A plea to my toddler - don't drop your morning nap!

by Sarah James (Subscribe to Sarah James's posts) Sep 20th 2007 3:30PM

My son has been a great sleeper, whether it be daily naps or overnight sleep. Sure, he might fuss for a couple minutes when I put him down, but I can count on two 1-2 hour naps every day.

These naps are important to me, as I'm sure most other parents, because it allows me to complete chores around the house, finish daily tasks, and let's face it, accrue some ME time. Can I get an AMEN?

Unfortunately, this last week has been filled with some sort of pseudo-nap hybrid. It goes like this - I put him down and he's perfectly quiet. Ten minutes later he suddenly starts playfully screeching, followed by a prompt morphing into Level Ten exorcist baby.

What's going on? Teething? The lawn mower? I immediately pulled out my Toddler 411 book, which states that your toddler drops their second nap (usually the morning one) somewhere between twelve and twenty months. If he truly is dropping the nap, he's on the early end of the spectrum at 13 months old. LUCKY ME.

When did your baby start taking one nap a day? (Please tell me they were 2 years old, just like he will be once he gets back on track. Please.)

Comments (45)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

Ethel 9-20-2007 @ 3:44PM

Well, don't count out that nap just yet - my now 15 month old was doing one nap a day for about three months until a week ago. I suspect he was working on walking.

My older son did the same thing - taking a hiatus while learning to walk and it reemerged to continue until he was 25 months old.

So keep trying, it may not be gone, just in hiding for a time.

Trisha 9-21-2007 @ 2:07PM

hmm, my daughter (now 19 months) dropped her morning nap at 15/16 months. She was wittling down each nap to 35 minutes or so, she just didn't need as much sleep as before.
It was a little bit of a hard transition, she would then get too tired before her "afternoon" nap.
So I moved that afternoon nap earlier and PRAYED she would sleep a good long while.
After about 2 weeks of nothing making much sense we found a routine. She now takes one nap that is about 1 1/2.
Anyway. 13 months is on the early side but not unreasonable I guess. You can hold on to it like I did but you might suffer shorter naps because of it.
Good luck!

Michelle 9-20-2007 @ 4:07PM

My 18 month old dropped his afternoon nap starting at about 12 months. It was a gradual process. He was ready to nap at 10 each morning but was not tired in the afternoon, then he would crash for a quick nap at about 5:00. Eventually the morning nap got later and later and the quick late nap disappeared. Now I can pretty much count on him to sleep for at least 2 hours (sometimes 3 or more) every afternoon. I actually like this better than two naps because we can go places/do fun things in the morning and I have a big chunk of time for whatever I want (i.e. housework) in the aftenoon.

Sabrina 9-20-2007 @ 4:28PM

Maybe my kids are weird, neither one managed to keep the two-nap schedule past about 7 months old. Trust me, I wish they would have! And my oldest dropped daily naps completely around age 2. Now she just falls asleep at random in the afternoon, if she's tired.

Amanda 9-20-2007 @ 4:21PM

my daughter was just like michelle's exchanging the morning nap for a late afternoon one. now she gets one usually 2hour nap in the early afternoon. Its really nice because it lasts longer than the two naps. You'll be okay with it once you and baby adjust :)

Lindsey 9-20-2007 @ 4:47PM

Sorry, but we were at 13 months too. And it was the exact same behavior- except we always got 15 minutes of quiet before the screeching began.

Susan 9-20-2007 @ 4:29PM

My now 3-year-old dropped her naps early as well. By 9 months she was down to 2 naps, and she dropped to one at 11 months old. Even better, she dropped the naps altogether right when she turned 2. Now she'll occasionally take one if she's really tired but hasn't napped regularly in a year. Boo!

Maya 9-20-2007 @ 4:42PM

Sorry, but I am another of the 12 month old nap droppers.... but my now 2 year old son does take 2-3 hour afternoon naps and occasionally longer if we do something really exhausting in the morning (like going to a farm, etc....)

Jillian 9-20-2007 @ 4:41PM

Audrey was 11 months when she went to 1 nap!

Jill 9-20-2007 @ 5:11PM

Mine went from three to two to one nap a day at ages 1 and then around age 2, but came close to preserving the number of sleep hours. Then, when everyone else's kids gave up the afternoon nap entirely, I pushed mine later. One nap after lunch at 12:30 became 1pm, 1:30, 2pm, and now as late as 2:30. I have to wake him if he sleeps past 4:00 to preserve our early bedtime of 7:30 (up at 6:30) but I still have a napper at age 3 1/2. His brother didn't give them up entirely until kindergarten, usually reading books or listening to a CD as "rest" but sometimes sleeping.

