Sometime around a baby’s first birthday, parents often reach out to me and ask “When should I start the transition to one nap?”
Nap transitions are a tricky part of new parenthood. It seems as soon as our babies get into a consistent napping groove (and we parents get comfortable) they start fighting nap time! And we parents wonder “when do babies go down to one nap?”
When my daughter turned 15 months old… everything changed! She had been on a great 2 nap schedule for ages, and it seemed like one day she just decided she wanted to switch to one nap.
She started fighting naps and when she did fall asleep, her naps were much shorter.
I recognized this as signs she was ready to transition to one nap. It took a few weeks, but we mastered the 2 to 1 nap transition without much fuss and she started taking a 2-3 hour nap everyday! For me personally, the one nap schedule was my favorite!
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Transition to One Nap: How To Master the 2-to-1 Nap Change
Transitioning from two naps to one can require more parental patience than other baby nap transitions. That’s because it’s a slow-mover.
Most babies switch to one nap sometime between 14 – 18 months. The average age for transitioning to 1 nap is 15 months.
Unless your family routine (or daycare) necessitates this transition at a certain age, it’s best to watch your toddler for signs that she’s ready to transition to one nap.
Signs that Your Baby / Toddler Is Ready to Switch to One Nap
- Your toddler is 14 – 18 months.
AND DOES AT LEAST ONE OF THE FOLLOWING FOR 2 WEEKS:
- Your baby is refusing one of his naps, consistently for 2 weeks.
- He’s playing, talking or fussing in his bed, rather than sleeping. He either skips the nap entirely or takes only a short nap.
- He consistently refuses one nap (for example, the afternoon nap) but still takes the morning nap as usual.
- He’s NOT refusing all naps altogether (which is a sign of another issue like a regression, change in schedule or night sleep problems.)
- Your toddler is refusing a nap at its usual time, but falls asleep later. This can make him skip another nap or push bedtime very late.
- Your baby used to take 2 naps of equal length, but now nap lengths vary. One nap might be long and the other nap really short.
- Your toddler can go for morning car rides or strolls without falling asleep (on most days.)
- His mood stays relatively stable despite missing one of his naps. He’s ok with an awake time of 4-5 hours.
Again, this isn’t a one-off event. It happens consistently for 2 weeks.
RELATED: How to Get Your 1 Year Old Sleeping Amazingly!
Signs that it’s NOT time to transition to one nap:
- Baby fusses or stays awake initially when you put her down for a nap, but ends up sleeping well (at least one hour.)
- Missing a nap makes baby cranky, irritable, or leads to tantrums. She can’t handle awake times of 4+ hours.
- She’s recently started walking or talking more. Developmental milestones often disrupt sleep for a few days. It’s best to stick to your usual napping schedule during these times.
- Your toddler’s night sleep has been “off” recently. She’s waking more at night or earlier in the morning. Always focus on fixing night sleep before beginning any nap transitions. This guide will help if your toddler is waking up too early every morning. If teething is the culprit check out how to help a teething baby sleep.
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RELATED: How to Extend your Baby’s Short Naps
Tips For Mastering the Transition to 1 Nap
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Push the morning nap later
Gradually push the morning nap later by 15-30 minutes until you get to an awake time of 4-5 hours between morning wake up and the nap.
You can do this by pushing the morning nap later by 15 – 30 minutes every 2-3 days. You don’t have to make any big jumps, you can go slowly and take a few days. Hover at 4 hours awake time until your baby is able to nap close to two hours (or more.) Then you can push to an awake time of 5 hours, if you want.
Let your toddler nap as long as he wants for this nap. Only wake him once the nap hits 3 hours length (it does happen!)
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Distract your baby to keep her awake
Take your baby outside in the morning and expose her to natural light. This is a natural cue for her body to stay awake. Run errands, go for a stroll or take a trip to the playground.
Arrange a morning playdate to keep your toddler distracted and stimulated so she doesn’t want to nap early.
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Offer a meal before nap time
A common concern when babies go to one nap is “When do I feed him?” 10:30 am seems too early for lunch, but your toddler may wake early from his nap if he’s hungry.
What works best for most toddlers is splitting lunch during the early days. Who says lunch has to be one big meal at noon?!
Offer half of lunch before nap time and half when your toddler wakes. Or give a protein-rich snack before nap time. I promise, your little one won’t mind.
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Create the right sleep space
Now that your toddler will be napping only once each day, it’s important that this nap is at home. Napping at home in the crib is more restorative than naps on-the-go.
Go to baby’s bedroom 15 minutes before nap time. Do a quick relaxing routine to help her unwind and settle for sleep. You can find all the details about how to create a calming sleep routine in my Exhausted Mom’s Starter Kit.
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Let baby nap for 2-3 hours
Your toddler needs 2-3 hours of daytime sleep everyday. This nap transition will help him get all the hours of sleep he needs in one long beautiful nap. It’s a dream!
At first, many toddlers will only nap 1-2 hours. That’s ok, this nap transition takes time. In this case, either offer a 30 min cat nap in the afternoon or move bedtime earlier to prevent over-tiredness.
A good rule of thumb is if your toddler can skip the cat nap and have bedtime be 6 pm, go with that option. But if the awake time will be too long, offer a cat nap instead and keep your usual bedtime.
If a late cat nap disrupts bedtime, skip it and move bedtime earlier. Always prioritize bedtime over a late nap.
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Settle into the right nap time
Choosing the right nap time is the key to mastering the transition to one nap and settling your toddler into a one nap schedule without becoming overtired.
There are a few ways of finding the right nap time. The first is to pick the time that falls in the middle of baby’s previous naps.
For example, if your baby used to nap at 10 am and 2 pm, his “new” one daily nap time should fall somewhere in the middle of his previous nap times. In this case, a nap at 12 pm would be ideal.
Another way to decide the best time for your baby’s one nap schedule would be 5 hours after waking in the morning.
Examples:
Your baby wakes at 6 am & has bedtime 7 pm. Baby should settle into one long nap everyday from 11 am – 2 pm.
Your baby wakes at 7 am & has bedtime 7:30 pm. Baby should settle into one long nap everyday from 12 – 3 pm.
RELATED: How to Get Your Resistant Toddler to Nap!
The 2 to 1 nap transition takes time
Remember, switching to one nap takes time. It’s normal for your toddler to need some 2-nap days while making this transition.
If she’s cranky and ready for a nap at 10 am, let her sleep for one hour. Then offer an afternoon nap and try again tomorrow. Over the next few weeks you’ll see that your toddler prefers one long midday nap.
If you have the luxury of time, this transition may take several weeks to a month. If you need the transition to go quicker, stay consistent and remember to move bedtime earlier.
If you are having problems with your toddler’s night sleep I can help you with my toddler sleep training course.
This is the BEST nap transition (in my opinion) because it leads to a blissful 2-3 hour nap every day. Which means lots of down time for YOU! Enjoy it…
Hi! My baby is 13.5 months and we’re also in the “2 naps is almost too much but one is not enough” stage. I purchased an app to help me track her sleep. It recommends her ideal nap times for a one nap day or a two nap day. It doesn’t recommend nap duration times so I’m never sure what the right answer is. Currently on average she happily handles 3 hrs 30 minutes in the morning, 4 hrs for her second wake window and 4 hrs 30 minutes for her third (12 hours total). I’ve tried shortening her wake windows and she just ends up spending that time tossing around in her crib. She does not have trouble napping during the day, but in order for me to preserve her bedtime so that she can get 11 hours of sleep at night I would need to cap her nap time during the day to 1 hour total (or two 30-minute naps). Or should I just let her nap (up to 2 hours during the day) and accept that it will eat into her night sleep until she’s ready for a one nap schedule? Also how do I continue helping her to gradually lengthen her wake windows until she can comfortably tolerate a 5 hour wake window but prevent her total awake time during the day under 12 hours?
Hi Rachel,
Thank you so much for reaching out to us! I know how tough this limbo period between 2 naps and 1 nap can be. We do offer 1:1 private consultations on Zoom. I would love to offer you advice on how to handle this transition period and how to keep your little one well rested!
CLICK HERE to book a call–> https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/private-consultation
Looking forward to chatting soon!
Best,
Alyssa, BSMS Client Support Manager
hi
My LO, 17 months old, was sleep trained at bedtime, but not yet for his naps. He falls asleep on his own but his bottle always has to be in his mouth with some milk. He still gets up 1-3 times a night for water and is given the bottle with water and falls asleep with it. I night weaned him a month ago and now he only gets water at night. His sleep schedule (before the sleep problems): 6:00 am wake up | 8:50-9:00 – 10:00 am wake up | 1:00 – 2:15-30pm wake up | 6:00 pm bedtime. So, for several weeks now he has refused BOTH naps, I have to go in several times to put the bottle back in his mouth, both naps are now 20-35 minutes, bedtime is 6pm but he now gets up between 5:20-5:40 am crying and screaming. I have experience with sleep training and would also know which method I would use for naps, but I don’t know whether I should sleep train both naps at once or just work on one nap first (the first) and then the second. He is very overtired, but he is at the age where he needs one nap. His overtiredness, because he only gets one hour of sleep during the day, is making everything worse, and switching him to one nap now is, in my opinion, throwing gasoline on the fire. Should I work on him getting two naps first, at least one hour per nap, and if he sleeps well after that, switch him to one nap?
Hello Agnesa,
Thank you so much for reaching out to us! I know how exhausting the 1 nap transition can be. I would recommend looking into our naps program! This program will help train your LO how to fall asleep independently which will be the best way for your LO to start lengthening that nap.I would also recommend booking the support package! This will allow us the opportunity to chat on Zoom calls and help create the ideal schedule for your LO to help ensure that 1 nap lengthens to more than 2 hours. This will give his body the rest he needs and keep his night sleep on schedule too!
CLICK HERE to learn more–> https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/naps-getting-downtime-in-the-daytime/
I hope we get the opportunity to support your family. Reach out at support@babysleepmadesimple.com if you have any questions!
Best,
Alyssa, BSMS Client Support Manager
Hi!
Our daughter is turning 17 months old in a week. She started showing signs of being ready to transition to one nap at 13 months old. At the time, she was averaging about 2 hours to 2 hours and 20 minutes of total nap time. For several days a week, she would skip her second nap of the day (which was usually a shorter nap of 45 min-1 hr). We always offered an earlier bedtime, and she would make up for lost sleep. After a week or two of consistently skipping her second nap, we decided to transition her.
It’s been 4 months since then, and we’re struggling HARD. At first, things seemed to go smoothly. She would wake up around 6:20-6:45 am, and we’d have her nap around noon. 4 out 7 days, she would sleep around 2 hours, and the other naps were shorter.
However, in the subsequent months, things got worse and worse. Her nap consistently became shorter and shorter. In the second month of the transition, she’d sleep 1hr45min to 2 hours once or twice a week, then 1.5 or less the rest of the week. By the third month, she barely ever made it to a 2 hour nap. And now, she’s napping 1 hour and 20 minutes max a day. Sometimes we only get a half hour to hour nap.
When her nap started falling apart, she started struggling to fall asleep at bedtime as well. She doesn’t cry, but rather plays for 45 min-1hr, almost like she gets a second wind from being over tired. So even when we put her down at 6 pm for bed due to her bad nap, she can’t fall asleep until close to 7. She usually wakes up around 6:15 am.
