One nap with 3 meals, 2 snacks

honeydew01 · July 2014

We have finally made the 2-1 nap transition. YAY!! That was a hard transition for DD (and me!). She is a little over 16 months old and has been on one nap for 2 weeks so it's safe to say the transition is made...

Now that we are on one nap, I am trying to figure out how to incorporate the 3 meals and 2 snacks that is recommended. So far we are doing 3 meals and one snack. What does your schedule look like if you're on one nap?

Here is our recent schedule:

6:30-7 wake up(although she's been waking up at 5:30 the last 2 days. I am hoping it's a fluke or due to the warm temperature) - nurses upon waking up

8:00 - Breakfast

11 - Lunch

11:45 Nap - it's been 2 hours recently

2:30 - Snack

5:30-5:45 ish - Dinner

6:30-7- Bedtime - nurses before going down, takes her 30 to 45 minutes to fall sleep

I tried a small snack in the morning but then she didn't want to eat lunch before going down for her nap. Also, although we are down to one nap, my hope is to push it to 12:30 in the next month or so. Right now she goes to bed by 11:45 and falls sleep by noon.

honeydew01 · July 2014

Thanks! good to hear that! I think the current schedule is working but we were at the ped last Monday and the ped mentioned that kids her age should be on 3 meals 2 snacks..so I thought maybe my schedule is off if we don't have time for a second snack.

LyndseylovesHugh · July 2014

I agree with PP, no need to make her eat if she is not hungry. My DD is not a big snacker, some days she doesn't have any. Typically she only has one and if she wants more she tells me. This is her typical schedule:

9am- wake and eat breakfast
12pm- lunch
1-3pm nap
She often asks for a snack after being awake for a bit
6ish we eat dinner
Every once in a while she will ask for a snack before bed, especially if she did not particularly like what we had for dinner
7:30pm- bed

We have a pretty consistant schedule for meals and play snacks by ear, works well for us.

aibrean · July 2014

Mine is the following:

8-9am - Breakfast

10/11 - Snack

11/12 - Nap

2 - Lunch

4 - Snack

6 - Dinner

7:30-8 - Bedtime

Her snacks are generally like a 4oz bottle. She's 14 mo, but she's been down to 1 nap since probably around 9/10 mo.

Litgirl77 · July 2014

We switched to one nap about the same time as your LO did, and our schedule is pretty much identical to yours. My LO does great with it - if it's working well for yours too, stick with it. I saw a huge shift at 18 months in his willingness to eat certain foods and it has helped immensely to have set meal and snack times. That way, he is hungry and more willing to eat (but not starving and having a meltdown) and not allowed to just graze and fill up on crackers.

loeroam · July 2014

My LO is in day care from 630 - ~330 / 4, so we try to stick to the same schedule on the weekends.

530 / 545 - wake up

6 - breakfast (Fruit and a waffle or fruit and yogurt)

8 / 830 - am snack

1130 - lunch

1230-3 - nap

3 / 330 - pm snack (he will also eat some fruit right when we get home around 4, especially if we pick him up and he hasn't finished his pm snack yet)

530 - dinner

6 - bath

615 / 630 - bedtime

pb_bride · July 2014

DS has been on 3 meals-1 snack schedule forever. like you, I was worried about it at the beginning, but now I just don't anymore. If anything, lately he has been getting 2 snacks maybe half of the time, but that's because he now eats less at breakfast than he used to.

Our schedule

8am b'fast

+/- snack around 10:30a (only if he's hungry)

11:30am lunch

between 3-4p snack (upon wake-up from nap)

6:30pm dinner