Berkeley Parents Network: Giving up Naps

Berkeley Parents Network

Giving up Naps

Berkeley Parents Network > Advice > Sleep > Naps > Giving up Naps

14-mo-old going from two naps to one

March 2004

Our 14 month old has been on a great sleeping schedule (knock on wood) since she was 9 or 10 months old -- sleeping 11-12 hours through the night, with 2 naps during the day (the first one at 9 for an hour to an hour and a half, the second one at 1pm for 2 to 2 and a half hours). About 3-4 weeks ago, she started taking longer and longer to get to sleep for her naps, and sometimes would not nap at all for one of the naps. We thought it might be getting time to switch to one nap. We've tried it this week for about 4 days now, with one nap at noon for 3 hours. She seems happy in the morning and she is going to sleep right away for her nap, sleeping solidly for 3 hours. We are putting her to bed very early to try to give her a little extra sleep. The problem is she seems REALLY tired a lot of the time -- crankier in general, especially by the time she goes to sleep at night. Plus, there is such a long interval between the time she wakes up (usually around 6 am) and her noon nap . . . We are concerned now that we made the switch too early. A few questions -- when do kids usually move from 2 naps to 1? do most families make the switch cold turkey, or make the decision day by day as to whether to do 2 naps or 1? would this be confusing to a kid who is a creature of habit -- i.e., seems to be happiest when on a set schedule? is it normal to take time to adjust to the new nap schedule -- should we expect a crankier/sleepier kid for a few weeks? or is the tiredness an indication that it's just too early to cut down to 1 nap? Thanks. anon

14 mos. is a little young but it sounds like she started the process herself. My daughter was 15 mos old when we started her on one nap and it took a couple of months to really get her in the routine of it. Truth be told, I think she would still take two naps a day if I allowed it, because she does get tired earlier than later (she's 2 1/2 now and more active, too) but she's also old enough to understand what naps mean (no playing) and wouldn't readily go down for two. On the bright side you might find that your daughter starts to sleep later in the morning as a result. Ours went from waking at 6-6:30 to sleeping until 7:30-8! She goes down at night between 8-8:30. Hang in there, this too shall pass! Been there

14 months was about the time our son moved to one nap a day. We were totally unfamiliar with the concept of us purposely orchestrating a switch, we just followed Ben's lead. He switched gradually, some days having one nap and some days having two. During the time he was switching to one nap his timing was all over the map as was the duration of the nap(s), we just went with the flow. Ben does do better with some sort of schedule but we're not rigid, we just looked at when he looked sleepy and tried encourage (not mandate) the nap at about the same time each day- for Ben it ended up being about 12:30pm. He was also ready for bedtime earlier as he transitioned to one nap. And it's true that on some days he did seem more tired and cranky. If it got to be too much and he was obviously miserable weUd up our efforts to try to get him to nap like go for a car or stroller ride. This crankiness 'phase' did (mostly) pass for him as he got used to the one nap schedule. Hope this helps Suzie

our son switched to one nap at about 14 months too. he was on the same schedule that it sounds like your daughter is on and then he began to fight at least one nap almost everyday. i would say that it was at least a month long transition before he was at one nap a day. at first i would try to keep him up to 11:00 AM and then he would sleep for about 2 hours. now at 19 months he goes down anywhere between 12:00 and 1:00 and sleeps on average about 2 1/2 hours. i remember the switch was really difficult but i just kept trying to stick with it and eventually a new routine was formed. one thing that really helped was getting out of the house until nap time. that way he wouldn't notice as much when he started to feel tired. give it time and good luck! anon

Our little guy went from 2 naps to one at 16 months, so you're right in there. It was hard for a couple of months, but ultimately the right time. It's just one of those transitions that you have to suffer for a bit, I think. I started with the one nap at about 11 a.m. after a hefty snack, then another big snack/lunch when he woke up around 1 or 1:30. It makes lunch a little weird for a while, but you can slowly move the nap later until you can eventually have a real lunch first, then nap. Good luck! Laura

When our twins moved to one nap, their schedule varied from day to day for a couple of weeks. Some days they reverted back to a two nap day, but mostly, one napped early but could not nap late, while the other slept through an afternoon nap. For those days when a girl slept early but not late, I'd put them in the car in the late afternoon and let the tired girl nod off (I do this now when either girl cannot settle down at her 1pm nap). What we did during their transition from one nap to two naps was put them into their cribs in the afternoon, for 15-20 minutes to see if they wound down to take a second nap. In fact, we since didn't realize they were transitioning to one nap until about a week went by I was just automatically putting them into their cribs every afternoon and wondering whey they weren't going to sleep. For the last six months, they have been shifting their nap time very slowing from noon to 1pm. They are 20 months now and are just begining to go down closer to 1. We start watching them around 11:30 to see when they are getting tired and we feed them lunch before their nap (which is a change from the two nap day where they got lunch when they got up from the first nap.) Ever since they shifted to one nap (I can't remember when they made that shift, but it could have been as early as 12 months), they are awake from around 6:30 to 12:30. However, when they first started the one-nap-schedule, they did sleep in until 7/7:30 often. They go to bed around 8:30 at night. I hope that info helps. one nap mom

When do babies give up morning nap?

