2 to 1 nap transition
A question I hear a lot is: “My baby is 1 year old should I switch them to only one nap?”. Some consultants will say yes, especially because this is the age where daycares will often move the child to the toddler room where they have only one nap. (As an aside, it makes me sad that at 1 year old some people consider the child a toddler. I recently heard this age referred to as ‘tabies’ because they are on their way to the transition but are still babies, and I can get on board with this word choice 😉). My answer is no. No, it is not developmentally appropriate for a one year old to have only one nap. We know that morning naps are mentally restorative and afternoon naps are physically restorative. A 1 year old is learning constantly and it is very important for their body and brain to still get the morning nap so that they can process their world. This transition will come soon but doing it too early can lead to an overtired baby which causes crankiness, hyperactivity, difficulty falling asleep, night wakings and early morning wakings. If your child goes to a daycare that follows this practice, I encourage you to ask them to hold off on dropping a nap as it is not in your child’s best interests. It never hurts to ask, the worst they can do is say no! If they say that they must make the change, you will need to adjust your baby’s schedule at home to allow them to still get as much sleep as possible.
The two to one nap transition can be tricky. It can take weeks and you will need to patiently guide your baby through it to try to avoid causing nighttime sleep issues (often seen as early morning wake ups). This age period is full of developmental growth which can sometimes look like a baby refusing a nap or having trouble. For this reason we want to give the baby at least a week before deciding that it is time for a nap transition.
Somewhere between 15 – 18 months old (occasionally up to 24 months) your baby will be ready to transition from two naps to only one nap. This change is a consolidation of sleep, so this one nap should be longer. Here are some ways that you will know when your baby is ready to transition to one nap:
· * Playing through the morning nap
· * Taking the morning nap but not the afternoon nap
When you see one of these things happening consistently for more than a week, it is time to begin maneuvering baby into a one nap schedule. For the baby who has been playing through his nap, it is easier to just move the nap later. He probably still can’t quite make it to a 12:30pm nap time though so nap time should start at 11:30am and then move later in 15 minute increments every few days to get it to 12:30-1pm.
When baby is happily sleeping in the morning but refusing the afternoon nap we will try to take steps to keep baby well rested while changing the schedule. First, we can try offering the afternoon nap 15 minutes later while capping the length of the first nap. So, if baby normally sleeps from 9-10:30am and at 12:45pm, try waking her at 10:15am and then put her down for her second nap at 1pm. Do this for several days before taking away another 15 minutes from the first nap. If baby continues to refuse the second nap, then the first nap has to move later. Move it by 30 minutes every few days until is starts sometime between 12:00-1pm.
Baby will stay at this one nap schedule for quite a while. Most toddlers still need naps until they are 3-5 years old. Yup, I did say 5. Remember, naps are restorative for developing brains. It is important to allow your baby to nap for as long as she needs to. Some kindergarteners still nap at school and on weekends at home. Even if your toddler stops sleeping at 3 years old, doesn’t mean that you lose naptime, that is when you transition her into quiet time – so both baby and caregiver still get a much needed mid day break.
Transitions can be a challenge, but it is the healthiest for the baby to allow this transition to take as long as necessary. I am always here to help you get your baby happily through them.