Only 1 nap at 1 year old??

athomas2424 · January 2014

Is it normal to go down to only 1 nap at 1 year old? My LO is 13 months and for the last 4 weeks he refuses to take that 2nd nap. Yet...he is cranky come the afternoon. Seems like DD took 2 naps until around 2 years old. LO wakes up around 8am, takes a nap from 10am-noon....then normally would nap from 3-4pm then bed for the night at 7pm. Now...he is refusing the nap from 3-4pm and literally just sleeping 10am-noon and then bed for the night at 7pm. when he does this he is seeeeriously cranky in the afternoons but he just wont go to sleep for that 2nd nap anymore :-( Just thought the 1 nap a day thing was later than this...

pinato · January 2014

At the daycare my son goes to they do only one nap. My son has been at this daycare since he was about 13months old (now 15 months). They nap after lunch so about 12-2ish. My suggestion would be to push the first nap a little later in the day and see what the outcome is.

pb_bride · January 2014

The "usual" timeframe is 15-18 months when toddlers drop down to 1 nap. But it's just the "general" rule. My son's BFF (15 months now) started dropping to 1 nap soon after his first birthday. He is so much happier now on a 1-nap schedule. DS, OTOH, is still on 2 naps.

The only thing unusual is that they tend to drop the first nap, not the second nap. Anyway, it seems like your DS is getting majority of his sleep at night (13 hours?), so it's not surprising that he doesn't "want" 2 naps even though he "needs" it. A baby this age needs about 13-14 hours of sleep in a 24 hr period, and he's getting that already with his nighttime sleep + first nap.

So, if you are happy with his nighttime schedule (down at 7p, up at 8a), then as PP said, just push back his nap from 10a, gradually to 11 then to 12noon.

If you want him to stick with 2 naps for a few more months, then you'll need to wake him up early so his nighttime sleep is limited to about 11-12hours.

LimaD · January 2014

athomas2424 said:

Is it normal to go down to only 1 nap at 1 year old? My LO is 13 months and for the last 4 weeks he refuses to take that 2nd nap. Yet...he is cranky come the afternoon. Seems like DD took 2 naps until around 2 years old. LO wakes up around 8am, takes a nap from 10am-noon....then normally would nap from 3-4pm then bed for the night at 7pm. Now...he is refusing the nap from 3-4pm and literally just sleeping 10am-noon and then bed for the night at 7pm. when he does this he is seeeeriously cranky in the afternoons but he just wont go to sleep for that 2nd nap anymore :-( Just thought the 1 nap a day thing was later than this...

I've heard this is a sign that they're actually not ready to switch to 1 nap. Maybe waking him from his 1st nap after 1 hour, and then he can take another hour nap in the afternoon? Otherwise, if you think he really is ready for 1 nap, try moving the morning nap an hour or 2 later. I'd try both and see what works! GL

BLPL101 · January 2014

I literally wrote this same thing about 2 weeks ago. We moved her nap to 11:15 am and she isn't cranky anymore. No second nap. She's 13 months too.

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LSU628 · January 2014

Most of the daycares we looked at recently the kids only take 1 nap. DS is still on an every 2 hours awake/nap schedule and still sleeps through the night. He would be a serious mess if he only had one nap.

shannm · January 2014

Both of mine went to one nap at 12 months. DS struggled with it but quickly acclimated.

SusanC111 · January 2014

Occasionally L will not take his second nap. I still leave him in the crib for about 90 minutes for quiet time. He rolls around and plays with his blankie and sings or whatever. The quiet time he has is almost as beneficial as a nap. He can go in cranky and come out refreshed. Can you try afternoon quiet time? Or would he just cry in bed?

hollygb22 · January 2014

daycare kind of molded us into the one nap a day..sometimes on weekends she'll still do two. She's all over the place..some days it's 2 hrs at daycare, others 45 minutes. I haven't stressed about it since she's consistent with her night sleep from 7pm-630-645am

jennyelf · January 2014

pinato said:

At the daycare my son goes to they do only one nap. My son has been at this daycare since he was about 13months old (now 15 months). They nap after lunch so about 12-2ish. My suggestion would be to push the first nap a little later in the day and see what the outcome is.

Same at the daycare my LO goes to. He went from no solid pattern of napping at daycare to one 2.5 hour nap a day within a week of starting in the pre-toddler room at 13 months. He kept with it at home really well to, so that's what we go with.

graciesmurf · January 2014

DD takes one (2-3 hour) nap and sleeps 10-12 hours at night.

Smiley-1980 · January 2014

DD dropped to one nap at 8 months. She naps 2-3 hours around noon and sleeps 12 hrs at night.

juliane2004 · January 2014

My 3rd baby dropped to one nap (12-2:30) at about 11-12 months old. Eventually it lined up with the other kids, and was 1:30-4 pm or so.

If you don't think your LO can handle one nap, do an early nap (10:30 am) and then another short nap at 3:45 pm or so, where you purposefully wake them after 45 minutes or so. It's sort of a cat-nap to get them through the night.

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