Dropping to one nap

My son won’t have his second nap & we are in the same boat atm 😣

4 replies

Yes I read recently you’re supposed to shorten first nap so it’s short/long but sounds like you’re in the same boat as me where baby is used to long/short. Now always refusing second nap but wants to sleep early like 9/9:30am 🙄

My son sleeps 12 hours of a night then goes back at 11 to 1 but won’t go back till 7:30 but he used to go at 3:30 for second one 😣 He’s always napped at 11 since birth so I cannot change it he gets tired no matter what! So I’m lost as you 🥴

We just changed it straight to new times. First few weeks she may have needed a cat nap in Arvo if she had a very short nap in the day. My daughter currently does 4.5 or 5 hours awake then we do bath and nap (too cold here at the moment to bath before bed) and she sleeps usually 1.5 to 2.5 hrs. Then another 5 hours awake before bed. I did sleep training. And it has been a miracle for us. Not left to cio or anything. Check-ins every 5 mins as needed. So she normally wakes around 6 to 7.30am and naps around 11/12 .. depending... And bed is between 6 and 7.30... go off awake windows rather than schedule.

2 replies

So lucky it worked for you! Like Emily above, it’s been so hard to try and push back that first nap for us and even if I do put her down early she NEVER has the afternoon one anymore but the awake windows are just so out of balance!

My girl always had a long first nap. And cat napped in arvo for ages when on 2 naps. I remember when I changed to one I often put her to bed for the night really early. Sometimes asleep by 5.30pm because of the short nap meant huge awake window before bed. She would often wake after one sleep cycle and have more breastmilk.. as she treated it like a nap. They call it a false start.

Distractions, snacks/lunch and a long bubble bath can help lengthen your awake time in the morning. You might need to just commit to the change and give it a week and see how it goes.

2 replies

Yeah I’ll try it again just need to get everyone on board 😊

Its definitely daunting. But girl was only staying awake for like 2.5 hrs before I changed lol. So the leap to 4.5 was big

My son dropped to one nap a few months ago now, his bedtime has always been 7.30, and I didn’t want him napping past 4/4.30 otherwise he was harder to put to bed. Slowly his morning nap got pushed back to about 11am, and he would sleep till 1, and his afternoon nap got shorter and shorter because I’d always wake him at 4.30 latest. Until he started staying up until 9.30-10pm because he wasn’t tired. The next day I cut the second nap and bought bedtime up to around 7 and he slept like a dream. It’s been one nap since then. Now it’s awake at 7 nap from 12-2.30 bed at 7.30

I followed my daughter’s lead in naps. She went to 1 nap while sick and teething, was rough! Follow your child and you’ll be fine

My daughter sleeps 6.30pm- 7am then 11.30am-2.30pm

Distract distract distract avoid strollers or car seats around 10am. Have toys in cars and prams so they can play and stay awake. Give them brunch at around 10.30 and if they make it after a bottle and bed at around 11-11.30am. Sometimes mine will last longer if she wakes up after 6.30am