his afternoon naps. Honestly, I would let the morning nap go if she's fighting that hard.
God Bless,

We gave up morning naps at 1 years old and both children no longer needed naps during the day at 2 years old.

My little one gave her morning nap up at about 14 months. This put her schedule off, so she would take her afternoon nap earlier, but then she would be so exhausted about 6:00ish, she would take an "evening" nap. Not that we wanted her to, but she was just so exhausted, she was miserable. Fortunately, we were able to adjust her regular naptime and the evening naps diminished after a couple of weeks. Now life is great again!

T.

I would try moving to one nap a day after lunch and an earlier bed time at night if she is going down after 8. No two are alike. One of mine quit napping entirely by 15 months but would sleep 7 to 7 with a quiet time in her crib every afternoon about 2. Her quiet time was spent with a bottle of water, her favorite books, her favorite music, her lambskin and Bo Bear. She loved the time alone in her crib, spending an hour or so singing, "reading", talking to Bo and sipping her water. I went and got her as soon as she started calling me and never waited 'til she started crying, hoping she would always associate that time with contentment. As she got older, she would go back to her bedroom every day about 2, drag all of her choices for that day to her crib (and later, her bed). Then she would bring me her tape for that day to put in the recorder. I think that quiet time in her bed was one of her favorite parts of the day and it carried her through the rest of the evening. She would also tell us "nite, nite" every evening about 6:30. My other child needed 2hour naps after lunch til he was 4, when he went to a 1 hour nap til he started first grade. He went to bed a little later and woke up earlier every morning. I think the key is just figuring out what works for each child by experimenting. Good luck.

I recommend the book Baby Wise to everyone. It will teach you how to get our child to sleep trhough the night. Sleep patterns, naps, etc. I love this book!
Good luck and God bless.

I don't now about "most babies", but my son gave up the morning nap at probably about 9 months or so. He refused to go down for it anymore and I ended up having to move up his afternoon nap by an hour or two to compensate. I'm not sure if that's typical, but that's what happened at our house. :)

My daughter is now 17 months and she gave up her morning nap around the same time. I just kept her busy one day and put her down right after lunch and she slept for about 3 hours. It may have helped that she has a 3 year old brother that I have on that schedule, but she adjusted to that scedule like she had been doing it for a while. It's funny how they just tell you when they are ready.

I switched my son to only 1 afternoon nap a day when he turned 1 & it was wonderful. It was tough for about a week but once he got accustomed it helped him sleep later in the morning. I started out with the nap at like 10:30am for a few days then slower kept pushing it back until he was used to staying up till around noon. It took about a week & it was a tough week but you'll have to help him stay up, keep him occupied & busy & it'll be fine. He's 21 months now & ever since he takes 1 nap a day (sleeps 2-3 hours) goes to bed at 8pm & sleep till 7am. Good luck!

Try one day to not put her down for the morning nap and see how she does. She might take a little longer nap in the afternoon. It's definatly not worth a fight! Pick your battles! We transitioned with "car" naps when my daughter gave up the last nap. During my errands she would take a short 10-20 minute nap and that was it. Just a little pick me up to get her through the rest of the day. good luck

Dear J.,

I grieved when my children gave up the morning nap! That said-you probably know the answer because you know your child. When they fight the nap consistently you're there-but it's even more apparent when you realize that the morning nap is causing them to have trouble falling asleep for the second nap and bedtime. There were days when my little ones did not take it and days when they did depending upon what they needed.

I kept my children napping as long as I could though to the envy of other moms. I have a 3 year old now who has commpletely stopped her afternoon nap although once in a while she'll conk out early or take a short cat nap in the evening. It's all about what they need and being the mom-YOU're the best to know but then, kids are pretty obvious when they're tired.

Consider it a milestone and start thinking of rearranging your routines...

I'm a mother of three and one on the way. I've found the best way to get it figured out is to "test the waters." Try skipping it one day and see how she does. It could be very quickly evident that she just can't make it yet. I'm guessing she still needs it if she's still taking her afternoon nap. Also, each of mine kind of transitioned out of morning naps by taking them kind of every other day. I could just kind of read whether it was a morning nap day or not and then eventually I found they didn't need them at all and went down for an earlier and longer afternoon nap. Good luck!!

When my son turned 1, I left my job to stay at home. That's when he started taking one nap, right after lunch. He sleeps about 2-3 hours. Try it out and see how it works.

Yeah, I guess I will just say again what everyone else is saying. Right around age 1 is when they give up their morning naps usually. I would try maybe making her wait a little later for her morning nap if she is still sleeping. Maybe just make her go 1/2 hr. longer before you put her down. She probably is still tired but getting to the point where she doesn't need it as much. She is probably confused about what to do, too! :-)

My first was 18 months, but my second who is now 18 months gave his up at 12 months and does fine on a 2 hour nap everyday.

around 1 year, my son started to give up morning naps at daycare. too much fun going on I guess. :) But on weekends he would still take two naps a day until he was about 13.5-14 months old. So by 14 months, he was down to 1 every day. Maybe play it by ear. Each day could be different at this stage for a few weeks.

I have always heard around age 1 so you are about on target. My daughter will be 1 in a week, but shows no signs at all of being able to give up her two naps. I only wish she would since I get stuck inside all day because my son still needs his mid-day nap! I do remember our pediatrician telling us to keep our son on two naps a day for as long as he would do it. It was about 14 months for him.

Hi J.

All babies are different of course. You can try to give up the morning nap and try to lay her down earlier for her afternoon nap and see how that goes. Good luck.

I used this as an opportunity to teach my kids to play alone a little while each day. I would put them down for the morning nap in a playpen with a few soft toys. If they weren't tired they played and if they dozed off it was safe. My oldest was older and in a real bed so I put a baby gate across his room door. He did pass out in his toys a few times before he figured out to lay down when he got tired.

Why force a nap? Some kids nap more than others. Listen to your child-- go with your gut. My 2 girls rarely napped beyond the infant stage. A 30-45 minute afternoon nap was all they needed by then... naps went away entirely by age 3 or 4. There is no set formula-- we are all different.