So we’ve been stuck in this vicious cycle of short nap, struggles to fall asleep at bedtime, and then doesn’t make up for the lost day sleep at night anymore because she stays up wired. We’re truly at a loss of what to do. Her wake windows right now are around 5.5 in the morning followed by 4.5-5 at night (usually closer to 5 because we need to make it to 6 pm for bedtime.)
I’m afraid if we put her down at 11:15 am for a nap, and she only sleeps an hour, her evening wake window will be even longer, only making her more overtired for bedtime. We’re struggling so much, so any help would be greatly appreciated!
Hi T,
I’m so sorry to hear this. However, we can easily help you via a private consultation. You can book it here:
https://programs.babysleepmadesimple.com/30-minutes-private-consultation-checkout/
Alyssa, our top sleep consultant, will take great care of you.
Artemis, BSMS Support Team
Hello,
My little is nearly 15months. He’s been showing signs of readiness. Taking longer to fall asleep at naps and bedtime. Refusal of his second nap couple times a week. In addition, at 18 months he needs to be on one nap a day for daycare and I know this transition can take time and it’s best to start while I can help him transition vs. Another care giver.
I started this transition 4 days ago. Since the transition he’s been waking at night around 9:30pm and takes about an hour to settle. He’s also been waking up around 5:30am, I end up bringing him into my bed and he falls asleep on me. Will this phase pass? Is this normal? I know he’s over tired but is this expected when transitioning? These early morning wakings.
This was his schedule (before slowly transitioning)
Wake 7am, nap 10:15am, wake 11:30am, nap 3:30pm, wake 4:30pm, bed 8:30pm (bed cannot be pushed earlier due to work schedules at this time).
Now we’re pushing his morning nap by 30mins every 4days until we get to 12pm so we can drop that second nap.
Am I doing something wrong here? Everyone I know has had a smooth transition with their little ones.
Thank you!
Hi Tannia,
Sorry to hear this, this can be expected when transitioning and we always urge our clients to use a second cat nap if necessary. This transition can be tricky – and no, you’re not doing anything wrong!
However, it could help to join our program and work on sleep overall, and in there we can also help you with the transition. If you get the support option, we can give you personalized advice via messaging Monday-Friday and weekly zoom calls.
Here is the link:
https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/baby-sleep-consultant/
Hoping to work with you soon!
Artemis, BSMS Support Team
How long can I realistically expect this nap transition to take? My son has been on the later end of all nap transitions. He is now 22 months old and we are approximately 2 months into this 2 to 1 switch. I started trying right around 20 months and a week in it was such a disaster I went back to 2. We then tried capping the morning nap which worked for a few weeks. About 3 weeks ago we decided he was ready and fully committed to 1 nap. While he goes down with no issue, nap lengths are all over the place. Sometimes we will get 2-2.5 hours, but most days closer to 1.5. When he was getting 3ish+ hours consistently on two naps, I feel like this is just not enough. I’m doing early bedtime! I can tell he is tired, and because he is active (and now cranky) I would really like him closer to 2.5hrs. He was sleep trained early and has always been such a great sleeper. I now feel like I’ve shot myself in the foot with transitioning him and will never get more than a 1.5hour nap again.
So sorry to hear you’ve been struggling with the transition. It depends how long it takes, but I would say 2 months is definitely on the longer end of things.
We would be happy to help you transition smoothly in our naps program:
https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/naps-getting-downtime-in-the-daytime/
We can also make sure you get that beautiful 2-3 hour nap in there as well!
Hoping to work with you soon,
Artemis, BSMS Support Team
Hi there! I’ve recently started transitioning my 14mo to 1 nap, but she can’t seem to nap for more than 1.25hrs. Do you have any tips on lengthening the nap?Makes it hard to get to bedtime since it’s hard to get the catnap in as well.
Hi Chelsea!
1.25 hrs is a great start. Good work!
You can either get our free guide here: https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/how-to-extend-your-babys-naps/
OR you can join our naps program and get all the help you need: https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/naps-getting-downtime-in-the-daytime/
Good luck!
Artemis, BSMS Support Team
Thank you for useful advices. I have a question however related to the method to transition from 2 nap to 1 nap. I saw several sites advised to shorten the morning nap while increasing wake time, and lengthen the afternoon nap until you can cut the morning nap. Is this in contrary to your method?
My baby is 13.5 month and has recently woke up at 5 am. She has started to refuse to nap in the afternoon, and takes 1 hour to fall to sleep in the evening. Her schedule has been:
6 am wake up (or sometimes 5am wake in bed), then first nap at 9 am and wake around 10.30 or 10.15; Her second nap 3.5 hour after her wake, and a week ago she could sleep for 1.25 – 1.5 hour but yesterday she struggled 1 hour before finally slept for 30 mins. Her bed time is 7 pm. Can you kindly advise if I need to adjust her routine and when can I start transition her to 1 nap?
Thank you so much.
Mai
Hi Mai,
thanks for reaching out.
I think your little one is a little tired from her early wakings, and she could be refusing the second nap because of this.
The best thing you can do for your daughter is to sleep train her – this will get her falling asleep peacefully each night, waking later in the morning, and will also sort out her overall schedule.
Then you can figure out whether she’d benefit from 1 nap or not! And she would finally be sleeping well again. Here is our program:
https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/baby-sleep-consultant
Hoping to see you in there!
Artemis, BSMS Support Team
My twin girls are almost 17 months old and I am transitioning them to 1 nap per day. They wake up at 7, and I put them down around 12:15 for their nap. (We have been on this schedule almost 2 weeks) they seem to be struggling to have long naps. Occasionally they will do 2-3 hours but it seems to be happening less and less. Prior to this change, they were sleeping 1.5 hours in the morning, and afternoon, and still sleep 11-12 hours at night. I just feel going from 3 hours of sleep a day down to 1.5 hours a day is a big jump, and they definitely do better when they get closer to 3 hours of daytime sleep.
Is this common? Are my expectations just too high that they should sleep 2-3 hours?
I should also maybe mention I didn’t transition to 1 day gradually. We can get through the morning ok, but the afternoons after they’re short nap are definitely the hardest
Hello Britt,
2-3 hours of day sleep is still the goal for a 17 month old. The transition to 1 nap can definitely take longer than the other nap transitions! Plus, toddlers go through a bit of a sleep regression around 18 months and this can temporarily disrupt naps. I would definitely check out the 1 nap guide and use Jilly’s tips for slowly moving to 1 nap, and also, check out this video. If you still feel like things aren’t getting better, definitely look into signing up for a private consultation. We would love to chat with you on Zoom and create a custom schedule to help make this transition easier.
Please let me know if you have any questions!
https://youtu.be/bcX1EzhTltw
https://programs.babysleepmadesimple.com/30-minutes-private-consultation-checkout/
Best,
Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
Our daughter has just turned 1 and for nearly 2 weeks she has been fighting both her morning and afternoon naps. Despite sleepy cues and appropriate wake windows, it has always been difficult to settle her for naps, they average 40 mins. But she is usually still cheerful and active in between sleep.
We’ve now had multiple days where she has managed a total of 30 mins for daytime sleep but still manages to sleep through the night.
At bedtime, she has been able to self-settle and sleep through the night since she was 8 months, but we have been unsuccessful with getting her to self settle for naps. We’ve tried for months and use the same methods as we did to sleep train her for nights (gradual withdrawal). Might we have more success in transitioning to 1 nap early?
Hi Jenny,
Happy birthday to your little one!
I definitely recommend you stick to 2 naps – it’s way too early to drop to 1 nap.
The best place for you to get your daughter sleeping amazingly for naps is in our naps program. It’s highly affordable and right now you get an additional 15% off when you use the coupon code ‘2022’!
Here is the link:
https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/naps-getting-downtime-in-the-daytime/
Let’s get your daughter sleeping amazingly,
Artemis, BSMS Support Team
Hello! Thank you for the helpful article. My daughter is nearly 14 months and showing signs of readiness to transition to one nap, namely fighting the second nap on most days. But I’m really struggling with the transition because she wakes up at 5:30 or 6 at the latest most days (always has, probs always will) and she REALLY struggles to get past 10am. She will take a nice long nap at 10 if I let her (sometimes 2.5 hours, other times 90 mins) and then I can get by til bedtime if I do it early at 6:30. But I feel like I’m doing something “wrong” by doing her one nap early at 10. I’ll keep trying to push it as her wake windows slowly expand, but is it ok to just give her one long nap at 10 for now?
Hello!
An earlier (longer nap) is sometimes needed if your little one is waking up on the earlier side. We help parents everyday transition to one nap and create a customized schedule that will work best for LO’s. We would love to help you tweak some things to get your LO sleeping later in the morning. Please check out our naps program details below! We offer personal daily support in our FB group and offer several zoom calls per month! Please let me know if you have any questions. We would LOVE to help your family!
https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/naps-getting-downtime-in-the-daytime/
Best,
Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
Hi, My son is 14 months old and he has been on 1 nap for a month. We started the transition from 5/5 wake window for a week and then he started taking a long time (20min) to fall asleep at nap and bedtime so I have been tweaking his wake window to either 5.25/5.25 or 5/5.5. Throughout the whole transition, he has been having early morning wakes (5/5:30am). From the past 3 days, he has been crying at 10:30pm for a bit (doesn’t need an assistant and he will fall back asleep by himself) and stirring from 3:30am onwards. He wakes up anywhere between 5 and 5:30am and he screams at 6am, so I go into his room and soothe him but he doesn’t go back to sleep so I finally get him up at 6:15am. His nap is usually 1.5-2 hours. Is he overtired or undertired? What am I doing wrong? :/
Hi, Rika!
I would aim for awake times of 5/5.5 hrs. I think since the schedule has been changed a few times, he might just be adjusting to it still. Even when we change our LOs schedule by 30 mins-1 hr, it’s almost like they get a bit jet lagged! That’s why consistency is key with baby sleep 🙂
I would just try to stick to a consistent schedule from now on; asleep by the same time every night, asleep for naps at the same time every day, and waking up in the morning at the same time every day, too.
Also, taking 20 minutes to fall asleep is actually not that long! You tell me that he sleeps independently – that’s great! If he’s just lying down awake for 20 minutes before nap and bedtime, that’s totally fine.
I understand that the night wakings and crying at 6 am is difficult. I’m so sorry! Here is an article on how to deal with early wakings:
https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/toddler-keeps-waking-up-at-5-am/
I hope this is helpful. Please reach out if you need more help!
Artemis, BSMS Support Team
Hi, my LO is 13 months old and for the past couple weeks has been struggling to fall asleep at every nap AND bedtime. It takes around 30-45 minutes…sometimes just chatting and being full of energy and other times just screaming. Over the weekend we were gone and with crazy schedules, I just did one nap at about 12pm and he would nap about 1.5 hours and fall asleep within 10-15. And went to bed with no fuss. Could it be that he actually is ready for the 2 to 1 nap transition…or could this be a regression? Last month he did this for a week to a week and a half straight and I plowed through it, then it got a bit better for maybe a week and then went totally crazy again. He sleeps through the night (waking to roll over and sometimes lets out a cry but doesn’t take long to fall back asleep) and had been taking 2 naps ranging from 1-1.5 hours a piece before all of this started. Just wondering if it could be time to just go down to 1 nap. What do you think?
