Tried dropping 2nd nap

Hi!
My boys are just about 21 months and we tried dropping the boys morning nap for almost 3 weeks...and they have just been so tired. We made sure their schedule was consistant.

So we went back to their morning nap Monday...and they are doing much better. 2.5hrs in morning...1.5hrs in afternoon...rather than the 1.5-2hr nap once a day.

My sister says this is a hard time and that I should stick withit and they will get used to it...at 21months they need to be on one nap.

Anyone else have little ones who trasitioned later? Is this easier when they are ready...or will it be a struggle no matter what?

Thanks guys!

rebecca

 

Are they sleeping good at night? How long do they sleep? If they are happy, and are sleeping good and not fighting bedtime, I see no reason why they "have" to be on one nap, unless they will be going to a daycare or babysitter who only does one nap.

If they are having trouble sleeping at night, or fighting bedtime, then I think going down to 1 nap a day would be better. Did you try moving their bedtime up earlier? They may sleep longer at night, rather than take a 3-4 hr afternoon nap they may add an hour or more to their bedtime sleep.

Mine sleep from 9pm-10am or so, give or take a half hour, and take a 1.5 hr nap, rarely 2 hrs unless they are super tired or not feeling good.

 

ITA with Danielle; all kids are different so setting an arbitrary age at which they must go to 1 nap doesn't always work out. If they're not night-waking, and sleep a solid 10-12 hours at night, then let them stay on 2 naps until they're ready to switch!

 

it will be 1000% easier to switch when they're ready (although, like all transitions, still a bit tricky). and while the average age to drop to one nap is between 15 - 18 months, that doesn't mean that you have to drop to one nap by then.

i agree with Danielle & Valerie that if their nighttime sleep is good & you don't have a reason you need to change the schedule, then stick with 2 naps until they're giving clear signs that they're ready to drop to one. GL!

 

ditto ditto and ditto!

we switched to 1 nap at 20 months when I realized that they were waking 1 or 2 times at night. once I got them to 1 nap a day they lengthened their normal 2 2-hr naps to a 1 3-hr nap.

if yours are sleeping at night and napping nicely I wouldn't mess with it. There's no reason to rush to "be like everyone else" or to "be average"!

good luck!