Trying to Maintain Two Naps - or Just Give It Up?

I think at this age they're down to one nap, after lunch. I'd move her lunch to 11:30 and put her down after that.

Start shifting the morning nap by 15 minutes every day until you reach 12:30 or 1. So don't cut it short, just gradually start moving it to an afternoon nap.

She may not need 2 naps any more. Slowly move he morning nap to after or around lunch(like put her down for nap at 10:30 for a few days and then 11 for another couple of days and so on so forth) She maybe developing a new pattern. For a while there, around the same age, mine was napping from 1130 to 130, with a snack around 10 or 1030 and then lunch when he woke up and then bedtime about 7-ish.....then it became lunch at noon and he'd nap from 1230 to about 230-3 or so

Good luck

I would drop the morning nap and have an earlier lunch. Nap time would be 1-3 in afternoon. You could prep for dinner or take a nap if you need one.

My daughter dropped her morning nap around this time and went to one a day. She had lunch and nap from 1-3 and bedtime was 8pm. She had morning and afternoon activities where we went out of the house. The afternoon when it was nice we all went to the park. We (my son and daughter) would walk to the park and play and hubby would pick us up on the way home from work. Son thought dad picking him up from the park in the truck was the coolest thing since sliced bread.

Anyway, your little one is transitioning out of the newborn into a toddler. This is a new milestone for her and you.

All will be good.

the other S.

I agree with you that 6+ hours is a long time for a 12 month old to be awake -- my daughter took two naps until she was about 18 months. But every baby's different. The fact that she's resisting suggests that maybe she needs a new routine. You can try different things to see what works for her -- cutting her first nap short and keeping the second nap, moving her morning nap to a later time and dropping the second nap, dropping the second nap and moving her bedtime to an earlier time, etc. When my daughter was transitioning to one nap from two naps around 18 months just a few months ago, I had to try different routines to find that "perfect" schedule for her. Unlike some of the posters, I'm a strong believer in routine when it comes to naps and bedtime. I think nap routines help kids sleep better at night (at least from my experience with my daughter).

Also, she may be more willing to take that second nap if her tummy's full and she's been physically active before you put her down for that second nap.

At this age they are taking one nap in the afternoon.

just when you get a baby into a routine it's time for them to switch it up. i'm with dana, i think it's best just to let them sleep when they're sleepy and play when they're awake as much as possible, at least during the day.
but if schedules are necessary, i'd certainly start nudging her morning nap a little later, just a few minutes, each day, and see if you can tip her over into one afternoon nap.
just don't be surprised if she doesn't cooperate.
:) khairete
S.

I think you need to drop the morning nap. By that age my daughter was napping from 2-4 every day. Much later than that and you interfere with night time sleep.

I would move that nap to afternoon from 1-3 or 2-4, then to bed around 8. The afternoon nap gives you a chance to do dinner prep or sit and fold laundry or read a book on a hot summer afternoon.

In child care we started working with the infants around 10 months old and getting them down to one nap per day. When they moved up to the toddler room on their birthday that class only did one nap, right after lunch, so they needed to be used to doing just the one nap.

So all my grandkids were down to one nap per day by the time they had their first birthday. ALL the kids that go to childcare turn one and do only one nap per day.

Most of these kids were in child care from 7:30am - 5:30pm at the very least. So there just wasn't a 2nd nap.

I do think that kids this age are fine with getting up in the morning, doing stuff, eating lunch around 11:30/noon then laying down, sleeping until 3 or so. Then the kids stay up until 8 or so, my grand kids, each and every one, didn't lay down for the evening until 9.

They laid down and went to sleep. No fighting or stressing out.

By 10-12 months, all of my kids (4 of them) were down to one 3 hour nap - after lunch - per day.

If she isn't crabby in the afternoon and still sleeping at night, then follow her lead. She is showing you what she needs.

Most kids switch to one nap by the time they are one year old.

Can I just say wow, she's been napping a lot more than my daughter did!

If you are home with her, why not just let her sleep when she is tired?

I would push the morning nap back until 11 or noon, and then have one long afternoon nap.

It kind of depends what time she gets up in the morning. If she's up at 5, then by 10 she's ready for a nap. If you can keep her sleeping a little later in the morning (hard to do when it gets light out at 4:30!), it may help you get a better afternoon nap. My son slept from 12:30 to 3:30 faithfully well past the age of 4. If you skip that afternoon nap, then they're just miserable to be around at 5 PM, and it makes dinner a nightmare. You could try shortening the morning nap so she's ready again at 3 PM. She's probably running out of gas at 4:30, but if she's only napping until 6 and then going down for bed again at 8, that doesn't seem quite as productive for all concerned. So I'd say to either shorten the morning nap if you think she'll be reasonably refreshed after an hour or so, and then you could at least get her down from 3 to 5. Otherwise you may have to just cut it to one lengthy nap, say 12-3 or so. I know it's hard to go from 2 naps to 1, but believe me, it's even worse when you go from 1 to 0! That first 6 months of no nap is hell!

Good luck!

I would get her to one nap a day as soon as you can. Personally, 2 naps a day made it harder to do outings. I was ready for 1 nap a day.

13 month old here ... Everyone's naptime from 1-3 (though I tell my preschooler he can watch a movie .... Knowing he'll fall asleep).

Bedtime usually starts between 7:30 and 8:00.

She still wakes at least once a night (sometimes more) and needs a 6-oz bottle, so (for now) she sleeps til 830-9 in the am. Hope this helps.

One nap a day, and try putting her to bed a little later

Wow, my kids stop taking morning naps around 6-7 months old. I just did afternoon, after lunch, or they would be up all night. My oldest and youngest stopped naps by 1 1/2 years old all together or they wouldn't sleep at all at night. Now my middle son, he loved his afternoon naps all the way until 1st grade and if they would have let him he'd still be taking them.

Just get ready for a cranky child for the first few weeks. After that they do adjust pretty well, but you'll know when they are tired.