Naps When to Give up 1

My son moved from two naps to one nap around 14 months or so. He began napping from around 1-4. It was fantastic!! At first he would get cranky around 10 (when his nap used to be), but if I kept him active he'd make it until after lunch...then we were golden! It will take some time to get them adjusted, but it makes life so much easier. Just be cautious of running too many errands in the morning for a while...that car ride tended to wipe mine out! My oldest is 3 1/2 now & just gave naps up about a month ago. Too bad for me. Good luck to you!

Very soon! My son is getting rid of one of his naps and he's 15 months. I won't pretend its not been a difficult transition :) The good news is that when he does nap it's usually one longer nap (about 2-3 hours). My Pediatrician said at his appt last week that it's very typical to start moving to one nap about now.

that being said though... sometimes he still takes two, but it's not the expected norm for us anymore.

edit note - he isn't consistent about getting rid of one nap vs. the other - so just follow their cue on which nap they will be getting rid of, when it happens.

Personally, I think naps are great, even if it's only for 45 minutes. Heck - I'd nap every day if I could!!

Okay...back to the question at hand...all children are so very different with what daily routine fits them, but they all need a lot of sleep to function at their best.

If you take away the nap and they're crabby or loosing it by bed time, put the nap back into their schedule. They probably need it.

My husband, 39, still naps, 1 hour a day - LOL....

My 4 year-old still naps, 1-2 hours a day. She ocassionally skips a nap here and there which is our sign that we can start phasing them out, but her bed time will become earlier when we do.

My 3 year-old twin boys still nap 1-2 hours a day as well. All three go down for their nap at the same time - which is nice.

Happy Nappin'

I was just thinking about asking this. My son is 15 months next week and still takes 2 1.5-2 hr naps a day. About 10 am and 3 pm. I was thinking maybe he was showing signs of going down to 1 but I really like the suggestion of moving it 1/2 hour later each week, I think that would work well. I wouldn't try it yet though at 11 months old. Babies are so different though so maybe they are ready. My one friend's daughter was only taking 1 nap at her 1st birthday, my other friend's daughter still takes 2 at 17 months. Good luck, watch their cues.

My 11 month old just moved to one nap...she does go to bed earlier though, about 6pm!

From a mom of a teenager. My son took one nap a day and some days none. He was totally done by age 2. But he slept though the night at a very early age and slept 10 hours. He is now 17 years old and still sleeps 8 hours a night without budging. I say each child has a different clock and some need to sleep more than others. If they are not sleeping at night, to much napping during the day. If they sleep fine at night with naps during the day all is fine right now.

Best of Luck ^j^

I wouldn't phase it out until they resist or prove that they are ready to give up a nap. My almost 3 year old just recently gave up naps altogether, although on his crabby days he ends up taking a nap because I can tell he is tired. We just stopped. No phasing out, no scheduling, etc. Just stopped putting him down one day.

My daughter is 25 months old and STILL doing 2 naps a day, thank goodness!

I love it, as we just get more done and more downtime and everyone is just more well rested. I would wish for the naps to NOT be given up any time soon!

Hi J.,
My girl/boy twins are 22 months now and they gave up one nap at about 12 months. I have a 6 year old, too, and I did the same thing for them as I did for her. I started to test it when it seemed like they were not very tired at their usual morning naptime. I didn't force it until they showed signs of not needing both naps. Initially, my twins went down at 9:30 and 2, for about 1 1/2 hours each time. I would do something to keep us busy at 9:30 and then push their nap off until 10 for a week, then 10:30 the next, and 11 finally. They'd take a longer 1st nap and eventually the 2nd nap was being pushed back and completely phased out. In about 3-4 weeks, we we had successfully pushed off their morning nap until 11, and while we'd sometime hit a rough patch in the afternoon, they did very well to phase the 2nd nap out completely. We moved bedtime up from 8 to 7:30 and they started sleeping in a full extra 2 hours in the morning (at that time). Now at 22 months, they still take just one nap at about 11-11:30 and sleep for 2-3 hours. They still go to bed at 7:30 and wake up around 7. As they approach their 2nd birthday, it seems like 11 is too early for them, so we're again testing it by playing outside for a distraction and moving to 11:30 this week, and we probably will be after noon in a few weeks. That's how it happened with my daughter around her 2nd birthday. By 2 1/2, though, she was DONE with naps completely....so don't rush it if you want to stay sane!!! That is my biggest fear with my twins now! I hope what I tried to explain makes sense to you. If it doesn't, feel free to send me a private message. Having had one baby and then twins, I know it's ALWAYS more complicated with twins, especially when you're keeping them on the same schedule as each other. For us, it worked well with my single daughter and so far with my twins. I never forced it, though, just tested it when the time seemed right. In the beginning not every day was the same. It took a few weeks to make the transition and work the kinks out, but it was overall a pretty smooth process. Good luck!
A.

I have boy/girl twins also , they just turned two. At around 15 months their naps became a little bit irregular. Sometimes they would skip a nap one day then 2 naps the next. This went on for a month or so until they were down to one consistent nap at 12:30 or 1:00 - 2:00 or 3:00. Their lunch moved up to 11am. It will be a slow transition for you so try not to plan too many things if you can. Good Luck!

Since all children are different, let your kids to give you the answer! Your kids will show you signs that they are ready to transition (i.e., they will stop sleeping well during the early nap, etc.) Let their need for sleep and their moods dicatate the change. I think a read a statistic that 75% of all children transition to one nap a day by 18 months old. A very, very small number of children transition as early as 12 months. It's all up to your kids. Good luck and don't stress!!

J., this is one you will have to figure out for yourself by trial and error. An example, if you have one who goes to bed at 8 pm wakes at 6 am, goes really well till noon and then winds down for a nap at 12:30 or so, and sleeps a couple of hours, then is up and goes fine till bedtime, yup, you go do without. Just use trial and error till you figure out what works for your family and your schedule.