Hi Melissa, I saw your comment on the Chat message system first so I have emailed you from there. I sent you some helpful articles and let you know what I thought about the situation. Let me know if you have any trouble receiving the email! Becca, BSMS Support Team
Thank you for your content and helpful suggestions! It has been the only place I’ve been able to find helpful suggestions relating to this transition. My twin boys are 18 months old in 4 days. I started the transition from two naps to one about 2.5 weeks ago and they are so fussy in the mornings and the afternoons. We have slowly pushed nap time later and later by 15 minutes every few days and we are at 11:15. The naps have not been very long for either especially after pushing past 11. Today pushed me to write because of the excessive crying and 45 minute nap. I will try a catnap today for the first time but I have been very hesitant. I’m afraid I started the transition too early and my one LO that pushed me to start was going through a regression instead of showing signs of being ready. I think the cumulative lack of sleep is really catching up to them and I feel like we have dug ourselves into an overtired hole. They were sleeping with two naps ok but both would chat and sing for to themselves for about 15-30 minutes before falling asleep for most naps. Once they fell asleep they were sleeping for at least 45 minutes but usually longer (pre-regression). Did I start too soon? Should I try to go back to two naps? Have you heard of many LO who transition after 18 months?
Thank you!
Hi, Renee!
Babies are usually ready to transition to 1 nap around the age of 14-15 months old, so don’t worry, it’s not too early. It just sounds like you’re struggling a bit, which is normal. It’s not easy to transition to 1 nap, especially with twins!
We help parents overcome struggles like these every single day in our Naps program. I really think this could be a great option for you right now. You can choose the ‘Support’ plan to have us help you throughout your journey. This way, you can have your boys napping amazingly for years to come, and it’ll help you navigate changes like these more easily in the future.
Here is the link:
https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/naps-getting-downtime-in-the-daytime/
We hope to see you inside the program.
/Artemis, BSMS Support Team
My 15 month old has been night waking since being on one nap (about 6 weeks ) we had to go to one nap as she refuses second nap altogether. when she wakes at night she is up for 2-3 hours(brutal for mum). It is not consistent every night but normally 3/4 times a week.
She will only nap for one hour at 11am but if i put her down a bit earlier will nap 1.5-2 sometimes , what would you suggest in terms of time of a nap time and time for bed time to avoid becoming over tired and night waking. She is normally up around 6-6.30am
Hi Sarah, I am so sorry you are going through this! That sounds really rough. If she is waking at 6:00am then I would do a nap at 11:00am and then bedtime at 6:00 or 6:30pm. Some babies like to have that nap a little earlier and end up sleeping better and longer If you find that she is tired early, you might try putting her down for nap around 10:00 or 10:30. I am also going to attach an article for the 15 month sleep regression and a link for our 21 Days to Peace and Quiet Program. 6-weeks is a long time to continue such a long middle of the night wake up. I am not totally sure what’s going on there. We had another mom dealing with something similar and she said her kiddo had “split nights” She researched this on her own and found some good strategies. Maybe you could look into that as well. It is not something we see often so it isn’t addressed in our program directly. Here are those links:
https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/15-month-sleep-regression
https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/21-days-to-peace-quiet-program/
I hope this helps get you started! Please reach out again if you need more advice or support!
Becca, BSMS Support Team
Hi! I have 15m old who for the last 4 weeks (since being sick) has been waking every 1-2 hours at night. For the first week-2 weeks we thought it was a regression but now that we are in our 4 week of these horrible night wakings I was thinking of trialing a transition to 1 day nap. He usually wakes at 7am and would have a 10.30/11am sleep then a 3.30-4.30 sleep but has been fighting his afternoon one. Would I try an 11.30 sleep and if he doesn’t sleep longer than 1.5hr I give him a cat nap around 4-4.30? And in bed by 7.30?
He used to sleep 7am-7pm every night up until getting sick.
Thanks from a desperate, tired and 6month pregnant mum!
Hi! OMG This sounds so exhausting! And so frustrating after sleeping so well! So I would be willing to bet that he experienced the 15 month regression when he was sick and that is what threw off his sleep. Sometimes after a regression, things change with sleep. Is he sleep trained? If he is sleep trained then I would make sure you are consistently following through with his sleep training method throughout the night. If he is not sleep trained then I would highly encourage you to look into it before this new baby comes! The sleep training program we offer is here: https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/21-days-to-peace-quiet-program/
As for his naps, We like to encourage parents to keep that second nap as long as possible. With some sleep training I know his naps will improve but that would still be quite a few weeks of disrupted naps. If you choose to sleep train then we simply encourage you to do whatever it takes to get those naps in until he is sleeping through the night. So that might mean rocking, holding him while he sleeps, etc. But with some kiddos they transition to one nap early so if you want to try it and see how it goes and if it helps I would keep the 7am/7pm wake and sleep routine and move his nap to 12:00. To help him transition, you might start with an 11:30 naptime with a little catnap around 3:00 or 3:30, just make sure he is awake by 4 so that there is a 3 hour awake window before bed. You will keep this just until his first nap gets a little longer and then you will cut the catnap and scoot bedtime up just a little until his nap gets really good. (2-3 hours)
Our program offers lots of support to mamas and teaches all about sleep. Now would be an excellent time to sign up for lifetime access so that you can sleep train your LO before your newborn arrives then you can continue to utilize the sleep support with your newborn. I will also attach our 15 month sleep regression article since I believe that is where all this started and you might find some helpful hints in there 🙂
https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/15-month-sleep-regression
And here is Jilly’s video on transitioning from 2 naps to 1. https://youtu.be/bcX1EzhTltw
Becca, BSMS Support Team
Hello! I have a 12.5 month old who is not “fighting naps” but is requiring more and more awake time to take his naps. We are in the “2 naps is too much but one is not enough” stage.
He has been an excellent night sleeper, sleeping through the night since 2 months old.
He wakes at 7 am (or I have to wake him– again, to be sure to fit in 2 naps. Even a 15 min late wake-up makes the naps a challenge time-wise). He has always had a 7 am wake up time.
Nap #1: 10:20-10:25 am. I currently wake him by 11:15 or so because he is requiring 3 hours 45 minutes of awake time to take nap #2. This puts nap #2 at 3 pm with this wake window. I was waking him around 4 pm, but lately he has been incredibly cranky/cries when I wake him up, more-so than ever before.
However, if I don’t wake him, he goes to bed very late, as he currently needs 4 hours 20 mins of awake time at least to go to bed without crying and a fight for nighttime.
He currently falls asleep within 10 minutes with these wake windows. But if I let him sleep any longer, bedtime gets even later- 8:30 – 8:45 pm.
I am constantly waking him up and I feel that he is not getting enough sleep like this, but also don’t think he is ready to get rid of a morning snooze. He is so cranky with the tiny catnap only. He used to be a chronic catnapper until about 8 months when his naps got better on their own.
He always falls asleep independently- we have fostered very good sleep habits from the beginning.
Do I start to try to push him in the morning? He is also very sensitive to getting overtired, which has made this a challenge during other nap transitions. This one seems the toughest though!
Thanks for any advice!
Hi!
Sounds like your little one is a great sleeper, good job!
I suggest this schedule for your 12 month old:
7 am: wake up
9:30-11 am: nap (meaning he’s asleep by 9:30)
2-3:30: nap (again, asleep by 2)
7 pm: bedtime
Use our 12 month old sleeping guides for support:
https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/12-month-sleep-regression/
https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/1-year-old-sleep-tips-toddler/
Try this and reach out if you need more help!
/Artemis, BSMS Support Team
Hi, I am a big fan of your videos, tips and your articles. My LO is 16.5 months old. We started sleep training 2wks ago and she’s started to sleep through the night consistently the past week. She sleeps around 11-12hrs at night now. Since I’m seeing improvement in night sleep I want to move onto nap training and thinking of dropping a nap. She used to fall asleep no problem for morning nap and has always been a great morning napper. She sleeps 1.5-2hrs and sleeps 30min in afternoon. Shes started to fight afternoon nap and some days she started skipping afternoon nap. I have been feeling she’s probably ready to drop a nap but I wanted to fix night sleep first. She currently wakes around 7-730am. I am aiming fot her first nap to be 10:30-10:45am (was working fine until about 2 days ago) and she sleeps until 12-1230pm. I am trying to increase awake time by 30min from 2 days ago to lengthen in preparation to transition to one nap. But since past 4 days when I put her down in crib she cries for a long time (i go in after 10min, wait another 10..) and doesn’t fall asleep unless I BF. Her second nap is around 3:30-4pm for about 30 min. I don’t want her sleeping past 430pm. I also know she’s getting her molars now and just entered another leap. Her bed time is 730pm. Earlier if she skips a nap. So my question is.. 1. Is she ready to drop her nap to one nap? 2. Should I just skipped lengthening awake time process altogether and just go to 1130am or 12pm sleep time? 3. Should I let her cry and go in periodically until she naturally falls asleep?
What should I do..
Hello,
Thank you so much for your message! I am so glad to hear that your night training is going well. It is amazing when our LO’s start sleeping well. Nap training is definitely the last piece of the “sleep puzzle” and often allows your LO to get a pretty solid schedule down. We suggest nap training after your LO has been night trained/sleeping well for at least 2 weeks. I definitely also agree that your LO is also probably ready to drop a nap in the next week or two as well. It is definitely a little bit of a balancing act since you just night trained and we definitely want to preserve great night sleep as well.
We would love for you to join our Naps program so Jilly & members of our support team can walk you step by step through the nap training process. Definitely check out the details here. We would love to help you!
https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/naps-getting-downtime-in-the-daytime/
Best,
Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
HI there! I have a 17 month old who has been struggling with night wakings, sometimes around 2am, sometimes 4am or 5am waking for the day. When he is up at night, he will go back to sleep and he will sleep in to 7:30, so I move the morning nap (usually around 10:30) to 11:30 and do one nap. Most of the time, he will sleep 2.5 hours or so, and can make it to bedtime around 8. On the days I give him one nap, he’s up at night screaming. I don’t go in there unless he’s been crying for over an hour… this happens about every 7-10 days. Sometimes when he gets two naps, he still struggles with early mornings. He didn’t do this between 3moths and 15 months, its just been lately. I don’t know if he’s overtired or what?! It always takes him 30 mins to go to sleep at night, whether the wake window before bedtime was 4 hours or 5.5 hours. He’s gotten 7 teeth in the last couple of months, so that might be some of it, but it’s just hard to figure out what’s been going on since it’s been happening for two months now. Thanks for your help!
Hello Lori, when doing this last transition you want to aim for 5/5.5h awake time (this is when fully transitioned as explained in the guide). If your LO is napping from 11.30am to 2pm (when the nap is great) he still needs an earlier bedtime. I would go with 7pm (earlier if the nap was shorter). Also at his age, you can stop offering a second nap. There might be a few days when he doesn’t nap enough so move bedtime earlier but in a week or so he will fully transition. Hope this helps, if you have any trouble and would love our help check out our sleep training programs here https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/get-help-now/
Micaela BSMS Support Team
Hi! Have read through your post and am currently trying to transition my 21 month old onto one nap (tried back at 15 months and had hoooouuurrss of overnight wakings). She is only napping for and hour and ten mins for a midday nap (and has started crying out for a quick bum pat an hour or two into her bedtime sleep – bedtime 6-6:30). She has also been waking at 5-5:30 which I’m pretty sure is the overtiredness but not sure what else to do! She happily lays in her bed in the morning until 6/6:20, and I leave her in her cot after her short midday nap for an extra 30 mins or so.
