Nap Transition Advice?

spainy17

We are (as I am sure others are) in that dreaded place where two naps is becoming too much and one nap is not enough. 

I have been cutting DD off at 3 hours of nap time a day for 3 months (she takes 2 naps, usually one in the morning for 90 plus minutes and a little shorter afternoon one) But now even that seems to be too much.  She wakes ready to party at night, has a harder time going back down, more restless. 

However, last week we tried the one nap thing and even when she took a fairly substantial nap she was an emotional wreck in the afternoon/evening.  I put her to bed early (630) and she slept AWESOME overnight (try 630 to 7 am with only one wakeup at 4) but it was not worth the sad baby I had in the evening.

So what do I do?  Keep 2 naps and fragmented night sleep for a cheerful baby or power through with one nap and see if she gradually gets used to the change?  Something in between?

OhBaby+2013

I think she will transition to one on her own. I have to read DS's cues when it comes to sleep. Some days he gets 2 long naps, sometimes 2 short and sometimes 1 nap, long or short. After reading the book healthy sleep habits happy child I've resolved to never wake my son from sleep unless absolutely necessary. And I've also learned to read his cues so that I'm putting him down as soon as he's tired. It's actually a really great book that is research based. It's got a lot of great information that I can even apply to my own sleep.

spainy17

Yeah i was a fan of never waking a sleeping baby until she was having days of five-plus hours of daytime sleep (a 2.5 hour morning nap and a 2 hour afternoon nap) and barely getting 8 broken hours at night.  We cut her to four hours and then to three hours of daytime sleep and that has been the magic number for months now until we have just noticed slow changes again.  She just loves napping and I feel that she needs naps because then she is a happier baby but it is hard on both of us when she sleeps too long during the day and then is up for large chunks of time at night. 

OhBaby+2013

I totally get that. What time do you put her to bed at night? And what time do you need to get up and start your day?

spainy17

We put her down by 7 most nights, sometimes a little later, always by 720.  When I work days I have to get her to DC by 6 so the early bedtime works great.  We tried pushing her morning nap later today (and only having one nap) since she slept in to 640.  I am at work but DH said she was cheerful and will put her down by 630 tonight.  Here's hoping that works well. She napped from 1045 to almost 1pm today. 

MarinsMom

ugh no advice but this is totally us too. she still is totally happier when she takes two naps but is able to stay up for so long now in the morning and in between naps that now that her 2nd nap is too late in the day to really be a decent length nap. But on the days she takes one nap they're still only 1hr and 15 minutes ish - as opposed to 2 or 3 hours so she doesnt sleep long enough to really stay happy till bedtime. ugh again. 

Wild_flower25

We're in the same boat.  She'll take one nap at daycare just fine, but on the weekends, she wants a nap by 10 am and another around 2.  Bedtime is the same, but I can't wait until we're down to 1 nap.  The transition kind of sucks! Just follow their lead and let them sleep when they are tired.

OhBaby+2013

I was going to suggest trying an earlier bed time. DS usually goes down between 6:30 and 7 now, with 6:30 being the best time to ensure he has a good nights sleep. If its much later I find he doesn't sleep well at night. If you have a library or early years centre near you try flipping through the sleep book I suggested. It's got some great advice and tips in it. He talks about how good day time sleep will improve night time sleep and how bad daytime sleep can make night time sleep worse and how you kids don't make up for lost sleep at night. It's definitely a book i wish I had read a year ago instead of starting it 6 months ago.

spainy17

Yeah, I am a huge advocate for good daytime sleep and early bedtimes. People kept telling me to put get down later and I admit we tried a couple of times but keep coming back to early bedtimes. She just sleeps better that way. I think daytime sleep is so important that is why I asked what people were doing to transition from two naps to one. Ours just got to be an excessive day sleeper when her nights were messed up but now I just think that she is starting to not need two naps but needs more than one. Stuck in the middle! :-)