I have two boys with very different sleep habits and I've held onto naps much longer than anyone I know. I'm convinced it can be done. Consistency helps; mine don't get days off. I don't know what I'll do when I'm no longer able to have a break! I love naptime!

Alice 9-20-2007 @ 5:13PM

Both my kids dropped their morning nap a little after a year. Then their afternoon nap moved up a bit to about 12-12:30 and they take a good 2 hour nap. Bedtime got earlier too.

I love it when they drop one nap, suddenly you have so much more time to run errands or go on an outing without having to be near home so soon. Well, for me anyway, my kids were not car nappers at all. A short car nap would ruin our day completely!

elisabeth 9-20-2007 @ 5:31PM

11 months.

Marci 9-20-2007 @ 6:01PM

Makenna dropped her afternoon nap at 10/11 months, morning nap moved later and became a 10am - 1pm nap. By 24 months, that eventually turned into a 2-3 hour nap after lunch. Now at 3, a nap is hit or miss.

Paige dropped her afternoon nap at 11 months, her morning nap still starts around 9am and she'll sleep for 1.5 - 3 hours, depending on her mood. If she has a short morning nap, then sometimes I get lucky with a quick afternoon nap.

And that? was more information than you were asking for ;)

queenoqueens 9-20-2007 @ 6:25PM

AHAHAHAHAHA! 2 naps....that's FUNNY!

Wha? Babies take 2 naps? REALLY? Not mine!

My older daughter stopped napping altogether at 18 months. And it looks like the younger one is following in her footsteps. I am ready to offer her cold hard cash to keep napping, or at least pretend that she is. I'll let you know if this works.

Gretchen 9-20-2007 @ 6:41PM

My daughter, being a first child, kept 2 naps until about 18 months - but she was never a fabulous sleeper. My son switched to one nap around 12 months because we were never home in the mornings for him to take a nap - poor little guy! But we were always on the go because it was my only time to run errands etc. On the up side, when we switched to one nap, he started (and still does, he's 18 months now) taking one HUGE afternoon nap. We're talking 4-5 hours here. So in the end, I get the same amount of "get stuff done time" but without the scheduling hassles or interruption. I like it better! Good luck!

caitlin 9-20-2007 @ 6:43PM

My son never took more than one nap a day. He used to have one longish nap in the middle of the day as a baby, and it gradually got shorter until it disappeared around 20 months. But on the other hand, he was sleeping through the night relatively early on and sleeps until 8:30 or 9 in the morning.

Get to know your new best friend - quiet time. It's harder when they're younger to find something quiet to keep them occupied, but it gets easier as they get older. You have to lead them through until they're old enough to do it on their own, but it's worth the effort when your child can quietly entertain themselves while you attend to something.

Annie 9-20-2007 @ 9:54PM

Sarah -

I feel your pain as my 13 month old has just started the same thing! I was laughing when I read your entry because it is EXACTLY how I am feeling. Keeping my fingers crossed that this will pass when he starts to walk - although having more outdoor time with him would be great too!

Annika 9-20-2007 @ 8:02PM

Yeah, Sam was about ten months old when he switched to one nap. He didn't drop one or the other, though, he started taking his nap right in the middle of the day. WHEN HE TAKES IT AT ALL.

Um, what? I mean - Sam still takes five naps a day and he sleeps 14 hours a night and I'm sure your little guy will do exactly the same.

Jessica Redden 9-20-2007 @ 8:07PM

My twins are just about the same age as your son. They still (praise the nap Gods) take 2, 2.5 hour long naps per day. I'm not sure if I could function without them. I KNOW they couldn't function without them, I've seen it...It's not pretty.
My Trio however, dropped their second nap around 20 months. They were on the later end of 'norm'. Of course we were big nap pushers around here and loved them to go for a nap in the AM...
Maybe he's just gearing up for this beautiful fall weather?

Erin 9-20-2007 @ 8:28PM

Try holding his nap until around 11 or 11:30. Give him an early lunch and put him down. He should nap longer than 2 hours and you can eventually put him down later until he is down for a long (3-4 hour) afternoon nap. My son did this around 12 months. I liked the afternoon nap because I could nap and get things done because the nap was so long.
Good luck with the transition.

| 1 | 2 | 3 | Most Recent | Next 20 Comments

How To Submit Photos:
If you'd like your children (any age will do!) featured on ParentDish, upload photos into the ParentDish Flickr Pool. Be sure to read our main Flickr page for more information.