How Much Total Sleep? And Dropping One Nap...

jld49 · April 2013

In a 24 hour period, how much sleep does LO get? I know each child is different, but I'm trying to get a sense of what is common/average for most babies of this age. How many hours do they do for night sleep? And then how many for naps?

Our pediatrician says that at this point if he doesn't want to nap during the day, then he doesn't have to. I'm not so sure we agree as we see he's tired, even though he resists napping at times.

How do we shift from the two naps to the one? He seems ready, but is an earlier riser 5:30/6am) and always seems tired by 9/9:30 am and will nap, but has become more resistant to the afternoon nap.

RedCamaro · April 2013

Wow! LO gave up his 2nd nap many months ago! It started by him giving up the afternoon nap (like your LO seems to want to do) then he also started having an earlier bedtime. Eventually he moved his morning nap to later in the day. Our schedule is this: wake up between 6:30am-7am, naptime 11:30am-1:30pm (sometimes he takes a 3 hour nap), bedtime around 7pm. LO roughly gets 14 hours of sleep per day, with 11-12 hours being at night. Both of my kids are 11-12 hour sleepers at night.

mbgreenwalt · April 2013

DD2 gave up her 2nd nap around 10 months. She transitioned herself. Her morning nap got longer and she refused her afternoon nap. She sleeps 11-12 hours (7-8p to 7a) at night and takes a 2-3 hour (11:30a to 1:30-2:30p) nap daily.

smilelari · April 2013

LO dropped the second nap around her first birthday but the transition was probably forced a little early by daycare. It's very common to have a 2nd nap until 18 months or so. Sounds like your LO might be ready to transition! It's definitely the afternoon nap you want to keep though.

I think it would be totally crazy to drop the naps completely. Most kids need a nap until around age 4. My 3.5 year old seems to be dropping the naps now... They're pushing him to keep napping at daycare but we have pretty much given up at home. The keep most of the daycare kids napping until they leave for kindergarten!

We're probably getting about 13 hours of sleep per day. 11 at night and 2 at nap. 14 would probably be better... she's started resisting bedtime hard core

gracefulruby33 · April 2013

DD sleeps roughly 11-12 hours at night (7:45- 7 is the norm) and consistently naps for three hours during the day (12/12:30-3:/3:30). We have been down to one nap for about four months. She fought her afternoon nap consistently, so I moved back her morning nap from 8:30 to 10:30 and then slowly back to noon. She made the transition great and it was easy for us. I definitely kow we got lucky in that sense.

As far as your LO not napping at all, I think your pedi is basically full of crap. They still need to sleep during the day at this age.

As for advice on moving to one nap, start by trying to keep them as busy as possible and putting them down as late as you can (maybe start with an hour or so after the normal morning nap time). Go in 15-20 minute increments after that each day for moving the nap back. I'm pretty sure we were putting her to bed a bit earlier too during the transition.

Good luck!

knottie198f1ac43570b6c2 · April 2013

Normally she gets between 10 and 12 at night, and maybe 2 hours during an afternoon nap. Sometimes she'll take a mini nap in the morning around 11 and then she usually won't nap after that so she's grouchy. Overall I would say 12-14 hours of sleep total.

I think she could use a few more hours honestly.

jasnem · April 2013

Usually around 14 to 15 hours. She's always loved her sleep though. 11-12 at night and 2-3 for naps. She takes a 2 hour morning nap and usually an hour afternoon nap. I would say once or twice a week she doesn't nap in the afternoon, but she still goes down (willingly) for a "rest" period. She mostly just rolls around in her crib and talks to herself.

caffrin · April 2013

smilelari:
LO dropped the second nap around her first birthday but the transition was probably forced a little early by daycare.nbsp; It's very common to have a 2nd nap until 18 months or so.nbsp; Sounds like your LO might be ready to transition! It's definitely the afternoon nap you want to keep though.I think it would be totally crazy to drop the naps completely.nbsp; Most kids need a nap until around age 4.nbsp; My 3.5 year old seems to be dropping the naps now... They're pushing him to keep napping at daycare but we have pretty much given up at home.nbsp; The keep most of the daycare kids napping until they leave for kindergarten!We're probably getting about 13 hours of sleep per day.nbsp; 11 at night and 2 at nap.nbsp; 14 would probably be better... she's started resisting bedtime hard core

This exactly.

jld49 · April 2013

Thank you all for sharing your experience! Here's to our first day trying one nap! Fingers crossed for a smooth transition!

Natty13umppo · April 2013

DD went to 1 nap around 15/16 months. There was about a 4-6 week transition that was not a lot of fun for all involved.

She started refusing naps and/or taking really short naps. And even when we nudged her to just one, she was still just taking one short nap for a while. (We moved back her morning nap - not super gradual, but more tried to play it by ear.) Anyway, as I said, it took about a month or so for her napping to regulate.

These days, she get's about 14-15 hours of sleep per 24. She goes to bed ~7:15pm and wakes sometime between 7:15 and 8:15am. Her one nap is usually ~12:30 to ~2:30pm.

Good luck with your transition! From our experience (and from what I've heard from others) it can be a long process.

Natty13umppo · April 2013

gracefulruby33:
DD sleeps roughly 11-12 hours at night (7:45- 7 is the norm) and consistently naps for three hours during the day (12/12:30-3:/3:30). We have been down to one nap for about four months. She fought her afternoon nap consistently, so I moved back her morning nap from 8:30 to 10:30 and then slowly back to noon. She made the transition great and it was easy for us. I definitely kow we got lucky in that sense.
As far as your LO not napping at all, I think your pedi is basically full of crap. They still need to sleep during the day at this age.
As for advice on moving to one nap, start by trying to keep them as busy as possible and putting them down as late as you can (maybe start with an hour or so after the normal morning nap time). Go in 15-20 minute increments after that each day for moving the nap back. I'm pretty sure we were putting her to bed a bit earlier too during the transition.
Good luck!

Oh yeah, we did that, too. DD's bedtime was more like 7:30 when she was on 2 naps. During the transition, a lot of nights we moved it up to 7pm. Now that her sleep routine is more settled, she seems to be okay with a 7:15 bedtime. But yeah, bed time changes might be good during this time.

JamiesWife2010 · April 2013

DS sleeps 11or 12 hrs at night. His nap is anywhere from 1 to 3hrs.

momatlast11 · April 2013

We are also down to one nap, in the afternoon. DS usually goes down for bed around 7, wakes up around 6:30 and then naps from about 1-3:30 or longer. He seems well rested. We do give a morning nap (usually lasts about 45 min) if he is crabby.

jb2rn · April 2013

I would say most children need a nap until they are at least two, more like two and a half. My friend has a four year old that still takes a nap after pre school.

My son never really did the two nap thing, only if we were in the car.

His current schedule is bed at 7pm, up for the day between 6-6:30am (so 11 hours)

then he naps from 11:30-ish until 1pm-ish, so 1.5 hours.

He wakes up once a night usually crying, but we play music through the monitor and he goes back to sleep, thank God!

jld49 · May 2013

So here's a follow up question to my post and all of your responses: what time do you give your LO lunch if they go down for naps at 11:30? Before the nap or after?

JamiesWife2010 · May 2013

DS will almost NEVER eat before his nap. I have tried with no luck. Even today, he didn't go down until 1:30pm for his nap & won't eat until he wakes up. Tongue Tied

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