Transitioning From 2 Naps to 1 Nap

Its tough to know when to implement big changes in our routines, such as transitioning from 2 naps to 1 nap. Most recommendations seem to suggest making this transition around 15-18 months of age. My experience is a little different from this, so I wanted to share in case there are other moms out there find themselves in a similar situation. 

My son was ready to make the transition from 2 naps to 1 nap when he was around 12 months old. Thankfully, he has always been a wonderful sleeper. (A blessing I don’t take for granted one single day.) He slept in his own crib the first night home from the hospital, was easy to get on a feeding/sleeping schedule, and slept through the night at 6 weeks old! 

Don’t Ignore the Signs

We had a solid routine but when he turned 1 year old, things started getting a little rocky. I started to dread nap time and bed time because he fought sleep so hard. He wouldn’t go to sleep on his own. If I rocked him to sleep, he woke up the second I transitioned him to his crib. He would only sleep for 30-45 minutes at a time (if that). And at bedtime, it took over an hour for him to fall asleep. All of these were totally out of the norm for us. 

When this routine shake-up first started, I thought maybe it was a minor sleep regression or related to teething. But in the back of my mind, I wondered if he would soon be ready to make the transition from two naps to one. I read article after article because I felt it was a little soon to make this transition. I also discussed with my pediatrician at his one year check up. I love our pediatrician, but she too deterred me from making that transition and encouraged us to wait until he was closer to 15-18 months old. 

Mommy Intuition

I tried a week or two more at basically forcing him to take 2 naps, which ended up being worthless for us both. We were both frustrated and tired. I had finally had enough. I went with my intuition and mommy gut (which I should have listened to from the get go) and finally stopped forcing these two naps a day. 

One day I let him stay up past his usual morning nap time. He happily played, “helped” me with a few chores around the house, went for a walk outside and ate lunch. Key word…happily! He wasn’t fussy or giving me any signs that he was missing his nap. Around lunchtime, he started looking sleepy, so we finished up his meal and got ready for nap. He picked out a book and we sat in the rocker to read it together. Once we closed the book, he quickly and easily nestled in my arms and went fast asleep. 

Success!!

Wow! That was easy! After weeks of dread and battles and frustration…it was just so happy and easy and peaceful. I laid him in his crib and then he slept…for 3 hours!!! My son woke up happy and rested to play out the rest of his day. The same glorious magic happened at bedtime too. We read our bedtime story and he was out! And then slept through the night (11-12 hours typically). What a game changer!! 

And just like that, from that day on, we had a new routine with only one nap a day. In the next few weeks, there were only one or two days where my son acted tired around the time he would have previously taken a morning nap (when he was taking 2 naps a day). But I kept him occupied and played with him to push through that because I knew that’s what would be most beneficial for him. 

Encouragement

My hope is that others find this beneficial and encouraging. Not necessarily to transition your baby or toddler from 2 naps to 1. But to follow your instincts. I had basically suppressed my intuition and listened to the advice of others based solely on my son’s age. We know our children better than anyone else. So while its nice to read articles and listen to advice of others, it shouldn’t play too large of a role in making decisions about our children. Especially when its really contradicting our mommy gut (or daddy gut).

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