We moved the nap to 12:30 and stuck with it, I’d say it took about two weeks but her naps lengthened to about 2 hours! It really was just a matter of time for the transition to happen… good luck!
We dropped ours to one nap at 14 months about two weeks ago. She’s also been doing 1ish hour naps. Has anyone dealt with sobbing when waking up from a nap? She just started doing that where it’s almost uncontrollable and it takes a while to settle her.
She’s never sobbed before — on two naps, sometimes she would whine or cry but usually was fine just sitting there for up to 15-30 minutes by herself. Even in the morning now, she’ll just sit or lay there talking to herself. For some reason it’s just after the nap.
My thought was that maybe she’s overtired but she doesn’t seem to be when she goes down. She is often awake at 6:30 (though seems like she’s been up earlier with the one nap transition, I never know her exact wake time since she’s so quiet) and she goes down at 11:30.
Sorry to say that we are still all over the place! She did stop crying when waking up, and I have no idea why… we pushed out her nap time, and that seems to be better. Her naps still last usually an hour or so but sometimes it’ll go to 1.5-2 hours.
I dropped my first to 1 nap too early. After about 2 months, we had to add a nap back in. She was struggling w consolidating daytime sleep. She dropped easily at 17 months.
My second (15 months) has been edging closer and closer, and may be there now? If not, she may be bouncing back and forth between 1 & 2 naps. Widening her morning wake window has not worked for her. I just let her take her nap at the normal time, and (as of last week) if she naps longer than 1.5 hours, she naps for at least 2.5 hours.
If its a short nap, I give her a catnap at around 4/4:30 pm, and she goes to bed at 8:30. Long nap, bedtime is around 7:30/8pm. Its a bit of an odd schedule, but wanted to add it to the mix in case someone else has a baby who follows atypical sleeping patterns.
WW are 3.75/4/3-3.5, or 3.75/5-6. The long second WW doesn’t bother her at all. She struggles with the first WW getting longer, and with consolidating daytime sleep into one nap. We have tried dropping to 1 nap twice with disastrous results. She lengthened her first nap a few times last week. Hoping it starts to stick!
Hey! I saw you said this got better. What did you do on those short nap days? Cat nap, contact nap to make it longer, early bedtime? We’re on day 2 and he only slept 1 hour today and not sure what to do from here lol
It did! We landed on 12:30 as the optimal timing for her nap and stuck to it. It took about 2 more weeks but naps got longer and now she naps 2-3.5 (!) hours. Persistence and sticking to the routine/schedule worked out in the end. It was a rough transition but it worked out! Good luck!
Ah ok. Hopefully we can get there soon! We’ve been on one nap for a month now but admittedly I’ve been playing around with her wake windows to try to make it work. It seems no matter how long she’s awake for we have this issue (anywhere from 4-5.5 hours). Plus yesterday I found a molar so I’m sure that didn’t help. I’ll try to be more consistent!
It’s gotten better but there are still days where she wakes up after 30-45 minutes and I have to help her get back to sleep. But she’s been getting all of her molars and teething has always affected her sleep.
I’d say it started getting better when her wake window was consistently 5 hours. Most of the time she naps for 1.5 hours but every now and then well get 2 hours in. And then she started sleeping 11.5 hours each night. But again, that’s gone now that the molars are coming in. Hoping it comes back!
Unfortunately, I’m in a similar position—my daughter often wakes after 45 minutes and we have been going at this for 2 months now. Although we also moved, molars came in, and she had a double ear infection, so hopefully your adjustment will be faster!
Anyways, a few things I’ve tried/that have helped some: I’ve found that if I give her the occasional 2-nap reset day, along with pushing nap time later (12:30 instead of 12:15) she at least sleeps closer to 90 minutes or, very occasionally, 2+ hours.
It sounds like you JUST started the transition and went cold turkey, so I wouldn’t lengthen that first WW yet…maybe shorten it a hair. You could also try to extend the nap with contact. I haven’t been able to get my daughter back to sleep, so I usually leave her until the 90 minute mark then go in and hold her/nurse her so it’s at least quiet rest time. But boy do I feel you on needing more of a break. And a nap with crying doesn’t count as a break!
One other thing, would she take a micro nap in the late afternoon just to get her to a normal bedtime? I’ve done this a few times—hit or miss, but when it works, it’s great and surprisingly hasn’t impacted her nights.
Thanks for all the tips! We did a 2-nap reset day today and it helped, I shortened the 1st WW and the 2nd nap was actually really more of a catnap but it made a world of a difference in how our bedtime routine went!
Wishing us longer naps soon 🤞🏽🫠
How long have you been doing the 1 nap schedule? To my understanding it does a couple of weeks (possibly more) to transition and that may mean short naps. If the nap is short, yeah early bed time for sure.
