When is it ok to drop the second nap? | ExpatWoman.com
 

When is it ok to drop the second nap?

332
Posts
EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 14 September 2012 - 15:54

Hi all

I read somewhere that children should maintain two naps until about 18 months of age. DD is almost 15 months and has changed her sleep patterns slightly and is taking increasingly longer to fall asleep in the afternoon including not wanting to sleep on some days. Her typical day is waking up at 7.30, first nap at 11 for an hour to two hours and then again at 3/3.30 for 0 to sometimes 2 hours. Or, she'll go down in the afternoon but will have a really restless nap waking every 15 mins or so but self settling each time. She is in a good mood, not teething etc so I don't think the not wanting to sleep is due to any ailments. Bedtime is by 7.30, she falls sleep immediately and sleeps for a solid 12 hours.

When did your LO drop their second nap?

115
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 18 September 2012 - 14:21
I think all sorts of things affect their naps one of the main ones being teeth. When my DS was teething it would oddly enough affect his day nap(s) but not his night time sleep????
943
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EW GURU
Latest post on 18 September 2012 - 14:00
My daughter is nearly 15 months and she dropped the second nap a couple of months ago...she just doesn't want to sleep. In fact her only nap is at maximum an hour and usually only half an hour. She sleeps a solid 12 hours at night though. She just doesn't want to nap! She seems completely fine, awake, happy and alert and when I do put her down to sleep at night it takes her around 10-15 minutes to get to sleep. She can even sit in the car or pushchair for two hours and if she isn't tired she won't sleep! I was worried that she isn't getting enough sleep, but I think it's just how she is. There is no way I can make her sleep during the day if she doesn't want to.
504
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EW GURU
Latest post on 18 September 2012 - 13:52
Good tip on the split lunch. I forgot to mention that. PS I don't think my little guy will have a problem with early wake ups when ever he goes to nursery, it's me that'll need the extra caffeine lol
115
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 18 September 2012 - 12:27
My boy dropped his morning nap at around 14 months, I wud put him down and he just wouldn't fall asleep but by 11 was tired so I started giving him half his lunch at 10.30, putting him down at 11am and then letting him sleep till 2 and feeding him the other half of lunch then. Gradually he changed to not sleeping till 12 and then 12.45 and now at aged 2 he sleeps from 1pm through till 3pm (if he has done enough physical stull in the morning otherwise its 2pm - 3pm) and then I put him down at 6.45pm and he sleeps straight through till 6.30 or 7am normally. I never let him sleep past 7am tho (getting him used to the early mornings that come with nursery and school!!)
332
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 15 September 2012 - 20:16
Thanks for your advice ladies. She went for her first nep at 11.30 today for two hours and another for 15 minutes in the afternoon so the signs are looking like she's ready to go with one. We'll take it day by day I guess! Many thanks : )
504
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EW GURU
Latest post on 14 September 2012 - 22:58
Yeh, I know. I'm super lucky :)
488
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 14 September 2012 - 22:32
Flydiver...930am??!! Sooo jealous!
504
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EW GURU
Latest post on 14 September 2012 - 21:59
Mine dropped his at 15 months too. We came back from a holiday, where he'd only had one nap a day, and wouldn't go back to two. He now sleeps for around 3 hrs in the day (it doesnt seem to bother him if this is at 11am or 1pm but sometime between then) and sleeps at night from around 7pm to 9.30am. Some nights he goes down easier than others, it depends on how much fun he's having near bed time. But he's usually pretty good.
2782
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 14 September 2012 - 20:52
my son dropped to one nap at around 12 months, he started really resisting his afternoon nap, taking a long time to fall asleep etc. We dropped the afternoon nap but his overall sleep was stil the same as he started having a very long morning nap. It was at 10am but I gradually (over a period of months) shifted it to midday and he now (at 2 years) naps from 12:30 until 4:30 ish and sleeps 11 hours at night. I don't know if their is a "should" there might be an "average" and probably most drop to one at some point between 12-18 months but it is much better to observe what is going on with your child, night sleep usually got worse for us when it was time to change the nap schedule and improved once we got it right.
488
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 14 September 2012 - 19:40
Hey M, DS dropped to one nap about a month and a half ago and he's 16 months now. He started fighting his first nap at ten am so eventually I just stopped trying to put him down and then instead of putting him down at two for an afternoon 2 hour nap I started putting him down at one....and he started sleeping three hours! I know others keep a longer morning nap and then drop the afternoon nap. I found the afternoon nap suited him better and us too as far as organising activities and classes and working around his meal times. He also now goes down around half seven and sleeps 12 hours. I did find however that when we first dropped to one nap, there were days where he still seemed to need the first nap and he would take it, so you might have to go with the flow a bit during that flux period....eventually they settle right into the one nap with no issues. I usually had to take him out and keep him distracted in the morning for a while, but also staying close to home so there was no danger of him falling asleep in the car! Now he is fine and has no issues staying up from 730am until 1pm.
 
 

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