I have been alternating with bringing back the two nap every couple of days to try and catch up her sleep but not sure whether to stay consistent.
Any advice would be amazing thank you!
Hello Lauren,
Thank you for checking out our website! Given your LO’s age, I would stick with 1 nap consistently and “follow the clock”. It could take your LO about 1-2 weeks to adapt, but she will figure it out!
Try this schedule:
6am-out of the crib
11-1-nap/quiet rest in the crib if she wakes early
6:30pm-bedtime (goal is to be asleep, so start routine earlier)
Lots of fresh air and outdoor play!
Best,
Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
Hi! Thanks for sharing all this great info!
My 16 month old son has just transitioned from 2-1 naps this week. To give a brief history, he has been sleeping through the night since he was 3 months old, however the last couple of months he has been waking up earlier than usual (6-6:30am, before it was 7-7:30), and more recently has been experiencing night wakings. He has been walking for a couple of months already. On two naps, he was typically taking his morning nap but would refuse the afternoon nap at least a couple times a week. Since trying 1 nap, we’ve been putting him down around 12 pm because he is at daycare and they do lunch at 11:30, so anything earlier isn’t really feasible. He’s been sleeping for only 1-1.5 hrs. We’ve been putting him to bed 30 min earlier than usual (around 6:30). Anything earlier than that is tough with our work/daycare. Was hoping you had some suggestions on how to extend his nap, we would love if it was at least 2 hrs, in order to avoid the night wakings and early mornings! Any helpful tips would be appreciated. Thanks so much!
Hello!
The 2-1 nap transition can sometimes take the longest. I would try keeping your LO in the crib for an extra 10-15 minutes every 2-3 days until you hit the 2 hour mark. You want to slowly teach his body to expect sleep. It may just start off as rest during this time, but it will gradually extend to sleeping!
Best,
Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
Everything takes time! I guess… And if you’re working in some kind of producing system – you don’t have much time left. Finding the perfect timing is a key. I can also recommend a book on sleep training: https://www.parental-love.com/shop/toddler-sleep-training – it helped us a milion!
Thanks for sharing! Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
16 months old twins struggling to transition from 2 naps to 1 nap. Been more than 1 month. They have chronic early waking 5:15 am to 5:45 am. But it’s been worse lately sometimes like 4:45 am
Desired wake time: 6am (even if they wake up before 6am we don’t pick them up till 6am. It’s been going on since 7-8 months and they still wake up before 6am every single day)
Desired nap time: 11 am for 2-3 hours. It’s been really hard to keep them up till 11am. They get cranky and sleepy around 10am. Sometimes Would fall asleep on high chair during lunch at 10:15-10:30am. They only nap for 1 hour to 75 mins. Sometimes they can nap for 2 hours but very rarely. We don’t pick them up till 1.5 hours in crib time. Sometimes they would skip lunch altogether. They don’t before nap and don’t eat after nap sigh.
Bedtime: 5:50 or 6pm since they only have 1 nap for 1 hour sometimes.
Questions: how to help them lengthen their nap length and how to improve their food intake if they fall asleep in the high chair? Will early waking ever resolve once their nap is 2-3 hours? Not sure what we do wrong. We are at a loss. Would love a step by step guidance please. Thank you!
Hi Amie!
I hear your struggle, early wake up times are hard and so are inconsistent naps. I recognise that you need step-by-step guidance, so let me refer you to some really helpful resources:
1) Our early wakings guide for toddlers.
2) Our Exhausted Mom’s Starter Kit, a step by step guide to the basics of sleep training (including a printable, peaceful bedtime routine)
3) Our 21 Days to Peace & Quiet Program.
I think the best way for you to solve your twins’ sleep issues, and the answer to all your questions is to sort out nights sleep first. Fix the early wakings, then they will be able to be awake until your desired nap time (and therefore eat properly, too). Sleep training will then help you get consistency to your days.
I hope this helps, good luck!
/Artemis, BSMS Support Team
Hi! It’s been about 6 weeks or so since I transitioned my 18m old into a one nap schedule. He usually sleeps for 1.5-2hrs during the nap but he’s still waking up very early, usually at 4.30am. i re settle him with a shshhh if possible or a sip of water before he goes back to sleep for about an hour but want to get up at 5.30. I re settle in the same way until 6 but sometimes he will cry out every ten mins or so from 4.30 so neither of us are getting a full rest. He always wakes crying at nap time and every morning and has done so for months. I just don’t know what else to do!! We have a strong routine, he goes to sleep independently, in a dark room with white noise all night. He’s happy and very active during the day. Our schedule is more or less: wake repeatedly crying out from 4.30 – 6. Get up at 6, nap between 11.30&12 for 1.5hrs, rarely 2hrs. bedtime at 7. Please help!! Id love to know how to help him to wake happily as it can’t be nice to wake every day crying!
Hello Kim!
Sometimes if our LO’s are overtired, they tend to wake up earlier in the morning. I think it may help if we try to increase his sleep.
I would try:
6am-out of crib
11-1-nap
6pm-bedtime
Again, if he wakes before 6am, follow your steps and have him work on resettling. Try to see if he can fall back asleep independently at this time. He may be expecting your support every morning at 4:30pm and it could be out of habit. I would push his nap a bit and do closer to 5 hours. In order to gradually help him extend his nap, keep him in his crib for an extra 15 minutes every 2-3 days until that nap lengthens and get closer to 2-3 hours. I would also do an earlier bedtime. Try this for a good 2 weeks to see if it helps his overall sleep improve!
Best,
Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
THANK YOU SO MUCH for your advice, it is much appreciated
You are very welcome!!
THANK YOU SO MUCH for your advice. It is much appreciated x
You are very welcome!!
In response to:
What awake times are you currently using? Morning wake up time? Bedtime? I would go ahead and stick with your 1 nap at this point. 1.5 hour naps are a good start! It can take up to a month or so for your LO to gradually extend those naps. Just do an earlier bedtime until the nap is elongated!
Thank you for this…. in response, for a one nap day we use 5 hour awake times. But he woke at 5:30am today so it’s quite an early nap. We will bring his bedtime forward, but if he only sleeps for one hour should we still try for a second nap?
Usually he wakes at 7am and goes to bed at 7pm, but during this transition his wake up time went to 6:30am, then to 6:10am to 5:50am and then 5:30am this morning!! And no matter what wake up times we do now, he cries a lot at every sleep time which is distressing. Thanks so much for your help!!!
Hello,
I would try 4/4.5 hours of the awake time in the morning before nap. If the nap is under an hour, then definitely go ahead and do a 30 minute cat nap in the afternoon. If the nap is closer to 1.5/2 hours, then aim for an earlier bedtime. I would do bedtime as early as 6:30pm if naps are super short or if the awake time will be too long before bed. Being overtired can often lead to early wakings!
Best,
Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
This was really good to read, thank you. We thought the transition was going well with out little boy (14.5 months) but not so! We tried one nap – he can definitely stay awake long enough – but his naps are 1.5 hours max, usually about an hour. He will rarely have a second nap. But bedtimes and naps are really hard now – he cries desperately and always needs a resettle where before he was fine going to sleep. He is also now waking up really early too!
Reverted back to two naps with the view to increase wake time more gently as you describe though today he didn’t have second nap and still cried at bedtime. Not sure what to do now!!
Hello!
What awake times are you currently using? Morning wake up time? Bedtime? I would go ahead and stick with your 1 nap at this point. 1.5 hour naps are a good start! It can take up to a month or so for your LO to gradually extend those naps. Just do an earlier bedtime until the nap is elongated!
Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
Hi, Thank you for this guide.
My daughter is 13.5 months old and has been really fighting both naps lately. No matter what I try, she takes ages to fall asleep at both naps, especially nap 2. I think it is too early to start transitioning to 1 nap. But, the daily battle is exhausting. She falls asleep by herself at bedtime. But for naps, I have to rock her, sing to her, etc. And, after doing all that I have been waking her up from both naps after 1 hour of sleep time because if they go on for very long then bedtime is pushed way too late! Anything I can do to change this?
Her routine is:
Awake at around 7:30-7:45 am
Nap 1 – about 3.5 hours after awake time
Nap 2 – about 4 hours to 4 hr 15 mins after waking up from nap 1 (I have tried to get this earlier, but it just fails)
Bedtime – about 4 hours after waking up from nap 2 (usually around 9 pm)
She usually sleeps for 10.5 hours at night and does not wake up in between unless she’s feeling hot or cold.
Any advice appreciated 🙂
Hello,
Thank you for your post! I definitely recommend capping the first nap to 1 hour to help preserve the second nap. It is great that your LO is falling asleep independently at night. I would also work on training your LO to do this for naps. It will really help her fall asleep faster and nap longer. If your LO has been fighting the naps though for more than 2 weeks, it could also be time to transition to 1 nap. I am attaching some resources for you below!
https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/naps-getting-downtime-in-the-daytime/
https://youtu.be/bcX1EzhTltw
Best,
Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
Hi! I love your site and feedback, but hoping for some advice…
I am in the midst of transitioning my 15mo to 1 nap. He was refusing his second nap or taking forever to fall asleep, so we were having to push bedtime later and then he was waking super early (sometimes at 5 😳).
He is still waking early… Usually between 5:30-6. I leave him in his crib until 6:30. Sometimes he falls asleep but usually just chats and plays. If he’s awake this early, getting him to stretch until 12 seems like a feat, so I will put him down sometimes at 10:30/11, but then he will only sleep for 40-60 mins. And then I feel totally stuck when he wakes by 12. No time for a second nap, but a 5:30 bedtime seems like it will only reinforce those early morning wakings. I was so worried if I put him down earlier than 10 for a one nap, that he would sleep so little. He’s also been SUPER cranky and I know it’s because he is exhausted. He’s cried more during this transition than in the last 3 months 😢. Thanks for any help.
Hello Deanna,
Thank you so much for your post. The 2-1 nap transition can be a big adjustment for LO’s. It is my favorite nap though once it gets locked down!
I would try a 6pm bedtime and a 6am wake up time. Aim for your nap to be 11-1 each day. 5 hours of awake time can work really well at this age. Be consistent with a by the clock schedule for a couple weeks and you should see a big improvement!!
Best,
Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
Hi Team!
My 18.5mo is still between 1&2 naps.
He seems fine with awake time to 11/11.30 however then only sleeps 1-1.5hrs. Bedtimes are havoc even when I get him down at 545/6.
We were doing short/long routine and everything goes smoothly. Does that mean I should just keep doing short/long?
Hello Natasha,
There is an 18 month regressions that occurs around this time so this could be disrupting sleep a bit. I would definitely try to be consistent with 1 nap at this age. I would do 5 hours of awake time before the nap and then 5.5/6 hours of awake time before bed. Being consistent with 1 nap will really help. Also, check out our 18 month regression for helpful tips!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7HjT406pjA&fbclid=IwAR0wNZQasOWUlwvHr8y9BLEdHgUCWCN6UFDvCEHfb5xKRSFPbWa9wZfWs74
Best,
Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
Hello! Great article. In your experience how long does it take for a 16 month old’s one nap to increase to the 2-3 hour length? My daughter transitioned to one nap at around 15 months but still naps for only 1.5 hours (her usual nap length when taking 2 naps). So it’s been one month and the length of her one nap has not increased. I feel I have hit the sweet spot for her nap time based on her tired level…but maybe not? What other factor may be influencing this? Or would it just take more time for the nap length the increase? She sleeps a solid 11/12 hours at night (typically). I’m worried shes slightly more cranky from the lack of daytime sleep. Thank you so much!!