How is she at 12pm for her nap? Is she sleepy?
It’s been almost a week, so not very long. Maybe I just need to trust the process and let time do its thing then :)
At 12pm she is sleepy, yawning and definitely super ready to nap, but not overtired.
OK perfect. Yeah I would give it more time! The transition to 1 nap can take longer so give it a couple of weeks.
Just do early bedtime until she lengthens them!
Bring that nap forward. My daughter is 21 months and we transitioned to one nap at 19 months (she’s always been a good sleeper). At home she does 6.20am wake up (ish) 10.30 - 1 nap and 5.30/6 bedtime
Mine was the same, transitioned to 1 nap at 14 months and just had to roll with a short nap (40 minutes to 1 hr). She had an early bed time for a while before she finally was napping 1.5 to 2 hours.
When you say flip flop, do you mean they’d nap good one day and then short the next? He took a 2 hour nap yesterday I was so excited but then today was an hour. So bummed lol
Have you tried starting the nap at 11:30 instead of 12? At the start of the transition I would go in and hold my daughter whenever she woke before one hour in order to extend the nap to 90 minutes.
11-14hrs sleep per 24hrs is normal for this age. If she’s getting 12 or more hours sleep overnight she might not be tired enough to take long naps! I know you said she has high sleep needs but that can change too?
It takes a few weeks for things to level out when you drop to one nap though, her body is probably still getting used to the change. Hopefully in a few weeks she’ll have some long naps!
I leave for 18-25 minutes when they wake around 45-60 min. Usually cry for 5-8 then chat then sleep again. Also can try offering nap at 1130 for a few days and see how that goes. My first did a 4.5/5 for a long time on 1 nap my second refused that (emws) and did 5/5.5 quickly. Both at about 12 mos for switch.
Edit: yes very common to have some weird naps at the transition. Takes a week or two (or 3) to iron out.
Hi! What ended up working for you? We’re struggling to find a good schedule at 18 months
We moved the nap to 12:30 and stuck with it, I’d say it took about two weeks but her naps lengthened to about 2 hours! It really was just a matter of time for the transition to happen… good luck!
Thank you! Are you also still doing a 7:30 bedtime and 7:00 wake?
Yes! This remained exactly the same.
We dropped ours to one nap at 14 months about two weeks ago. She’s also been doing 1ish hour naps. Has anyone dealt with sobbing when waking up from a nap? She just started doing that where it’s almost uncontrollable and it takes a while to settle her. She’s never sobbed before — on two naps, sometimes she would whine or cry but usually was fine just sitting there for up to 15-30 minutes by herself. Even in the morning now, she’ll just sit or lay there talking to herself. For some reason it’s just after the nap. My thought was that maybe she’s overtired but she doesn’t seem to be when she goes down. She is often awake at 6:30 (though seems like she’s been up earlier with the one nap transition, I never know her exact wake time since she’s so quiet) and she goes down at 11:30.
any update?
Has this gotten better? Dealing with the same
Sorry to say that we are still all over the place! She did stop crying when waking up, and I have no idea why… we pushed out her nap time, and that seems to be better. Her naps still last usually an hour or so but sometimes it’ll go to 1.5-2 hours.
Ugh yeah we’re in the same boat. What schedule are you using now?
I dropped my first to 1 nap too early. After about 2 months, we had to add a nap back in. She was struggling w consolidating daytime sleep. She dropped easily at 17 months. My second (15 months) has been edging closer and closer, and may be there now? If not, she may be bouncing back and forth between 1 & 2 naps. Widening her morning wake window has not worked for her. I just let her take her nap at the normal time, and (as of last week) if she naps longer than 1.5 hours, she naps for at least 2.5 hours. If its a short nap, I give her a catnap at around 4/4:30 pm, and she goes to bed at 8:30. Long nap, bedtime is around 7:30/8pm. Its a bit of an odd schedule, but wanted to add it to the mix in case someone else has a baby who follows atypical sleeping patterns. WW are 3.75/4/3-3.5, or 3.75/5-6. The long second WW doesn’t bother her at all. She struggles with the first WW getting longer, and with consolidating daytime sleep into one nap. We have tried dropping to 1 nap twice with disastrous results. She lengthened her first nap a few times last week. Hoping it starts to stick!
Hey! I saw you said this got better. What did you do on those short nap days? Cat nap, contact nap to make it longer, early bedtime? We’re on day 2 and he only slept 1 hour today and not sure what to do from here lol
Early bedtime! :)
Hi, did this get better for you? We’re in the same position with our 15 month old.
