Switching from Two Naps to One

We started at about 13-14 months because she was about to start daycare and they only had one. Personally I prefer one long nap to two shorter ones.

My first son started taking 1 nap a day at about 15 months and my second son started taking 1 nap a day at 12 months. I think it all depends on the child. My son's both decided that the morning nap wasn't needed and were still happy and awake in the morning, so I just started letting them stay up in the morning and take the afternoon nap. Observe your child for a bit and see how they are playing and acting in the morning and see if it is good enough to cut one nap.

D.

I don't believe in schedules, kids sleep when their sleepy and eat when their hungry. No transition necessay.

Ages vary with each child. When your child no longer needs the morning nap, she is ready for one afternoon nap. Her afternoon nap will need to start earlier, perhaps 12:30 or 1:00, and she might take longer naps (up to 3 hrs). If she can make it through the morning without becoming too fussy, try it. She might need two on one day, the next day, only one, etc. until she adapts. Watch her and adapt to her needs.

My son did the same thing! So, I fed him lunch at 11 and then did a calm down routine around 11:30 or so. He would sleep from 11:30/noon to 3 or so. Then he would be in bed by 7pm for the night. He transitioned beautifully! It was a little hard the first few days because he was kinda tired during the 10am hour. But he got used to it. Good luck!

K.
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Hi D.,
I don't think your daughter needs 16 hours of sleep as stated below. I think 13-14 total is fine from everything I have read. Every child is different. If she is still sleeping for both naps and going to sleep easily at night then keep both of them. If she starts having trouble sleeping for one of her naps or trouble going to sleep at night you can try going to one nap and see how it goes. If it doesn't go well then you can always go back to two. My daughter is only 8 months and has never slept very much during the day. She takes two naps of an hour each, sometimes a little shorter. However, she is happy and not overly tired so it is obviously enough sleep for her. I have a feeling she will be one who goes from two naps to one right at 12 months old.

My youngest- 13 months- switched to one nap right around 9 months. It's a long nap- 2-4 hours, and it's from 11:00 AM to whenever she wakes up (she's still sleeping right now in fact). At night, she sleeps from 7:30 PM-8:30 AM. I have a 4 year old who also still takes an afternoon nap. She sleeps at night from 7:30 PM- 6:30 AM. My oldest though, who's 5, stopped taking all naps at about 17-18 months. She just no longer slept during the day, no matter what you tried.

I followed the sleep schedule that most of the baby websites have on how many hours of sleep a child should have and I started at 1 nap with both my children at 18 months. Good luck.

Both of my children went to one nap when they were 1 year old. They didn't go down at the normal 9am,so I put them down at 11:00.

Well, we never had either of our kids on a schedule. So when my daughter went from two to one nap, it was her that did it, not us. She was just over 2 years old. Unless your daughter is sleeping over 12 hours at night and is taking one 4 hour nap, you should really keep her with 2. As long as each nap is at least 45 minutes minutes, you should really keep it.
When she starts sleeping just 1/2 hour or if her afternoon nap is significantly less, she really needs to be sleeping.
She's only 16 months and since she probably has only been walking for 7 months or less, she is still using a lot of energy during the day.
Don't rush things and think that she HAS to go down to one nap. All kids are different. Some kids stop taking naps totally at about 2.5, while others need a nap till they are 5.
With the lengths of naps she is taking now, I suggest you keep the schedule you have with her.

Our daughter is 3 and takes a nap at day care for 1.5-2 hours on most days. Also on most days she does much better if she gets another nap late in the afternoon for another hour. We tried it without this nap for some time and it became quickly apparent that she still needs it.
On weekend days where the first nap may be very late, she sleeps 2 hours at minimum, if the first nap is early, she will need another later in the day.
I guess you just have to play it by ear. You can tell by her behaviour if she needs more down time.

All the best!
D.

I transitioned my daughter between 16-18 months. Her morning naps shortened and afternoons lengthened on their own. Finally, after about 2 weeks of short 20 minute morning naps, I started keeping her up until after she ate lunch between 10:30-11. Then after lunch she sleeps for about 2 hours. Some days, even now, I put her down for a morning and afternoon nap if she is whining in the mornings (usually due to a rough night before).

I am starting to notice that my 12 month old son is starting that transition to a very short AM nap, and I am finding it easier to put them both down for a nap together after lunch. There are some whiney mornings now and then, but if I keep my son engaged, he can usually make it until after lunch, usually down by 11:30.

I have 19 mo. twins that are still taking two naps, although it is getting less frequent. I put them down most days in the late morning, but lately it seems they only actually sleep about half of the days. The other days they just seem to have a giggle-fest. It seems the transition to one nap seems to be occurring on its own, so I suspect it will with your daughter, too. Whether they sleep in the morning or not, they both consistently nap for 2 hours plus in the late afternoon.
Good luck!

Wow - my son went to 1 nap around 12 months. He takes a 2-3 hour nap though sometimes before he gets lunch! He usually goes down right after lunch though... today he only got an hour in - that makes for a long evening.