Consolidating two naps to one-- When to do it?

Ah sleep problems. They have returned. This time in the form of afternoon nap protest. For a week solid Owen refused to take his afternoon nap.

Talking in his crib for an hour, YES, most certainly.

Sleeping in the afternoon- Nope, not having it. Now this had happened in the past ONCE or TWICE but never 5-6 days in a row. I was irritated and so was our boy.

Sometimes he was taking 90 minutes to fall asleep in the afternoon and his usual 2PM nap was starting close to 3PM and not falling asleep until 4PM and then he'd sleep until 5:30PM and then obviously have a fit when we try to put him to bed even at 8PM. Of course he was still waking at 6:30AM either way so he wasn't getting enough sleep at night with the later bed time.

I'm thinking, "IT'S too early to go to one nap" Sleep Lady says 16-18 months and we all know how I worship her and her advice.

Upon reading her very helpful chapter in her book (prompted by her newsletter I get via email) about consolidating two naps to one... it seems this Mommy needed to pay attention to my own child's behaviors not the calendar.

Because Kim West (Sleep Lady) and I are such good buddies (ah HEM, she returns my emails) I asked her if I could publish her newsletter article on this topic here on Baby Business. She said, "yes," So here you go.

This is the Sleep Lady's official advice on the topic, which, of course, I'm following.

Consolidating from two naps to one can be a big physical and psychological transition, with almost all children passing through the "one nap is too little, two naps are too many" phase. All we can do is try to make the transition as smooth as possible, although even in the best case scenario, your child may suffer from crankiness and disruption for two or three weeks. You may need an earlier bedtime for a few weeks while you make this transition.

An extremely common error for parents is to try to consolidate naps prematurely. Many parents will let their twelve-month old take a two or three hour nap in the morning. The child will then refuse to sleep in the afternoon (due to the long morning nap), and have difficulty making it to bedtime without a melt down.

Toddlers usually are ready to drop the morning nap by fifteen -eighteen months. A little earlier or a little later is normal, but be sure to watch your child, not the calendar. Especially watch for changes in your child's morning nap patterns. It may take her longer to fall asleep, or she may wake up from the nap earlier. She may also sleep so long in the morning that she won't nap in the afternoon, meaning you'll have a very overtired toddler by bedtime. Don't mistake one abbreviated morning nap for the sign that your child's ready for change. When the pattern becomes consistent, the time is right to begin the transition.

Signs your child is ready to transition from two naps to one:
1.) your child is getting 11 hours of uninterrupted sleep at night (CHECK)
2.) your child is taking longer and longer to fall asleep for the morning nap (NO)
3.) your child takes an increasingly shorter morning nap or too long of a morning nap and refuses an afternoon nap. In the end, you feel stuck in the "one nap is not enough and two is too many" phase (CHECK CHECK)

When you are ready to begin the transition, push your child's morning nap a little later. Try delaying it until around 11:00am for two or three days. Then push it until 11:30am for a few days, then to noon, and so on. Your ultimate goal should be to have her asleep by 12:30pm or 1:00pm within 7-10 days.

Things to remember:
- Slowly push the morning nap later in 20 to 30 minute increments, until you reach 12:30 pm or 1:00 pm. Do this gradually (i.e. in small increments over 2-3 days) to avoid overtiredness or difficulty getting to sleep. This will be her only nap for the day, so try to resettle her back to sleep if the nap is too short.
- Bedtime will often need to be earlier during this transition - 7:00 - 7:30 pm.
- It is best NOT to transition to one nap until your child is sleeping through the night fairly consistently or for at least 3 weeks.
- Be open to an occasional two-nap day!

Remember, there is an art to sleeping! We must teach our children how to put themselves to sleep in order for them to recognize their own need for it later in life. It's tempting to cut out a nap in a baby's schedule for convenience, but remember, you both will pay the price later at bedtime! Take time to enjoy this small window of opportunity when you are offered two breaks in your busy day. It can be a great time to concentrate on yourself or have some special time with an older child! Sleep well! Kim West, Sleep Lady

So this has been working well for us thus far. Owen has slept 2hour naps from 10-12, Sunday and Monday, then Tuesday-Friday he went down more like 11AM 11:15AM-1:15-1:30. He makes it until bedtime but we've shifted instead of between 7-8PM, he is SLEEPING at 7PM. Bath time starting at 6:15PM

I actually went to the gym at 8-9:30AM and then to the grocery story after--

TWO ERRANDS in the morning. Back-to-Back!

Praise Jesus.

I felt like I got "so much done" before 10:30AM. It was fun. Ah it's the small things, like writing this blog on Friday night at 8:45 and thinking about closing my eyes and going to sleep....

You know what this means?

MOMMY IS HITTING THE GYM-- HARD!! (oh and I got a baby jogger for $60.00 on Craig's list... another post)