XP: 3 to 2 nap transition

honeydew01

DD is 8 months old and has refused the 3rd nap for 2+ weeks so I am certain that the 3rd nap is dropped. The problem is that she takes 1 hour naps and is done with her naps by 2 pm! Her bed time is not until 6:30-7. She's obviously very expired and cranky to be awake for 4 hours. I've been giving it time and hoping that she'd take longer naps soon or be able to stay awake longer in between the two naps so we don't end up being done with naps by 2 pm but I'm not seeing any progress.

I've done some research and read that putting her to bed earlier (as early at 5:30) might be a good idea during this transition time and it doesn't mean that she'll get up earlier in the morning if she goes to bed earlier. We tried it but she doesn't sleep in, she wakes up at 5:30 am if she goes to bed at 5:30 pm.

Any advice? Or just chill and give it time?

ps. She is not sleeping good at night either because she's so tired when she goes to bed (being awake for 4 hours!!). When she used to take 3 naps, she'd go to bed at 6:30 to 7:30 after being awake for 2.5 to 3 hours and slept better.

pb_bride

What time does she wake up, and what time are her naps?

When DS dropped his 3rd nap (@8m), his 2 naps got longer, so he ended up getting the same amount of sleep in 2 naps as he did in 3.  (Two 1.5-hr naps instead of three 1-hr naps)

Have you tried pushing back her first nap a little and see if that can get her to take a longer 1 st nap?  Also, babies that age should be able to stay awake for 4 hrs after their 2nd nap without being super cranky. My guess your dd is cranky because her naps aren't long enough.  

When she wakes up from her naps, is she happy or is she crying? If DS's nap isn't long enough, he wakes up crying. That way, I know he's still tired and I usually let him cry a bit. 9/10 times he'll fall back to sleep and sleep for another 30-45mins and then wakes up happy.

Our 2-nap schedule is like this:

Wake up 6:30-7a

1st nap around 9:30am, naps for 1.5 hrs

2nd nap around 2-2:30p, naps for 1.5 hrs

Bedtime 8, asleep by 8:30 the latest.

minervacullen

DD takes 1-2 naps now, she's almost 11m, but when she went from 3 to 2 her first one got significantly longer. Her bed time became earlier also. She was going to bed around 8, now her bed time is 7, 6:30 if she's super crabby. Maybe try 6:30 instead of 5:30. Could you try to keep LO up longer before one or both naps, even by 20-30 minutes? I know nap transitions can be hard, eventually it will be smooth sailing again, for a few months any way

honeydew01

She's been waking up between 6:30 to 7. She used to be awake for 1.5 hr before the first nap now she's doing 2 hours. Her wake time between nap 1 and 2 increased to 2.5 hours as well (from 2 hrs). Her naps have been an hour rarely she sleeps 2 hrs.

Smiley-1980

DD dropped to 1 nap at 8 months. She wakes at 7-8am. Naps at 12 for 2-3 hours and goes to bed at 8 and sleeps all night. I don't think being awake for more than 4 hours is a big issue now, at least not for my DD.

Litgirl77

Shortly after dropping the 3rd nap, our LO increased his wake time between nap 1 and 2 - so naps fall at 9ish and 1:30ish now, and last about an hour - 90 minutes each time. It's hard at first, but I do think they increase their wake times and start to take longer naps as a result of being up longer. We bumped up bedtime on the rough days and it helped us get through. Good luck!

spainy17

We have been through this too.  DD dropped the afternoon nap and now goes 3 hours from wakeup to Nap one (5am to 8am) and three and a half hours from Nap One to Nap Two (930am to 1pm).  Nap Two gets her to around 2 or 230 depending on the day and bedtime is 7pm.  It was and sometimes still is hard getting her to 7pm and sometimes she goes down earlier but since she is such an early riser we try to get her there.  It is just a transition period.