11.5 months - 1 nap or 2?

cece673

OK, so for the past week and a half or so my 11 month old has shown signs of wanting to go to 1 nap. However, she hasn't been dropping her morning nap - she's been sleeping longer for that nap (about 2.5-3 hours) and then refusing the second nap; which leaves us with about 6-7 hours before bedtime. She's obviously exhausted by then.

My question is, I've read different things and can't decide whether to push her to continue with 2 naps or transition her to 1 nap. One thing I read said that they shouldn't really transition until a little later and suggested waking baby from their first nap after about an hour or so, so that they're tired for their second nap. She has taken her normal 2 naps a couple of days the past week so I can't figure out what she really needs. SO, I can try that OR I can start pushing back her first nap slowly so that she's waking later and can make it to bed time. My issue is that she's always been a high-needs-sleep baby and always seemed to have shorter wake-times than other babies her age. So which do I do!? Any advice is appreciated.  

MNgirl326

LO dropped to 1 nap around a year.  Give it a shot and see what happens

amil798

Even we are confused. My lo will be 12 months next week, and he doesn't want to nap anymore in the mornings. He has never liked sleeping anyways since he was baby, so keeping him up from morning naps is not so difficult. Thinking about transitioning to 1 nap as well, just not sure if it too early.

cece673

OK, thanks, guys! Trying one nap today to see how it goes. I put her down at 11:30 instead of 10:15. Hopefully she'll sleep for 2-3 hours and be OK until bedtime!

vrj0522

I agree w/ pp. Try one nap that is later. Your LO might go back and forth for a while but it sounds like she is getting ready to drop one of those naps.

capulet

Both my kids dropped their second nap by your LO's age or soon after.  With DD I think it was unusually early, but I don't remember the transition being difficult.  With DS, we moved across time zones and were traveling around 13 months so everything was erratic, and once we were in our new home he seemed to have settled into a one-nap routine.  DD dropped her morning nap and DS dropped his afternoon nap (shifting his morning nap a bit later) - with the long-term result that she's more of a late sleeper/later riser than he is.  But I just kind of let them find the sleep rhythm that worked for them without too much crankiness; different babies will sleep differently and I don't see the point in forcing anything they're not ready for or have grown out of.