My daughter is 15 months old and has been taking 2 naps a day. She struggles with them and because her 2nd nap is so late in the day it has been cutting into her night time sleep so her pediatrician told me to move her to one nap a day, which should take place early afternoon. But she is having such a hard time because she wants to sleep in the morning and I don't let her and by the time I DO put her down for her nap she struggles really bad and will cry really hard. Should I just give her time and maybe it will regulate or do you think there is another way I should do this?
Thanks everyone for your advice she is doing a lot better with her naps. Some days she takes 1 nap some days she takes 2,it all depends on when she wakes up in the morning. She still has her days of falling apart but she is slowly but surely adjusting
I would let her sleep when she's tired and maybe wake her up early from the late nap. Children regulate themselves generally without any outside help from doctors...but waking her up early from the 2nd nap could help a lot.
B.: I hear your frustration and hope this will help. I have an almost 14 month old that is transitioning from 1 to 2 daily naps--some days he takes 2 and some days 1. He's my second baby so I've been through this before with my daughter. There's no hard and fast rules for napping really. Some kids give up the second nap earlier (like 12 months) and some hang on to it until around 18 months. I think it would be wise not to try to change her schedule now, but to just go with it. If you do still want to try to shift the napping schedule, do it very very gradually (for example delay her nap by 1/2 hour for a few days). Some kids aren't very flexible and any little change makes them feel anxious and insecure. There's not a whole lot of absolutes with parenting small children. We all have to learn a little by trial and error. Best wishes! R. SAH midwife mom of 2.
I've always thought that they should sleep when they're tired, eat when they're hungry, etc. I let my boys make thier own schedules. However, if it's hurting her sleep at night, maybe just wake her up in the middle of the 2nd nap to shorten it. Just a thought...
B.
I had the same issue with my son. I just tried to keep him up until like 11 a.m. and then he would nap for 2 or 3 hours and go to bed for the evening between 6 and 7. I would say, don't worry about trying to keep him up until 12 or 1 for his nap because in my experience, it is easier for them to stay up longer in the afternoon than it is in the morning. Remember, this too shall pass... Good Luck!
Hi B.,
My daughter has never been a good afternoon napper. She has been taking one nap since her first birthday. She still goes to bed about 6:30pm so she is up by 5:30am. This means her naps are between 9 and 10 am. It works best for her. I put her down for her nap when she is acting tired. If I wait too long I will miss that window and she just won't sleep...that makes for one cranky toddler later in the day. I say just follow your insticts. If you feel she should nap earlier, you should try it. It may work better for you both!
Hi B. - I had my daughter take 2 naps a day until she was approx 18 mo old. My schedule looked like this...
7 am - awake, breakfast, play time
10:30 am - Nap time
12:30 pm - awake, lunch, play time, errands
2:30 pm - Nap time
5 pm - awake, dinner, play time
8 pm - bed time
This schedule shifted right at 18 months and we began to skip the AM nap but then i pushed her PM nap up to about 1 or 1:30 pm. She'd still sleep until about 5 pm and then to bed at 8 pm. Today she is 3 1/2 yrs old and i still have "nap time" or "rest time" as we now call it since she really doesn't nap. It's quiet play time in her room for about 1-2 hours in the afternoon to give me some quiet time. I also have a 9 mo old and currently he's on the top schedule above - with 2 naps a day.
Sounds to me like she still needs that AM nap. Perhaps you should keep the 2 naps a day - and structure each of her naps to be about 1 1/2 hrs in length. That will allow you to keep both naps in the day - but not have them spill over to the evening time...
Hope this helps!
my daughter is also 15mos and still takes 2 naps. Her naps are fairly early..... can you move her second nap earlier? Maybe she isn't quite ready for 1 nap. if I don't lay my daughter down in the morning she is a bear! LOL
I'd say that your daughter isn't ready to go to 1 nap. Sounds like she still needs them. You could keep the two naps but shorten the morning nap to an hour or so. And try to move up the afternoon nap in 15 minute increments. Put her down for the afternoon one only for an hour and a half. As long as she isn't sleeping too much during the day it shouldn't effect her nighttime routine. Good luck!
My son is only 9 months so I haven't had to do this yet, but here is an idea...what I would do if I were in your shoes.
Try pushing her nap back 30-45 minutes a week until it is when you want it. Since she'll be sleeping later in the day, she won't be as tired by bedtime so she hopefully won't feel like sleeping until bedtime.
Just my 2 cents :)
She may not be ready to move to one nap yet. But if you are wanting to give it a try, this is what I have read: Push the first nap back a little. See how late you can get it whithout her becoming fussy and cranky. If it's 30 minutes later than her usual nap time and you see her starting to get cranky, then put her down. The key is you will need to make her bedtime earlier until you can get her naps moved late enough in the day. If she needs to go to bed at 5:30 for a week or so, then that's what you should do. If she becomes over-tired from the transition, then she's going to sleep worse.
So, in summary :) GRADUALLY move the nap later and compensate with an earlier bedtime until she gets the hang of it.
My daughter is 18 months and still takes two naps. So if one nap isn't working for you, you may want to go back to two naps and make your second nap a little earlier. I also wake my kids from afternoon nap if it's getting too late.
Good luck!
