Naptime Advice at 15 Months

Oh my gosh, we could not be more alike! (Seriously, I'm also 24 and my son was born the day after yours...weird.)
My son has been doing all the exact same things--mostly I've just been putting up with it and hoping it passes. He's getting a bunch of teeth, to boot, so I've been trying to keep the little guy distracted. We've been eating dinner earlier so he doesn't have a meltdown during dinner and then I just try and play with him until 7:30 when I take him to bed.
What time is your son taking his midday nap? Mine goes down around 11:30 and I just try to ensure that he gets at least 1 1/2 hours of sleep...I turn off phone ringers, try to keep the dogs quiet, but even that doesn't always work. A lot of the time I'll go run any errands I have around 3 PM and he always cat naps in the car which makes it way easier for him to make it to his bedtime w/o any spaz outs.
Good luck M.!

My son is 15 months also. He takes 1-2 naps a day, goes to bed at 8 pm and sleeps till 7am. Some days he is tired around 9:30-10am and takes a nap (lasting 20-60 min, though today he slept 90 mins which he rarely does) and then he takes another nap around 2-3 pm (lasting about an hour). Lots of days he skips that morning nap though and takes his one nap around 11-noon. It's hard at this age because they are transitioning from 2 naps a day to one. I would say his crankiness is due to being tired, so try to get him down for a nap mid-morning - you may have to put some extra effort into it because they fight it (don't want to miss any of the fun, you know). His bedtime sounds just fine.

My daughter is about the same age (a little older) and has the same problem. If she gets only one nap during the day, regardless of what time she gets it, she is a little crab-apple all day long. If I try to make her take a second nap, she will fight it FOREVER, until it is too late to try and push it, simply because it wouldn't be a nap - it would be bedtime with a 3 am wake-up call.

I have discovered that a lot of the time, what she doesn't really need is a second nap, she just needs some down time. If her daddy or I just go lay down with her in bed around 4 or 4:30, she loves to just sort of chill out and cuddle. We do some gentle playing and giggling, we hug and kiss, and sometimes we just lay there. It refreshes her in the same way that a nap does, but I don't have to worry about the nap fight. She'll still usually go to bed earlier than if I push the second nap, but she is much more cheerful and will sleep a little later the next day!

My daughter is 17 months and I moved from 2 naps to one about a month ago. It has a been a difficult transition for her too...she's a crabapple all morning! I've found I have to be really on top of things to help ease her morning- making absolutely sure she's getting good nutrition in the morning, is getting a good balance between independent play time and mommy play time, plus an outing each morning is a MUST. I think your 11:00 nap time is a good idea. I know that if I could I would be putting my Anna down around 11:00/11:30 instead of 12:30/1:00 (I can't because I'm picking up my 3 year old from preschool at the former time). If you do the early time, it might mean adjusting the bedtime by a half hour or more.

You're lucky he sleeps until 7:30! Both my girls are morning birds- Anna is awake by 6:00 for sure, and Ella is up by 6:45.

Best of luck!

Transitioning from 1 nap to 2 can be a little painful, but this is a normal age for a child to start taking just one. As painful as that may be for you! ;) If he wasn't going to sleep for an hour or so after you put him down then it sounds to me like switching to one is the right thing. Maybe give it awhile longer and see how it goes. BTW... A good indication of whether or not he is getting enough rest during the day is how well he sleeps at night. If he is sleeping fine at night then's he's probably getting enough sleep during the day. Kids who don't get enough naps often have a hard time getting into a deep sleep at night.

My husband and I used and loved the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child". It has ideas and answers for this adjustment period. It's available through the Pierce Co library system.

My son is almost 15 months (on the 23rd)and he switched to one midday nap at about 13 months old. I didn't get it at first, but he would just lay in his bed for his afternoon nap and would not fall asleep. So I just stopped trying! He was pretty upset about the long strech w/out a nap for probably a week or so, but now he's fine with it. He sleeps longer at night now, almost 12 hours! Just listen to him, he knows what he needs!

If you're concerned he may not be getting enough sleep, then I would go back to the 2 naps a day. I can only speak from personal experience as I haven't really looked into this situation.

My son will be 15 months at the end of the month. Since he was about 10 months old, he has been on one nap a day. He goes to bed at 8pm and wakes up at 8am, then goes down for a nap between 1 and 2pm where he'll sleep anywhere from an hour and a half to 4 hours. We make sure he's up by 6pm so he'll be able to eat dinner, get a bath and have some play time before bed at 8pm.

I would suggest trying 2 naps a day again as he may be missing that other nap. I know when my son is woken from his nap early or is interrupted, he is cranky and whiney. You can definitely tell when he's tired!!!

Hi, my son is exactly the same age. He's been napping only once, but in the beginning, we had a hard time adjusting. Going from a predictable routine into new territory always means it's going to be bumpy. My son gets grumpy around 11, so I use his grouchiness as a cue to feed him some milk and lunch, or a snack, and then he's in bed by 11:30-12, and down from 1.5 to 3 hours, depending on how much sleep he needs.
Hang in there!
PS They still need between 11-13 hours of sleep at this age

My daughter is on the almost exact same sleeping schedule (same age). One nap is not enough and two sometimes feels like too much. I now let her take a very short morning nap (20-30 minutes) and then wake her up. Then in the afternoon she takes and hour and a half nap. Then at 7:30 she is tired and ready for bed.

I would say it's a good idea to try adjusting his naptimes like you suggested. I also think that if they get playtime by themselves in their crib before they go to sleep that can be good for a lot of kids. Some need that time to themselves because of their personality. That's part of how they recharge. Each child is different. My oldest slept for 11 - 13 hours at night and took a 4 hour nap in the middle of the day. My second is not that great of a sleeper. She sleeps 8 - 10 hours at night and somedays she takes a good nap and other days we're lucky if she sleeps at all. Try adjusting the times and if that doesn't work it is ok to let them play for awhile in their bed. I know with mine they have gone through cycles of sleeping a ton and then barely sleeping at all b/c of growth spurts and other factors. Good luck.

M.,
My son is 14 months old and he's moved to 1 nap usually after lunch around 12-2pm. I'm finding I just end up putting him to bed earlier at night. When I was a director of a childcare center most of the kids when they moved from the nursery to the toddler room at 1 year old were transitioning to one nap after lunch.
Of course, now he's waking up WAY too early for me and I'm trying to figure that out.