Feb 2000

When do babies usually give up their morning naps? do they just stop being sleepy before lunch, or does the nap get later and later until it blends into the afternoon nap, or what happens?

Our son's morning nap got later and later and finally became one afternoon nap, but I expect you'll hear many different stories.

My first took morning naps until she started pre-school at age 2 1/2. She was in our home with a babysitter up to that point and there was never any effort to keep her from sleeping so much during the day. I stayed home with number 2 and was able to accelerate the dropping of the morning nap starting around 14 months. It didn't really merge with the afternoon nap in a gradual way, it just sort of moved up the time the afternoon nap began (anywhere from 12:00 to 1:00 now). I noticed that prior to that when she was taking 2 naps a day the morning nap would always start at the same time (around 10:00) but would last for shorter and shorter amounts of time (from 2+ hours originally down to 30 to 45 minutes towards the end). The afternoon nap started occuring later and later each day (sometimes not until 3:00). If you decide to curtail the morning nap try and not be in the car during the normal morning nap time at least for a few weeks. Take walks, sing songs or play outside. All these are good distractions and will help break the morning nap time ritual.

Our one year old has started switching from two to one naps each day over the past week, so I can give you our current information. She used to sleep for an hour (or so) from 10-11 (or so) and then for two (or so) hours from 2-4 (or so). Now she's sleeping in later in the morning (a blessing on weekends, but not so good during the week), and goes to sleep around 11:30 for two hours. She won't take an afternoon nap. We're assuming that the single nap will get a bit later as time goes on.

Toddler suddenly won't take a nap anymore

Aug 2000

All of a sudden, my son does not want to take naps. He will fall asleep at the bottle and when I put him in his crib, he starts screaming bloody murder. Yesterday, I tried to put him down twice without success. He finally fell asleep while watching Sesame Street at 5pm. This has also happened in the evenings, he will wake up and not want to go back to sleep. He has slept well until this point, is this a developmental phase? Has anyone else experienced this with their child at this age? I would appreciate any type of feedback on this issue. Thanks, Angela

Since your son is a toddler, I suppose he's something like 2 to 3 years old? To paraphrase Dr. Spock, you can usually trust an infant to get the sleep he or she needs, but by the age of 2 you can't leave it all to him to decide. This is an age when some kids start giving up their naps -- there's a lot of variability here. Many kids do so by 3 - 4. Have there been any changes in his or the family's routine that might be upsetting him? Kids this age are much more aware of their environment, more subject to becoming keyed up by what they've been doing (or are anticipating), etc. What to do? I'd just be consistent, not make a big deal out of it and perhaps present it as "rest time" or "quiet time" rather than a "nap." Bear with it for a while. He will work probably work out a new natural rhythm after a bit. Snuggling with him until he is settled might help, but runs the risk of making you part of the relaxation pattern (especially if you stay till he falls asleep), which you may not want.

I'll tell you a story for fun. When our younger boy got to be this age we could not get him to go down for naps. But he always fell asleep in his car seat when we were out. Thus came to pass "sleepy rides." A pass or two up and down The Arlington from Marin Ave. to Kensington and he'd be out like a light. We took sleepy rides for a couple of years at least. It is now a fond memory. Good luck! Tim

With our infant daughter, we experienced a sudden change to crying fits every time we'd put her down to sleep. She'd fall asleep feeding, but as soon as we put her in bed she'd scream. It was a scream that expressed pain rather than the cry of frustration we'd heard many times before, and it seemed she couldn't get comfortable. It turned out she was suffering from an ear infection, and it was the pressure in her ears, especially when lying down, that was the cause. Rebecca

Re: Sleeping Tips for Naptime

I have two things I try that usually, between them, seem to work. The first thing I do is to lie down with my 3 year old and read her one or two short books. This calms her down a lot, so it's easier for her to go to sleep. I also turn on the radio (classical music) softly, when I leave the room. This works about 85% of the time.

If she is really insistent that she is not sleepy and doesn't want to take a nap, I work out a deal with her. I tell her that she has to lie still and quiet on her bed for 30 minutes. At the end of that time, if she has not fallen asleep, I will come back and let her get up. Knowing that she only has to lie still for a little while, and that she doesn't HAVE to go to sleep, helps her accept the deal. I do go check on her after about ten minutes to make sure she is sticking to her side of the bargain. Occasionally, at the end of 30 minutes of being quiet, she is still awake, so I let her get up. Most of the time, however, she is asleep. -- Caroline

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