Hello Cristina,
It sounds like your LO is having great night sleep! 11-12 hours is perfect. It can take some for your LO to extend that nap. I always found that a few things helped me with my first daughter. I will list some tips below!
1) Keep a consistent wake up and bedtime.
2) Follow the proper awake times for nap. Try to extend your LO gradually. So if she only naps 90 minutes, try to keep her in her crib for an extra 10 minutes every 3 days (if she is content hanging out) to let her body still rest and hopefully that will help her extend her actual sleep time.
3) Go outside for lots of fresh air before nap and make sure your LO is very physically active.
4) Keep fruits, yogurts and other high sugar foods for after nap (or right after morning wake up). Whenever I did sugary foods before nap, my LO always napped a little bit less.
I would give these tips a try!
Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
My little boy is 13 months his naps are getting pushed later and later, he wakes around 7/7:30 then naps 10/10:30. I have to cap this nap as he goes to my mums at 11/11:30 plus if I don’t cap it he won’t nap in the afternoon till very late causing a late bedtime. How do I go about the transition when he’s at my mums. Our routine tends to be
Wake 7
Nap 10 30 mins
Nap 2:30-3:45 I have to wake him as he’s taking ages to go down
Then bed is 8:30
Each day naps and bedtime seems to be later and later
He’s only at my mums a hour which she feeds him for me
Dear Laura, let me share with you our 1y old sleeping guide https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/1-year-old-sleep-tips-toddler
At 13mo your baby still needs two naps and should be napping 2/3h daily. Ideally two 1.5h naps or 1h in the AM and 2h in the PM. Think outside the box and see if you can manage to get him to granma earlier so he can start his nap there? If your baby is falling asleep independently at bedtime and STTN then we could help you out to smooth all details in our Nap training program. Find out more here https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/naps-getting-downtime-in-the-daytime/
Happy to answer any questions you might have!
Micaela BSMS Support Team
Hi Jilly!
Your programs helped my baby be the great sleeper she is today even though we started after months of sleep deprivation. Right now she is 15.5 months old, sleeps through the night beautifully, and recently transitioned to one nap at noon. The transition went really smoothly, except she still only sleeps 1hr 15min – 2h per nap and it’s been a few weeks since we started.
It sounds like a lot of people are in the same situation, and they are all referred to the “How to Extend your Baby’s Naps” article. I do everything in there, but I have a question. Can we adapt the “nap power hour” to the “nap power 2-hours?” Or is this expecting too much from a little one? I try to leave her alone to go back to sleep, but I usually cave after 10 minutes if it involves some whining.
Thank you for everything!
Hi Erin,
Thanks so much for your message! So glad that things have been going well overall. The 2-1 nap transition can take some time and the nap should lengthen. I would always leave my LO in the crib until the 2 hour mark, but she was usually content though. I would try extending her gradually. So leave her in for the 1 hour and 25 minute mark, and then add on 10 minutes over 3 days, until you gradually get up to the 2 hour mark. See if she can gradually work up to being content and will just rest in the crib! Keep us posted! 🙂 Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
Hi,
My almost 14 months old has been fighting bedtime for 5 days in a row now. Her usual schedule is:
6.45am wake
9.45-10.45am nap 1
2.15-3.30pm nap 2
7.30pm bedtime
She has not been fighting her naps, she did whined a lot more than usual but ended up sleeping within 10mins mark, and slept for 1hour at least. She doesnt usually fight bedtime, but the last 5 days had been hysterical cries for 15mins+. I ended up going in and rocking her to sleep. Is she ready to go to 1 nap?
Hello Jocelin,
Has your LO been learning any new skills, like talking or walking? Sometimes this can affect night sleep. Do you have a peaceful nightly bedtime routine in place? We usually want to see 2 weeks if disturbed sleep/naps before thinking about a 1 nap transition. I would continue to have your LO fall asleep independently at night though because starting could rock her could create new habits which ultimately make it tougher to sleep!
Best,
Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
Hi Alyssa,
She has been walking for 2 months now. She is talking more than usual.
For the past 2 weeks, she had 5 continuous night of bedtime battles (rock to sleep), followed by 3 nights of no cries and self settling, followed by 5 nights of bedtime battles (rock to sleep). She fell asleep, self settles, for all 2naps within 10mins.
Is she maybe teething?
We left her for up to 30mins and she got more hysterical. Patting her only made it worse so we ended up rocking her again.
What would you suggest? Extending latest wake window? 1 nap transition?
I am getting very worried that she might get dependant on us.
Yes, we have nightly bedtime routine at around the same time each day. We skipped the massage part since she doesn’t seem to enjoy it. We do:
Bath
Moisturise
Diaper
PJ
5 mins play
5 mins book
Into bed
Hi! I would see if you can try and combine the massage and play time. Give your LO a few small toys to play with while you are massaging. This can really help to calm your LO down. Just make sure the toys are low in stimulation!
Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
Hello Jocelin,
I think it would really help for to fall asleep independently. She may be becoming dependent on needing assistance to fall asleep and this will occur for all night wakings too. Walking can affect sleep for the first 1-4 weeks, so I don’t think it is a milestone at this point. We would be happy to help you with the transition and to get your LO sleeping independently at night. Check out our program details to. We can comb through your schedule and make any necessary adjustments. We would love to help!
https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/21-days-to-peace-quiet-program
Best,
Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
Hi Alyssa,
We have decided to transition her to 1 nap. She started refusing both her morning and afternoon nap.
At the moment she wakes up at 7am, down for nap at 10.45am. So far the longest she naps is 1.5hours. What time should I give her catnap? What is the absolute latest time I have to wake her up? And what should her bedtime be?
Thank you.
Hello Jocelin,
1.5 hours is a great start for her nap! I would not do a catnap. I would just move up bedtime. Bedtime can be as early as 6/6:30pm while you are transitioning to 1 nap 🙂
Best,
Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
Hi, thank you for this article…it has been super helpful, as with the replies to the comments!
My little girl is 14 months old. Since September she has been fighting her two naps. She would either sleep for one and not the other, or do both however they would be short. She met all the criteria you listed to transition to one nap, therefore about two weeks ago I started the transition. The first few days were not bad. She was waking up around 6:30-7am, napping for two hours around 11-11:30am then bedtime at 7pm. On day 3, she started only taking roughly a 1 hour nap. I had moved her bedtime to 6:30 to accommodate however this caused her to start waking up earlier as well.
I feel like I have tried everything from adjusting nap time, moving bedtime, even trying to get her back to sleep in the morning but nothing works to get her on a good routine.
On top of it all, I’m thinking she may be beginning to pop some teeth, and she has just learned to walk the last few days.
I’m at a loss on what to do to get her to nap long enough during the day, while maintaining a good bedtime, and to keep her sleeping later in the morning. Ideally back to 6:30-7am would be great!
Do you have any advice on what to do?
Thanks!!
Hello Jaden, the guide suggests to let baby sleep up to 3h at the time he usually has his first nap and then slowly extending this awake time until it fits the middle of the day for your child. Sometimes we need to keep a specific awake time for quite a long time, especially when they transition early. Micaela BSMS Support Team
My almost 15 month old daughter is definitely ready for one nap—she does well being awake from around 7am to 11:30/noon right now. Problem is, she only naps around 40 mins before popping awake and crying! She will go back to sleep only if being held (and who has time to hold a baby for another hour??). Advice on how to lengthen her one a day nap?
Hi Lindsey, check our guide on how to extend naps here https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/how-to-extend-your-babys-naps/
Micaela BSMS Support Team
Hi! All of this information has been extremely useful, especially the stuff in the comment section. My 14-month-old does a great job with longer wake windows, however, her naps are still less than 2 hours. Like today, an hour and 15 minutes and because she woke up at 6 am, her bedtime would have been 5:30 if I hadn’t done the 30 minutes catnap. I have slowly been moving her awake time in the morning. Today she made it to 4.5 hours no problem. Tomorrow we will do the same. Any other tips? Avoid the catnap? 5:30 bedtime is too early, right? She’s really at an in between stage right now and it’s tough!!
Hello and thank you for your message! The 2-1 nap transition can definitely take some time. Some days your LO may require a cat nap and other days you may have to do an earlier bedtime. When in doubt, we like to preserve bedtime vs. doing a catnap. We usually say to try a bedtime around 6:00PM at the earliest! If you think bedtime would be much earlier, then I would do a late catnap, but definitely try to keep the nap under 30 minutes (just enough to get the edge off). I would actually recommend starting with doing no more than 4/4.5 hours of awake time before nap 1, and then doing 5/5.5 hours of awake time before bed!
Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
Hi Jilly,
Your guide has been the most helpful out of all the resources I’ve seen out there, thank you for your guidance! I have a question about the nap transition and early wakings. My little guy is 18 months and I’ve been working on transitioning him to 1 nap but he has been suffering from early wake-ups (5-5:30am) when I consistently follow 1 nap for longer than 3-4 days and have to put him back on a 2-nap schedule for a couple of days until he goes back to waking up around 6:30-7am. I leave him in his crib until 6:30am since he seems fine up until that time which is when he starts to fuss and cry. But do I stick with the 1 nap and put him down around his usual time of 11:30/12 or do I continue to give him 2 naps? If I keep him up to 11:30, he gets overtired and gives me a bad nap that ends at 12:30, where he would need a cat nap around 4 that pushes his bedtime to later (he fights that nap hard and often misses it altogether). when he does go down for a cat nap and I wake him up from the cat nap early so as to not push bedtime even later than it already is, he gets extremely upset and fussy the rest of the day. Early bedtimes (6-6:30) has always always resulted in early wake-ups in my case since his night sleep is almost always around 11 hours and very rarely 12 hours.
I suppose my long-winded explanation is a preamble to ask these two questions:
1) what the heck do I do when I put him down for 1 nap around 11 and he wakes up around 12:30 or 1? do i give him a cat nap and deal with the fussiness and late bedtime? or do i push him past his wake window of 5 hours and try to put him down around 6/6:30?
2) what kind of schedule would I need to put him on if he continues to give me early wakeups? do i assume his wake window starts at 5:30 when he wakes up or 6:30 when i get him out of crib?
**current schedule**
5:30/6am wakeup
10:30/11am (he starts getting overtired) nap 1
3:30/4pm catnap for a half hour
[4:30pm absolute max time to wake him up]
8:30 bedtime (he plays in his crib in the pitch black until he finally falls asleep around 9pm)
**ideal schedule**
7am wakeup (I wish I wish I wish)
12pm nap 1
2/3pm wakeup
7:30pm bedtime
Hello Sarah,
Thanks so much for your message! The 2-1 nap transition can certainly be a challenging one. It is definitely my favorite nap though once LO is on a consistent schedule–so lets get there! An 18 month old is definitely ready for 1 nap and I think we just need some consistency. First, I would make sure your LO is up at the same time everyday and not to start your day before 6am. For bedtime, it is best to keep a consistent time and never alter bedtime more than 20-30 minutes in either direction. This can really cause some confusion with your LO’s body clock. So if your bedtime is 7:30pm, you can move it up to around 7pm or later to 8pm, but I wouldn’t do much more than that. It is normal for your little one to go between 2 naps and 1 nap during the transition. When in doubt, we always say to preserve bedtime over naps, so don’t do a cat nap and just move bedtime up. If your LO is showing that he is super overtired, instead of a cat nap, go into the nursery and dim all the lights and do some quiet time with books or low stimulation toys. I would try 5 hours of awake time in the morning and 5.5 hours of awake time in the afternoon before bed. You may need to move up your bedtime in general during the transition because 7:30 may be too late since your LO is up at 6am!
Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
Hello so even if they had a bad nap ending early should we not make bedtime as early as 6:00 to help with being overtired?
Hello! We do recommend moving bedtime up early on a bad nap day, but we still try to keep bedtime within a 30 minute range to keep in line with your LO’s body clock! Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
I’ve been trying to transition my 17 month old for 3 weeks now, unsuccessfully. He won’t take a nap longer than 45 mins. He was waking at 6am and I was putting him down for 11am. Bedtime was moved as early as 530pm now he is waking at 5am! He refuses a cat nap. He was a solid independent sleeper before – what is happening? So stressful! I have tried to extend naps in many ways…by just leaving him, by going in and nudging him in hopes of resetting his sleep cycle…nothing works! Today he woke at 5am and I held him for a nap from 9-950 and then again from 3-330. Not sure where to go from here. 🙁
Hello Mary, if he is still falling asleep independently at bedtime and STTn (even though he is waking up early) you might want to check out our Nap program here https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/naps-getting-downtime-in-the-daytime/ especially with the support option so we can help you daily to solve this issue you are having. Let us know if you have any question at all <3 Micaela BSMS Support Team
Hi there did you ever get a response or what resolved I am in the same situation
How old is your LO? Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
Hello!
My son will be 18 months old in two weeks. He is still taking two naps, but I am trying to figure out if he is ready for one nap. He is waking between 6:00-6:15am, goes down for first nap at 10 and sleeps for 1 hour and then goes down again around 2:30pm and sleeps for an average of 1.5 hrs. Bedtime routine starts around 7:15pm, and he is in his crib by 7:35pm on average, but he will lie in his crib awake for at least 30 minutes, so he falls asleep between 8:15-8:30pm. For his naps, he stands up and fusses for about 10 secs when I leave the room, but then lies down and lays there quietly for about 10 minutes and then he is asleep. For both naps he will sleep for a full hour and I wake him up. His afternoon nap is usually longer and most days I wake him up at about 1.5 hr mark, but sometimes he wakes himself up before then. He isn’t fully fighting his naps like I described above, and they aren’t short in the 30-45 minutes sense, but it takes him so long to fall asleep at night (doesn’t fuss) that I wonder if he isn’t tired enough. We keep him active when he is awake too (inside and outside). Thoughts? Thank you so much!
Hello Christy,
Thanks so much for your message! Most babies do transition to 1 nap by 18 months, so you should probably start to see some signs soon that your LO is ready. It sounds like your LO is still napping really well and not really resisting naps. I would wait until you see some resistance. I would agree that your LO is probably having a hard time falling asleep at bedtime because he is still getting a lot of sleep during the day and there isn’t as much awake time before bed. You will see this get better when you transition to 1 nap! The guide gives great tips for transitioning to 1 nap and outlines the clues to keep an eye out for! Alyssa, BSMS Support team
Hi Jilly,
Tried to transition my 13 month old to 1 nap a few weeks ago and it resulted in literally hourly night wakings, early morning wakes etc (overtired I assume). So we went back to 2 naps for 2 weeks. Now he’s showing the signs of wanting to drop it again so will try again using your method.
When transitioning, for the first few days, do I move morning nap 15 minutes forward and still try and offer a second nap? Or just do a cat nap in the afternoon?
Also, if the night wakings start again, should I just persist with the transition? It took 2 weeks to get rid of the overtiredness last time so I’m super nervous to go ahead!
Hello Marilyn,
Thanks so much for your post! Most babies drop to 1 nap between 13-18 months of age, with the average being 15 months. If your LO has been fighting for at least 2 weeks, then that is a good sign your LO is ready to drop to 1 nap. We always want you to be sure your LO is showing all of the signs outlined in the guide or else the transition can be tougher when LO’s aren’t fully ready. If your LO is ready, follow the steps in the guide. Scroll down to the bottom to look for the tips which tells you how many minutes to move everything 🙂 Let me know if you have any questions! Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/transition-to-one-nap-when-how
Hi Jilly,
I have been using your guide for the last week. I thought my 14.5 month old was ready to transition to one nap because for weeks he would not sleep much, if at all, for his afternoon nap though consistently slept 1.5 hours during his morning nap (9:30-11). I was able to get him to stay up until 11am but he would only sleep 1.25-1.5 hours and wouldn’t take a catnap but I put his bedtime earlier to 6:30. He would still wake up from 5:45-6:15am (prior wake up was around 6:30-6:45). Today I just could not get him past 10am. He was so fussy and closing his eyes, something he hasn’t done before. He napped from 10-11:15 and then from 2-315 and went to sleep at 7:15. He was so much happier this evening. Does this mean he isn’t ready to transition to 1 nap? Do I try to go back to our transition work tomorrow? Thank you for your help!
Hello and thank you for your message! I would continue with 2 naps for another 2-3 weeks. It sounds like you had a good day! If your LO continues to fight the nap for another couple weeks, then I would try to be consistent and move to 1 nap. However, when you do go down to 1 nap, it is completely normal to have some 1 nap and then some 2 nap days while transitioning! Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
Thank you for the quick reply and helping me feel more confident with this nap transition fun!
Absolutely!! 🙂 Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
Hello – your transition guide has been SO helpful. Over the last 6 weeks I’ve been able to get my 15.5 month old down to 1 nap and we’ve successfully pushed it to 11:30am with a 7am wake up time, working towards a 12pm nap. She doesn’t ever sleep longer than 1.5 hours for her nap, but once we’re at 12, ideally I’d like her to be down from 12-3 with a 7-7:30pm bedtime. With the 11:30 (and next week 11:45) nap start time, should I try and keep her in there for 3 hours now if she’s content and only mildly complaining? Should I keep the same thing up when nap is moved to 12pm? Or should I get her up when she’s clearly done napping after about 1.5 hours? I usually get her if she’s really upset and crying which doesn’t happen until later when she’s been in there long enough and she’s fed up with being in her crib.
Just an FYI for other moms reading this – I too have struggled with the short naps recently which lead to crankiness in the afternoon due to over-tiredness. She never wants to take an afternoon catnap so I put her to bed 30-45 minutes early when this happens, but I’m staying strong and sticking to these suggestions and am hopeful the naps will start to consistently lengthen as they have on some days.
Hello and thank you for your message! If your LO has a 7-7:30PM bedtime and a 7am wake up time, then a 2 hour nap is perfect and sufficient. If your LO only sleeps 1.5 hours, keep your LO in the crib until the 2 hour mark if your LO is content. There is nothing wrong with some extra rest time! Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
Similar situation with my 15 month old. She used to sleep at 10 and 2 for 1-1.5 hours each. One day she absolutely refused the 10am, but shes exhausted. We can stretch her to fall asleep between 11 and 12, but no matter what time she naps, she will not nap longer than 30 minutes. She will obviously be very tired around 3/4 in the afternoon, and will again only sleep for a half hour in her crib (longer if shes in the stroller). Any ideas? 30-60 minutes a day is not the ideal.
Oh, and we try to leave her be once she wakes up after the 30 minutes in hopes that she will fall back asleep but she never does. She works herself up and is hysterical. Going on two weeks of this.
Hi there Alessandra. Yes at this age your LO should sleep longer than an hour a day. Please check out our 1 year old sleep guide here –> https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/1-year-old-sleep-tips-toddler
And our guide on how to extend your baby’s short naps here –> https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/how-to-extend-your-babys-naps
Try implementing the tips from these guides for a few days and let us know how things work out. Panagiota, BSMS Support Team
Hello Jilly. Thanks for this beautiful and detailed explanation. My quesiton is that my 19 month son used to have a perfect sleep routine while he was taking 2 naps. It’s been a month that we are trying to drop to one nap but still couldn’t manage it. We started like you said pushing the first nap 15 min. away until we get to 11 am. Then we moved to 12. But he never made it longer than 2 hours. And now it became worse and he never sleeps more than an hour. So we moved it back to 11 am now. He wakes up around 7 am and we put him to bed at 11 am. He can’t fall in sleep for an hour.. He sleeps around 12 and wakes up at 1.. So we put him to bed at 6pm at the end of the day.. He still gets hard time falling into sleep but then he makes it and sleeps till 7 am. We are with this routine for the last 5-6 days and it doesn’t get any better. What would you recommend us at this point? Looking fwd for your answer. Thank you so much!
Hello Cathy,
Thank you so much for your message! So a 19 month old is definitely ready for 1 nap. This can often be a super tough transition. I would continue to work towards a 12-2 nap. Your LO needs more awake time in the morning before his nap. It is normal for the nap to only be an hour or so to start off. Some babies only nap 1.5 hours vs. the 2 hours. If your LO is content in the crib, you can leave him in the crib until the 2 hour mark for extra quiet time if he only naps 90 minutes or so. If he is starting with an hour nap, try to gradually try leaving him in the crib longer if content. You can work towards 10-15 minutes longer every 2 days, until he is able to stay for the full 2 hours (hopefully sleeping). I would give this a solid 2 weeks of being really consistent! Good luck! Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
Thank you so much for the quick reply :)) Well he waits in the crib for almost an hour after his 1 hour nap without crying but never can sleep again 🙁 i was thinking of taking his nap from 11 am to 10 am and see if he’s not over tired and can sleep better? Should i do that or should i stick with 11? Or keep moving to 12? And another quesiton is if he sleep at 11 and wakes up at 12 am.. When should i put him to bed 5 pm maybe? Thanks a lot.
I am having a really hard time trying to figure out a schedule for my 13 month old who is naturally wanting to take a nap around 11:30 but has a 4 year old sister in pre k that has to be picked up at 1… I’m at a loss as to how to make this transition work. He always ends up overtired bc I have to wake him up and goes to bed very early because he doesn’t get a long enough nap. HELP! I need suggestions
Abigail, This is a tricky one! Although this may not be appealing, you could wake him up earlier in the morning so that he has enough time for a 2 hour nap and be awake by 1 pm to pick up big sister. So wake him 30 mins earlier so he can nap 11-1. Then bedtime will probably need to be around 6:30 pm. I hope this helps! Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
Hi Jilly, we’ve been working on transitioning our almost 18 mo to one nap for about a week. We made it up to 11:00 am but the last few days she’s only been taking a 30-40 minute naps and then refusing a second nap. Before that, she was doing ok with a slightly later nap time (like 10:30 and a 90 min nap). Do you think we should go back down to 10:30 for a while or try to keep getting the nap a bit later and see if the naps lengthen?
Thanks!
