Naps - Fresno, CA

If your son seems to be transitioning on his own then let him. His body will get the sleep it needs. Maybe you could try adjusting his nap to a little later in the day so he isn't cranky at night. Or maybe move his bed time up a bit. If he isn't taking a nap until noon or later then I would say he definitely only needs one. If he's taking it earlier in the day then maybe he still does need two and you could cut the first one short in order to ensure he gets a second. The transition between one and two naps can be kind of rough, but he is definitely getting close to the age where he only needs one.

With both of my children the transition made little sense to me. They sort of did it on their own. I could tell when the time for change was approaching because, both of them didn't want to take the early morning nap anymore around 9 or 10am. But, they'd fall asleep in the car for any morning outings such as going to the grocery store at 10:30 or 11am. This made things tough sometimes, and I would just turn around and go home or I would try to accomplish a play date or something with one sleeping baby in the stroller. Just being out and about would make my little one wake up after about 45 minutes. She couldn't sleep long around noise and commotion from other kids. So, that would be it for her... a very short nap and then crabby all afternoon sometimes. But, even with one wink of the eye, she still couldn't settle down for an afternoon nap around 3. She had her moment of napping and that was it. I would struggle her through the afternoon naps, because staying awake would usually mean stumbling and getting hurt. It was difficult. But, some transitions are just going to be like that.

We did fall into a schedule most days that we stayed home. Doctor appointment, necessary trips to the grocery store, friends stopping by, caused disruption to the schedule often so that's where things made no sense at all. But, for the most part I could keep her cranky bottom up until around 11:30. Then she's nap from anywhere between an hour or three hours. All of my kids seem to need 6 hours stretches between sleep times. So, whenever she'd wake up, I'd just estimate that 6 hours from that time, she'd be tired again. So, I'd shoot for sleep again at that time.

After this two steps forward/three steps back technique (if you want to call it that), we did progress into a one nap a day routine. Now, she gets tired around noon or 1pm, sleeps till around 2 or 3pm, and then is ready for bed around 7:30 or 8:30pm.

I hope this helps, it's not real specific. But, that is just the reality of how it worked out.

Take care.

All kids are different when it comes to naps and sleep. Both of my boys gave up their second naps around 12 months of age. When that happened, I had them nap at 1:00 pm and moved their bedtime eariler. With a little fiddling around, we found a schedule that worked for us all. My oldest gave up napping all together when he was 2 1/2 which was hard. He started going to be at 7pm then and still does. My yougest, who is almost 3, naps about 80% of the time. It's hard changing their nap schedules, but you guys will figure it out. Good luck!

HI M.
It is perfectly normal for children of this age to transition to 1 nap a day. The sleep pattern runs from 1 to 3 hours. Sounds like he is doing exaclty what he needs. If he is crabby then he probably needs to go to bed earlier in the evening.
Even with the longer naps. They do sleep . Good Luck.

My son is nearly 14 months and is also going from 2 to 1 naps a day. What I've been trying to do: keep him up, feed him lunch between 11-11:30, put him down for a long midday nap around noon, he wakes between 2-3pm, start his bedtime routine around 7:30 and he's in bed between 8-8:30. Some days this works beautifully, other days not. Some days it's harder because he gets tired between 9-10 am, but I keep him awake. Then when it's time for lunch he's too tired and crabby to eat. So he ends up taking a midday nap but a short one because he wakes up hungry and then wants to nap again in late afternoon. I think this stage of transition is just difficult as the baby learns to adjust and gets used to a new routine. I think all the kinks will work out in time and we just have to be patient and flexible.

Your son is not too young for one nap a day as long as that nap is long enough (at least a couple hours probably). Good luck.

My son is 13 months old as well and has been on one nap a day for the last 2 months. At first, I freaked out and tried to force him down for his normal two naps. But I realized that if I didn't do that, he'd sleep longer at night (12 hours on the dot every night) and then he'd take between 1 and 3 hours in a nap during the day. If your son is cranky by bedtime, maybe you want to try putting him to bed earlier? My son is down by 8pm and sleeps until 8am. But if you feel your son isn't ready for one nap, then maybe have him try for 2 short naps?

Hi,

My son is 16 mos and is currently in daycare. It seems according to them that most kids need to transition from 2 naps to 1 by the time they're 12mos old. I really don't agree with it and I'm seeing my son suffer a lot of days while they force him to stay awake.

I've visited over 6 daycares & they all follow the same curriculum. However, on the weekends he's back to the 2 nap a day schedule because I can't bare to see him so miserable. Plus we have more night-waking when they've kept him up all day.(overtired!!)

I say just follow your son's schedule, some kids just need more sleep than others and he may be going thru a growth spurt. Eventually we'll all be praying for the days when they actually take a nap! LOL!!

My daughter is 14 months old and does the exact same sleep schedule as your son. Sometimes, if she has a really long sleep in the morning, she skips the afternoon nap. Lately, I've noticed her sleeping longer at night. I suspect SHE"S getting ready to lose the afternoon nap. My feeling is that your child will tell you what he needs and what he doesn't. If your son is rubbing his eyes in the morning at nap time or in the afternoon at nap time, then I would say, let him go down. When he doesn't want to nap anymore, believe me, he'll let you know. My daughter usually naps at 10am and at 3pm. Lately, I put her down for the 3pm and she hollars and shouts for twenty minutes. That tells me she's not into a later nap. I think they're their own great little moderators.