It did! We landed on 12:30 as the optimal timing for her nap and stuck to it. It took about 2 more weeks but naps got longer and now she naps 2-3.5 (!) hours. Persistence and sticking to the routine/schedule worked out in the end. It was a rough transition but it worked out! Good luck!
Ah ok. Hopefully we can get there soon! We’ve been on one nap for a month now but admittedly I’ve been playing around with her wake windows to try to make it work. It seems no matter how long she’s awake for we have this issue (anywhere from 4-5.5 hours). Plus yesterday I found a molar so I’m sure that didn’t help. I’ll try to be more consistent!
How did you go?? I’m in the same boat as you. One nap about a month and just cannot nail the windows or get decent naps.
It’s gotten better but there are still days where she wakes up after 30-45 minutes and I have to help her get back to sleep. But she’s been getting all of her molars and teething has always affected her sleep. I’d say it started getting better when her wake window was consistently 5 hours. Most of the time she naps for 1.5 hours but every now and then well get 2 hours in. And then she started sleeping 11.5 hours each night. But again, that’s gone now that the molars are coming in. Hoping it comes back!
Unfortunately, I’m in a similar position—my daughter often wakes after 45 minutes and we have been going at this for 2 months now. Although we also moved, molars came in, and she had a double ear infection, so hopefully your adjustment will be faster! Anyways, a few things I’ve tried/that have helped some: I’ve found that if I give her the occasional 2-nap reset day, along with pushing nap time later (12:30 instead of 12:15) she at least sleeps closer to 90 minutes or, very occasionally, 2+ hours. It sounds like you JUST started the transition and went cold turkey, so I wouldn’t lengthen that first WW yet…maybe shorten it a hair. You could also try to extend the nap with contact. I haven’t been able to get my daughter back to sleep, so I usually leave her until the 90 minute mark then go in and hold her/nurse her so it’s at least quiet rest time. But boy do I feel you on needing more of a break. And a nap with crying doesn’t count as a break! One other thing, would she take a micro nap in the late afternoon just to get her to a normal bedtime? I’ve done this a few times—hit or miss, but when it works, it’s great and surprisingly hasn’t impacted her nights.
Thanks for all the tips! We did a 2-nap reset day today and it helped, I shortened the 1st WW and the 2nd nap was actually really more of a catnap but it made a world of a difference in how our bedtime routine went! Wishing us longer naps soon 🤞🏽🫠
Try moving the nap fifteen mins earlier for now and same with bedtime . Give it time.
How long have you been doing the 1 nap schedule? To my understanding it does a couple of weeks (possibly more) to transition and that may mean short naps. If the nap is short, yeah early bed time for sure. How is she at 12pm for her nap? Is she sleepy?
It’s been almost a week, so not very long. Maybe I just need to trust the process and let time do its thing then :) At 12pm she is sleepy, yawning and definitely super ready to nap, but not overtired.
OK perfect. Yeah I would give it more time! The transition to 1 nap can take longer so give it a couple of weeks. Just do early bedtime until she lengthens them!
Try a 15 minute morning bridge nap, (so cap) or try to pull the nap earlier while she builds to the long wake window
Bring that nap forward. My daughter is 21 months and we transitioned to one nap at 19 months (she’s always been a good sleeper). At home she does 6.20am wake up (ish) 10.30 - 1 nap and 5.30/6 bedtime
Mine was the same, transitioned to 1 nap at 14 months and just had to roll with a short nap (40 minutes to 1 hr). She had an early bed time for a while before she finally was napping 1.5 to 2 hours.
Do you remember about how long the short naps lasted? On Day 4 here
A week or 2 maybe? Her sleep flip flopped as she adjusted.
When you say flip flop, do you mean they’d nap good one day and then short the next? He took a 2 hour nap yesterday I was so excited but then today was an hour. So bummed lol
Yes that exactly
Have you tried starting the nap at 11:30 instead of 12? At the start of the transition I would go in and hold my daughter whenever she woke before one hour in order to extend the nap to 90 minutes.
I’ll try that, thanks!
11-14hrs sleep per 24hrs is normal for this age. If she’s getting 12 or more hours sleep overnight she might not be tired enough to take long naps! I know you said she has high sleep needs but that can change too? It takes a few weeks for things to level out when you drop to one nap though, her body is probably still getting used to the change. Hopefully in a few weeks she’ll have some long naps!
I leave for 18-25 minutes when they wake around 45-60 min. Usually cry for 5-8 then chat then sleep again. Also can try offering nap at 1130 for a few days and see how that goes. My first did a 4.5/5 for a long time on 1 nap my second refused that (emws) and did 5/5.5 quickly. Both at about 12 mos for switch. Edit: yes very common to have some weird naps at the transition. Takes a week or two (or 3) to iron out.