Dropping Naps
Moms View Message Board: Parenting Discussion: Archive January-June 2005:
Dropping Naps
Here's Matt's schedule:
Awake 6:00-6:30 am (plays in crib for half an hour)
Breakfast 7:30 am
Morning Nap 9:30 or 10:00 am
Wakes from Nap between 11:00 - 11:30 am
Lunch 12:00 - 12:30
Afternoon Nap 1:30 - sometimes 3:30
Dinner anywhere from 5-6 pm
Bedtime 7:30 - 8:00 pm
I was always under the impression that children dropped their morning naps (don't know why I thought that), Matt seems now to want to drop his afternoon nap. He really needs the morning nap, by 9:30 he's starting to get cranky and cuddly all at the same time. I tried pushing his morning nap to 11 hoping that he would sleep a couple of hours, but this didn't work and by 4:00 pm he was a mess.
If I try to put him down too early for his afternoon nap he ends up playing in his crib and falling asleep too late. Sometimes he's still sleeping at 4:30. If this happens I usually wake him up so I can keep his bedtime schedule. I don't want him in bed any later than 8:00 p.m. Many of my friend's children around the same age are not in bed until 9:00 pm, but they are moms who work outside of the home and want to spend some time with their children in the evenings. I want some time to myself or with my husband and I think at 13 months 9:00 pm is way too late.
The last two days I just haven't put him down for his afternoon nap, today he fell asleep on me for about 10 mins., so it seems like he still needs an afternoon nap but I don't want to put him down at 3:00 pm. He was in good humour this evening but when I put him to bed at 7:40 he was clearly wipped out.
I'm thinking this is a transition period and will probably work itself out in a week or two. He also has two huge molars coming in, not sure if this is a factor.
Questions:
1) Which nap did your munchkins drop, morning or afternoon? Was there a transition period?
2) Did they sleep longer with only one nap per day?
3) Any thoughts or suggestions?
TIA
Heaventree,
Freedom had exactly the same schedule at that age.The only difference being his bedtime,9-9:30, sometimes 10.
He is kind of a night owl and has always had a later bedtime than most kids.
Two naps were so great because you get two breaks.I guess he didn't drop his morning nap until 18 months.Then went to a long afternoon nap,12-3 or 3:30.
There wasn't much of a transistion period.He just wouldn't go down in the morning one day.
He is still taking an afternoon nap and I'm hoping that lasts a long time.
I just wanted to add that I wouldn't suggest trying to cut out a nap.They seem to sleep better at night with them rather than without.Sleep begets sleep for some reason.
Olivia dropped her afternoon nap, but she took a later morning nap. Normally she would nap at 9:30 & 3:00, when she decided to take one nap she decided 11 a.m. was a better time & slept for 2-3 hours now she sleeps after lunch. I personally feel like a good bedtime is between 8:30 & 9:00. My dh & I just stay up until 11 to have our "quiet" time.
My kids wake up any where between 7:30-9:00
Have breakfast at 9:00
Lunch at noon
Olivia now naps just after lunch
Dinner 6-7
Bath 8
reading time 8:30
bedtime 9:00
Of course I also give them small snacks during the day & my 3 year old has craft time instead of nap time. He gave up naps about 7 months ago.
Randy dropped his morning nap and then used to sleep for about three hours in the afternoon.
Ame
Christopher did the same thing as Olivia! He just recently lost the afternoon nap, and his morning nap is now at 11 or 12. I tried getting him to nap twice for about 3 days before I realized what happened.
He hasn't completely gotten used to only one nap though, sometimes he will go to bed at 7:30 because he is so hard. Last Thursday at 6:45 he went in his room, grabbed the rails on his crib and said "Night night, pease?" LOL it was hilarious!
Good luck, you guys will figure it out!
Oh Jennifer that is so Cute!
Emily, I only wish I could stay up until 11, but being pregnant makes that nearly impossible especially now that Matt doesn't want to sleep much in the afternoon, I used to sleep sometimes as well. We are typically early risers here. No one ever wakes at 9, sleeping in for us is 8:00 am even on the weekends, no matter how late we were up.
I guess my biggest concern this past week is that he used to sleep anywhere from 3 to 4 hours a day with 2 naps. Now with only one nap he is only sleeping an hour. He needs more than that, I will put him down at 2:30 today and see how he does.
Thanks.
My 10mth dd went through something similar about a month ago. She would sleep a couple of hrs in the AM and then would FIGHT to not have to do the afternoon nap. She would eventually fall asleep for about 20-30min. around 6pm, then crash at her regular bedtime which 8 or 8:15. I started to wonder if she had things backward and was trying to drop the afternoon nap as well. But...it lasted a few weeks and now she's back on schedule with both. It's weird the stages they go through! I was concerned also because dd was only getting about an hr. 1/2 a day for naps during that time, but *she* seemed okay with it, just really crashed at bedtime. I hope my experience helps you out some!
Hey there-
Usually little ones will transition to 1 nap between 15-18months. My ds dropped his morning nap and his afternoon nap was moved earlier. He gets up around 6am and is down for a nap by 12:15-12:30pm. He sleeps 2 hours. He, also, goes to sleep at 7:30PM. Oh, yes, there was a transition period - where somedays he'd take the morning nap and some not. When there got to be a lot more "not" days... I stopped offering.
HTH
Amy
Mom to 20mo Garrett
Heaventree, my DD Fraser has the exact same schedule, and I am finding the same thing as you happening, she is now fighting that afternoon nap. She also goes to bed at 8pm, and I get nervous when she goes down for her afternoon nap at 3 or later. I never let her sleep past 4:30, and it hasn't seemed to affect her bedtime.
I am currently trying to transition her to one nap because soon she will be going to daycare and won't be getting a nap there until after lunch. I don't know how it will go because she is like your ds and really needs that morning nap! I have gotten by with one nap a day a few times, but it is always a morning nap. If I leave it too late, she just doesn't sleep well, and she sleeps worse at night too. I really hate to mess with a schedule that is working so well for us.
Let me know how things work out for you, and I'll do the same.
Amy, when does he eat lunch?
11am lunch - then there is about 30m to play - then asleep. If I wait and try 15-30m later for nap - it takes forever for him to fall asleep. Timing is really key and, unfortunately, the timing changes as they get older. :0)
Amy
Well yesterday went fine, go figure. He had his morning nap and went down again around 3 pm, slept until 4:30 and by 7:40 he was sitting on the floor looking like he was thinking "Please put me to bed" Up we went no fuss, no muss, just grabbed his blanket and went to sleep within minutes.
I guess we worry too much sometimes for nothing. I'm just hoping that if he does decide to drop a nap it's the morning one.
Thanks for all the support.
During the week she only naps 1x and that is usually after lunch or from 11-2 and then she does lunch after. During the week she is in bed by 8pm usually between 6:30-7pm. But agian she is up at 7am for me to go to work.
On the weekends she naps 2x and is in bed by 8pm-9pm and up by 9am.
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