Alex,
This nap transition is often the toughest! I would stick with an 11:00am nap since you slowly worked towards that. Even though the naps are short now, they should lengthen over the next few weeks. At first, many toddlers will only nap 1-2 hours. That’s ok, this nap transition takes time. In this case, either offer a 30 min cat nap in the afternoon or move bedtime earlier to prevent over-tiredness. If your toddler can skip the cat nap and have bedtime be 6 pm, go with that option. But if the awake time will be too long, offer a cat nap instead and keep your usual bedtime.If a late cat nap disrupts bedtime, skip it and move bedtime earlier. Always prioritize bedtime over a late nap. Keep us posted! Good luck Mama! /Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
Hello!
What is the wake window from wake up to nap time?
And the wake window from nap time to bed, on a one nap schedule?
Thank you!
Hi Mary, an awake window is counted from the baby waking up, till the baby being asleep again (same for naps and bedtime). So if the suggested awake time is 3h for example you start counting from when your baby is awake and you place him/her in the crib to fall asleep (or you help him fall asleep) in time to be totally asleep at the 3h mark.
when our babies first transition to 1 nap a day they will probably need 4/5h awake time in the morning and 5/6h in the evening.
Micaela BSMS Support Team
My son is 17 mos old and we tried to make the switch this last week. He was napping at 9:30-11:00 and 2:00-3:30 for months. His morning nap was consistently long and his afternoon nap was getting shorter and shorter, sometimes non-existent. In trying to make the switch, he has gone from being a happy boy most all day to being fussy from 9:30-11:00 and taking anywhere from 1.5-3 hr nap once and cranky in the afternoon too. He is teething, so this is adding to his unhappiness. The mornings are the worst. He is miserable trying to stay up 4-5 hours after 7am. I’m not sure if it’s too soon and I should stick with maybe a 10:00 morning nap for a while. This is pushing his nap out 30 min from where it has been. My question is, when should I put him down in the afternoon if he naps 1.5-2 hrs in the morning? Or do I push him to 11:00 and do a catnap? And what time should the cat nap be? How late is too late?
Andrea,
I can remember when my daughter was transitioning from 2 naps to 1. It can definitely be stressful and a little bit chaotic. Gradually push the morning nap to 11 am. Keep it here for one week. You can do this by pushing the morning nap later by 15 – 20 minutes every 2-3 days until you get to 11 am. Then stay here for at least one week to help your baby adapt to a later nap. Let your son nap as long as he wants for this nap. Don’t wake him after a certain time. At first, many toddlers will only nap 1-2 hours. That’s ok, this nap transition takes time. In this case, either offer a 30 min cat nap in the afternoon or move bedtime earlier to prevent over-tiredness. A good rule of thumb is if your toddler can skip the cat nap and have bedtime be 6 pm, go with that option. But if the awake time will be too long, offer a cat nap instead and keep your usual bedtime. Always stay within those awake times. It can take a few weeks to get into a routine, but your little one will get there soon! Good luck Mama! /Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
Thank you! I am just seeing this. Things settled down after his teething settled a bit. He now naps from 10-11:30 and 3-4:15/4:30 daily. Bedtime is at 7:15 and he wakes at 6:45-7am. I gave up on two naps because I missed my happy boy. Do some kids just take two naps past 18 months? He’s our third and our other two transitioned pretty easily around 15 mos, but he’s not having it. Just curious if I should just leave well enough alone until he starts fighting one or both naps. Right now he very happily takes two naps and falls asleep pretty quickly.
Thanks for your message! I am so glad to hear things are doing well after teething. Every baby is SO different. If your little one is still happy and napping well with 2 naps, I would stick with it! When he starts to fight one or both naps, then you know its time to transition to 1 nap 🙂 Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
Hi Alyssa…so shortly after my last reply, he started refusing afternoon naps, so we made the gradual switch to 11am and we’ve moved up to noon. It hasn’t seemed to matter what time he naps. He went from two naps totaling 3 hrs to now not napping longer than 1.5 hrs, but mostly only an hour. He wakes up mad because he hasn’t napped enough. You said the nap transition takes a while. What is a while? We’re at 3 weeks with what I consider zero success. I’ve tried 6:30 bedtime, but he never falls asleep before 7pm. He always wakes at 6:45-7am. Seems his nap should fall at noon based on the middle of his two naps before. I’m at a loss though. At what point do I try another nap time…like 11:30 instead of noon? I honestly think it would make zero difference. And truthfully with me now doing school for two older kids, noon is ideal for all of us.
Hi there! Since your LO is sleeping great at night, approx. 12hrs from what I see, and his mood is ok during the during by sleeping only 1.5hr it’s ok. I know it would make a difference for you to sleep better, so you can try different bedtimes to see what happens. Please check out our guide on how to extend your LO’s naps here –> https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/how-to-extend-your-babys-naps
Also, you’re welcome to join our Nap Training program here –> https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/naps-getting-downtime-in-the-daytime.
Hope this help. Panagiota, BSMS Support Team
Things have actually gotten worse this week. He is 20 mos and has gone from happily taking two naps totaling 3 hrs and sleeping 12 hrs a night to outright refusing to nap. He won’t even lay down. I’ve left him up to 1 hr whining. Now three days at noon and he won’t lay down and hasn’t napped at all. He’s so overtired he was up 1.5 hrs last night and up early this morning and still refused to nap. Currently he is screaming in bed now for an hour. He won’t lay down for the night. This has never happened in his life. He’s gone from the perfect sleeper to basically refusing all naps and I’ve changed nothing except to put him down for one nap daily since he started refusing his second nap.
Hi!
My 14 month old twins have recently transitioned to 1 nap. The first two days went well where they slept 2-2.5 hours at 11am (usual nap is 10). I’m doing gradual transition. However, they are now waking at 5am these past 3 days since the naps have been hour long only. One twin in fact wakes after 30 minutes during nap, then sleeps another 30 minutes. What am I doing wrong?! I’m trying to extend The wake time since it’s been 5 days of 11am, but since I see that their nap is not going well I’m afraid to change it. Help!
Hi Whitney! Make sure you adjust bedtime when naps are short. Bedtime can be as early as 6 pm to keep awake times 5-6 hours MAX. That will help with early wakings. Good luck!/ Leena, BSMS Support Team
so far two weeks of this and I’m still struggling! Nap is now 11:30am and the length is from 45 minutes to 1 hour. I’m doing bed time at 5:30pm. Is that too early?
Also, should I keep transitioning the nap to 12pm even though they are still having very short naps?
And also my girls wake between 5 and 5:30am ever since I transitioned to one nap. What do you suggest I do?
Hi! Thank you so much for the above explanations – I am struggling right now with my 10.5 month old – who has always been a rockstar sleeper (after training at 4 months)… anyways she’s pretty consistent with her first nap which is at 10 am (she wakes up around 6/630 depending on the day) and I wake her at noon, wake windows before naps are currently 3.5 hrs minimum or she will lose her marbles and skip a nap … She is starting to fight night time sleep as the wake window is 3 hrs in order to get her enough night time sleep … I don’t know how to have 3 x3.5/4 hr wake up windows and provide her enough sleep, not wanting to transition to
Early but is it possible she is ready?
Your help is greatly appreciated
Hi there Jessica. Thank you for your message. To be honest it’s a bit early for your baby to transition to one nap. But not all babies are the same. You can follow the tips from this guide and try transitioning her to one nap and see how this works, especially if this is interfering with her night sleep. Hope this helps. Panagiota, BSMS Support Team
Keep the nap at 11 am, don’t move it later. If nap is short, move bedtime as early as 6 pm to make up for lost sleep. Nap transitions can take several weeks, so stay consistent and they should start taking a 2-3 hour nap each day and waking later. Check out this guide as well!
https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/toddler-keeps-waking-up-at-5-am
Good luck! / Leena, BSMS Support Team
Hi!
My daughter is 14 months old and has been resisting her second nap for a month and a half now. The problem is whenever I try to transition her to a later first nap she gets overtired and refuses to nap altogether! There’s a very small window for her between tired and overtired for that first nap.
Right now she almost always takes her first nap around 9:30 and if she naps in the afternoon, it’s a car nap. Otherwise, she’ll stay awake until bedtime (so she’s up from 11am-6pm).
I’d love to make the transition to 1 nap later in the day but I don’t know how to get there!
Please help. Thank you!
Kim
Hi! Thank you for the comment, the guide above guides you exactly with that. You work on moving the nap in 15 min increments until you get to 11 am. When you implement the steps in the guide consistently for 2 weeks, you should see improvement! Good luck mama! / Leena, BSMS Support Team
Thought my son was ready! 13 months old. Fights first nap consistently and then falls asleep for 35-40 minutes at 9:50-10:30z Then takes an hour nap from 2:30-3:30. When we tried one nap for a week he was totally pleasant during the day and was taking one 2 hour nap. 11:30-1:30. I pushed bedtime to 6:30 rather than 7:00. However, he started waking up at 4am screaming!!! When we went right back to 2 naps he started sleeping till 6 again and woke up happy. I’m mow deathly afraid to try one nap again.
Hi Kristen! I completely understand your fear, the good thing is that you don’t HAVE to do it until your baby is truly ready (unless daycare or other things come into play). It is completely normal to do it even around 18 months. The guide will help you with the steps when it’s time for you. it takes a little while and your LO might like a more gentle approach, slow and steady does it! Go with your LO’s lead, you got this mama! / Leena, BSMS Support Team
Hi – I’m in the middle of 2 to 1 nap purgatory! You say if they are knackered by 10am let them nap for up to an hour but if my wee girl (almost 15 months) naps for an hour up to 11, she won’t nap again till 3.30. If I let her nap for more than 30 mins then, she won’t go to bed till after 8pm. Bedtime is usually 7-7.30. If she only naps for 30 mins she’s still over-tired at bedtime and inclined to wake at 5am. So, my question is what would you do when baby wakes at 5am?
Hi Susan! I’d most definitely recommend moving bedtime earlier when giving one nap a day. Bedtime can be as early as 6pm (asleep), this should help with the early morning wakings. 🙂 good luck mama! / Leena, BSMS Support Team
My daughter is nearly 13 months. She has been refusing her second nap for 8 weeks. If she accepts it she then refuses bedtime. We moved to one nap and this had solved the problem. However she only ever sleeps 75-90mins which is how long EACH of her two naps were previously. It’s been 2.5weeks now and no improvement. How do you get them to sleep longer?
Hi Amanda! Thanks for your comment! If you feel like the change has not worked for you for two weeks, it could be that your LO is not ready yet. If you’re up to it, I would try to temporarily offer a second nap and see if that lessens the over tiredness. The second option is to make sure you have a really early bedtime, meaning asleep at 6 or 6 .30 pm. Try this out and let us know how it goes! / Leena, BSMS Support Team
My son is showing signs of being ready for one nap (screams for too long and fights second nap a lot everyday) he is almost 14 months. My older daughter needs to be picked up at 2:30pm. Can I keep his one nap from 11-2 instead of moving it later? Right now he usually is up by 6:30am and bed time is 7:30pm which i can adjust if needed.
Hi Nicole! Thanks for your comment and questions! Yes, you have to fit everyone’s needs into your daily routine. So if he naps at 11 am, he should have a 5 hour awake time between morning wake up and nap. This would mean waking at 6 am. If you prefer to let him sleep until 6:30 am, then have nap begin at 11:30 and go as long as he can until you need to wake him for pick up. Then bedtime should be 5-5.5 hours later (that’s the time he falls ASLEEP.) I hope this helps! / Leena, BSMS Support Team
I’m wondering about the suggestion of moving the bedtime earlier to avoid being over tired. My LO just wakes up earlier if I put her down earlier, she doesn’t sleep longer (which I would prefer not to wake up earlier). What is the right thing to do in this situation?
