Transition to One Nap

Actually I think you need to do one of three things.

A. put her down for a real short 30 minute nap about an hour after she is up for the day. I do daycare and seriously 95% of the kids under 22 mos still need this little bit every day. But wake her after 30 minutes of sleep. Then put her back down for a real afternoon nap at 12:30.

B. Feed her lunch at 10:30, this will stretch the nap start time a bit later. When she wakes up after 1.5 hours, don't get her up right away. Wait 10 minutes and see if she will go back to sleep, most do. She may not really be ready to wake up and just readjusting.

C. Follow the modified EASY schedule that infants should follow. EASY is eat, activity, sleep, you time. For older kids it's more like eat, activity, eat, sleep, you time. So, the second she gets crabby in the morning you put her down for nap. They seriously do usually get crabby about an hour after they wake, like I said above. Most parents don't catch this as a cue after infancy though because they think the age of the child means they only need one nap. Anyway, put her down when she gets crabby immediately no matter how short since waking. I bet she will nap. Let her nap as long as she wants. When she gets up give her a small snack, then let her play. About an hour later feed her lunch (or around 11, whichever is last). After lunch put her down for another nap or wait till she gets the slightest whiney and put her down then. You have to catch them the slight whine stage. If you go to the full blown crabby stage you missed the window and they won't go right to sleep but will tantrum and be terrible.

Here's what we did during our transition from one to two naps. Surprisingly, it worked wonderfully.

Our son was 'used' to going down at 9:00 for his morning nap, so we totally switched up his routine. Instead of starting to wind down we took him out of the house and went and did something interesting, with the purpose of distracting him from the thought that "hey aren't I supposed to be taking a nap?". There was no way on earth he was going to be able to hang on to his usual 1:00/1:30 afternoon nap time, so we put him to nap earlier. We started with putting him down for his nap around 11:30-ish and then slowly scooting is back until the 'nap goal time' of 12:00/12:30. There were also days where, because he was getting into the groove of only having one nap, he exhibited sleep cues earlier and instead of going to bed at his usual 6:30, he would go to be anywhere from 15-45 minutes earlier.

When he was taking two naps his schedule was:
-wake 7:00
-first nap 9:00 - 11:00
-second nap 1:00 - 3:00
-bed 6:30

When he transitioned to one nap (and still now at 22 months):
-wake 6:30-8:00 (depends on weekday/weekend)
-nap 12:30/1:00 - 3:30/4:00
-bed 6:45

Good luck to you!

We just went through this with our 18 month old! He was going down for his morning nap at 10:30 too so what we did was made that one later. We now feed him lunch at 11am and then put him down and he sleeps for about 3 hours and then is good for the rest of the day. He then goes to be by 7pm. No second nap needed and he is not crabby.

I have three girls. They all had a bedtime of 6:30 at that age (and earlier) 7:00-7:15 is still "down for the night" (they are 3 and I have 2y/o twins) You didn't post her waking time and that makes a big difference. but i would do your best to have morning wake time consistant and not later than 8am. Create some quiet time around 10:00/10:30. create some story time or jsut rock in the dark or listen to some music for 15-20minutes and then do an early lunch and bunp naptime early (noon would be great). I like for my girls to nap around 1pm - but they can't always do that and often it's 12:30. I think youa re right in that she needs to give up one of the naps and you want it to be the morning nap she gives up. You'll need to bump her afternoon nap WAY up. Have you read the Marc Weisbluth Book: Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child? I love his research on sleep and have found the studies to be very informational in understanding what my children need. So many otehr "sleep books" are based on opinions vs stretegies to support research. He does advocate for crying but provides three overall strategies with levels of let them cry, let them fuss a little, and then no crying at all. I have never let me kids scream or cry. They have always settled nicely into a pattern. Some of it is personality - but a lot of it is keeping a consistant sleeping routine, knowing what they really need (and understanding it anatomically) and putting them first. There are days where i don't go do what I would prefer, so I know I can meet their sleep needs.

Good luck! Sleep makes the world go round....I'm convinced

E.

you didn't say what time she wakes in the morning... but from what I hear you saying.. she's going down for her afternoon nap way too late, so she's passed the point of going down. I'd suggest either putting her down only once after you feed her lunch.. 1130 let her sleep until 2 then she's ready to go down for the night by 630-700. If you want her to have two naps.. then make sure she's up by 6.. down at 9 for 1hr, then down for nap no later than 1230 up by 230 (no later). She'll be rested and you'll both be good. :D good luck ox