Hi Kelsi! Thanks for your comment. It sounds counterintuitive, but helps avoid over tiredness if naps were not successful that day. Often over tiredness causes early morning wakings and can cause doubt on moving bedtime earlier. We still recommend trying this for several nights as it takes a while to see the improvement. When the over tiredness lessens, the early morning wakings will fade as well. Hope this helps 🙂 / Leena, BSMS Support Team
Hi! I have been slowly working on moving to 1 nap and have done well for the most part. Problem is, my twins continue to have the odd playdate or appointment smack in the middle of their NEW nap time. Is it OK to randomly insert 2-nap days, say once a week, to accommodate these events – or is this going to mess with their biological clock? Would I need to wake them up earlier? TIA!
Hello Kelsi,
Thank you for your message! I can remember the 2-1 nap transition with my little one. It was the toughest of the transitions for us, but honestly one of the most rewarding. It is wonderful to have our entire morning and afternoon to do things, and to get a glorious long nap in the middle of the day! I personally think that trying to do two naps on one day will be tough for your twins because they will be used to a specific awake time which will then be altered on that one day. You may find that they won’t really nap on that one day and be extra fussy for your fun play dates! There is certainly no harm in giving it a shot! Because your twins will be on one nap for a few years, I would personally try and get them to take a solid nap every day and then just schedule play dates and appointments during the morning or afternoon hours. Keep us posted! /Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
My 14 month old is ready to transition to just one nap but we made the mistake of not transitioning and just jumping right into which has caused so much over tiredness and night wakings that last hours sometimes. So we are going to try your transition method and hopefully get some more sleep! What would you say is the ideal wake time between the first nap and either a short cat nap or bedtime?
Hi Stephanie,
Most nap transitions take a few weeks to master. It’s normal to want to drop a nap right away, but a slower approach usually works better.
For a one-nap schedule, awake times should be 4.5-5.5 hours. Sometimes 6 hours before bedtime is ok, it just depends on if your LO can handle it.
I’d start off aiming for 5 hours between nap and bedtime.
If your LO naps for 1.5 hours or more, don’t give a cat nap later in the day. Just move bedtime earlier. But if the nap is less than 1.5 hours, you may need to give a 30 min cat nap (as long as it doesn’t interfere with bedtime or night sleep.) You don’t want cat naps to last for too long though, a week or so max.
I hope this helps,
Jilly
Hi Jilly
My daughter is 15.5 months and I just transitioned her to 1 nap last week. She has been napping 2-2.5 hrs at 11:30am. I try to get her to bed around 7/7:30. A bunch of times she has woken at 5:30am or earlier. I leave her in the crib but sometimes she doesn’t fall back asleep even by almost 7am. She falls asleep independently at night. My question is would you continue to leave her in the crib until she falls asleep or if she doesn’t, do you move the morning nap up or just keep her up until her normal nap time? when she was on 2 naps, she would only sleep 9.5 -10 ish hours at night. Can she learn to sleep longer (11-12 hrs)?
Wendy,
Thanks for your message! Because your little one just started the nap transition, it can take a few weeks to become more “solid”. Your little one is napping great! She can definitely learn to sleep longer. I am attaching a link to our toddler sleep guide. It will give you some helpful tips to get your little one sleeping longer in the morning! /Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/toddler-keeps-waking-up-at-5-am
When moving to one nap, do you just stop offering the second nap of the day and the first one is gradually being moved later and later?
Hi Ruby,
If your baby naps 2-3 hours for the first nap (that you’re moving later) then you should skip the second nap and move bedtime earlier, if needed.
But, if you’re working on this transition and your baby naps 1.5 hours or less for the first nap, you may need a cat nap in the afternoon to make it to bedtime.
This transition can take a few weeks, so just start fresh everyday.
Good luck,
Jilly
My 14mo baby can last almost 5h before needing a nap but freaks out if I put him down any earlier than 4h. He only naps 60 to 90 min. So I’ve been offering a 30min catnap in the late afternoon after 4 hours of being awake. How long should he be awake for before bedtime. He wakes at 7, naps 1130-1 and catnaps 5-530. Hope you can help. Thanks ?
Hi Tanya! Thank you for your question! The recommended awake time for a 14 month old taking 2 naps 3-4 hours and if taking 1 nap, then 4-5.5 hours.
However every toddler is different and the important thing is, that you find the so called “golden” awake time that works for your LO. If in your case it is 4 or more, that is still completely normal. Jilly has a detailed sleep guide with more information on age appropriate awake windows, nap schedule, daytime and night time sleep information. You can find the guide here: https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/1-year-old-sleep-tips-toddler#point5
Check that out and implement the tips for at least a week. Let us know how it goes! / Leena, BSMS Support Team
Hi Jilly,
My daughter will be 12 months at the end of the month. She’s been refusing her afternoon nap for almost a month. I hired sleep consultants and followed the plan and she still refuses it. She’s showing all the signs of wanting to transition but everyone, including her pediatrician, tell me that she’s way too young. What do you think?
Hi Lidia,
Some babies are ready for one nap at 12 months. But most aren’t.
There can be a nap-specific regression at 11 months, so perhaps that was the cause of her refusing her afternoon nap. If so, sticking tight to your nap routines and offering her 2 naps each day should see her go back to 2 naps / day for the next few months.
Here’s more info on the 11 month nap regression: https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/11-month-old-sleep
On the other hand, if your baby meets all the criteria for readiness to transition to one nap in this article, then go for it! You’ll soon know if it was the right decision based on how well she handles awake times of 4-6 hours and if it affects her night sleep.
I hope this helps!
Jilly
I’m confused by the bulletpoint of “hes NOT refusing all naps altogether” – is this a typo? It’s under “signs to switch to one nap”
Hi Courtney,
Sorry that’s unclear!
If your baby was refusing all naps for many days in a row, that would be a sign of a sleep regression or other issue like sickness, teething or schedule problem.
If your baby consistently refuses one of his naps each day, that could be a sign that he only needs one nap a day.
I hope this makes it more clear!
All the best,
Jilly
Hi, my 14 month old adjusted nicely to moving the nap later. We moved it to 11:15/11:20. Sometimes he naps two hours but sometimes just an hour and 45 min. I thought of moving it back to 11 because he wakes at 6a and seems tired at 11a. But when i did that today, he took a shorter nap, leading me to think 11a might be too early. Any thoughts or suggestions?
Hi Lisa,
It’s hard to tell if something is a true pattern after just one day. Instead, try 7 days straight of something new before deciding if it works or doesn’t.
5 hours awake time before the nap is right on target. 5 hours and 15 mins probably doesn’t make much difference, but I wouldn’t go longer than that.
Good luck,
Jilly
My daughter wakes at 8:00/8:30 and goes to bed around 8:30/9:00 due to our ministry life style.
Needing help transition her to one nap!
She will be 13mn at the end of the month.
Hi Allison,
You can go by her awake times. Start pushing her morning nap later by 15-20 minutes every few days. You want to get to where her nap falls 4-4.5 hours after morning wake up, then stay there for a while. This nap should lengthen and when it reaches 1.5-2 hours consistently, you’re there!
Drop the second nap and keep pushing her nap later, slowly, until it falls right in the middle of her day (which is around 2 pm.)
I hope this helps,
Jilly
Are some babies just “late bloomers” when it comes to their nap/sleep needs? My 17 month old still takes two (1.5-2hr) naps every day. She wakes around 7, goes down around 10am til 11:30/12, and then goes back down at 3pm and wakes around 4:30. Bedtime routine begins at 8pm, in bed by 8:30. All naps and bedtimes are 98% fuss free and she sleeps excellent. Is this a case of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?” People seem surprised she still naps twice a day. She also held onto the third nap longer than most babies. (Gave it up around 10 months.) should I just follow her lead and as long as its working leave it alone?
Hi Kaitlin!
Thank you for your comment!
This is most definitely the scenario of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. We offer advice and general guides, but of course if there are no problems, there is no need to change anything just because a guide says so or other families are doing it…Always go with your gut, momma’s know best and every baby is different. You got it MOMMA!
Our sons 15 months old and we’ve been trying to transition him from 2 to 1 nap for a week now. He’s been pretty good about taking just 1 nap around 11-11:30am (45mins~1hr 30mins long) but the problem is he would not go to sleep earlier than 7pm and wake up around 4:30-5 am still super sleepy. When he wakes up early, should I try and put him back to sleep (what I usually do)? Or keep him awake till his nap time. Is there a way to make him wake up later?
Hi! Sorry to hear about your LO’s sleep struggle!
With all nap transitions it can take 2-3 weeks for your LO to fully adapt. But your consistency will get your LO taking one long midday nap each day.
It’s critical to keep awake times in the appropriate range, so keep trying for an earlier bedtime. It can take many days of consistency for your LO to accept going to sleep earlier.
Any waking before 6 am should be considered a “night waking” so keep your LO in his dark bedroom and try your hardest to get him back to sleep.
If your LO sleeps well at night but struggles with naps, you might want to take a peek into our naps-program information below:
https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/naps-getting-downtime-in-the-daytime
If you think that your LO still needs help to fall asleep at night I’d recommend our program, 21 Days to Peace & Quiet. We offer 4 different pathways for you to choose from (from super gentle/no-cry to quick & efficient.) Each step of the way you get advice based on your baby’s developmental stage,
energy levels, and temperament. For more information on the program, please don’t hesitate to ask, here is the link to it:
https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/21-days-to-peace-quiet-program
Best of luck/ Leena, BSMS Support Team
Hi Jilly,
My 13 month old meets the criteria for transitioning AND Has recently started walking AND might be have her first molar coming in. Should I wait on the transition?
That’s a lot going on!
If she’s consistently refusing one of her naps everyday, then I think it’s best to start the 2-1 transition now. If she still takes 2 naps half the days of the week, you could wait 1-2 weeks and then decide if you want to start it.
Good luck,
Jilly
My 16 month old has been refusing a second nap for weeks and started waking up earlier at 530 to 600am. We started to transition to one nap by pushing the morning nap back but he seems overtired at even 10am and doesn’t take a long nap and then refusing a second. This seemed to cause him to wake up even earlier at 5am. I am not sure what to do because he is waking up early now, too tired to push nap later, refusing second nap. He is going to sleep at 630 pm. Any help?
Hello Charlotte,
Thank you so much for your message! The 2-1 nap transition can be a tougher transition, but it has been my favorite nap! Hang in there-it will get easier. It seems like your LO is the perfect age for the transition and totally ready for it. It really helped me to take my daughter outside a lot during the transition. We would play outside for lots of fresh air and I tried to get her to physically move as much as possible to really get her tired before her one nap. I would continue to work on slowly pushing back the nap AND move bedtime earlier. Instead of trying for a second nap, you can try to make bedtime closer to 6pm. If the awake time is too long in the afternoon, try and give him some quiet time in the nursery and read books (give his brain some time to shut off). Continue to treat anything before 6am as a night waking (so don’t get him out of the crib until 6pm). It will take some time, but he will figure it out and you will get a glorious break in the middle of the day!!
Alyssa, BSMS Support Team