Transitioning from 2-1 naps

How to transition baby from 2 naps to 1 and When do babies transition from 2 naps to 1

Lets talk about transitioning from 2-1 naps.

This is the hardest change in naps and may take the longest time to adjust.

Some parents can’t wait for this transition, more of a social life in the morning no need to worry about fitting in a morning nap.

Others dread this, with enjoying the short break in the morning to have a shower and a cup of tea.

When to transition from 2 naps to 1 with baby?

In my experience children are not ready to drop down to 2 naps until at least the age of 15 months.

15-18 months is the ideal window, my little one wasn’t ready to drop her morning nap until she turned 18 months. However, some little ones may misread the memo and will start to show signs of being ready for this transition months earlier.

So how do you know when your child is ready to make the transition from 2- naps?

So how do I know when my baby is ready to go from 2 naps to 1?

A few signs to watch out for –

Is your child taking longer and longer to fall asleep for his/her morning nap, suddenly doesn’t seem so tired as he/she would usually be around this time?
Your child’s morning nap consistently becomes shorter and shorter
Is the morning nap becoming much longer and becoming difficult for your little one to settle down for a second nap?

Key is to watch out for these signs to see if it is happening consistently.

Most little ones do go through a nap refusal phase at some point. If you had 2 days of your little one refusing his/her nap, then don’t think straight away you need to drop 1 nap, check for other signs mentioned.

TopTip: If bubs is under the age of 13 months, it is likely too early for them to drop to 1 nap, even if they are showing the signs I mentioned above. My advice here is to treat this as just a phase and continue in trying for 2 naps. However, if your child is between 13-18 months of age and is showing the signs above constantly, then he/she is ready to make this transition.

How to smoothy transition from 1 nap to 2 naps.

I have 2 separate suggestions to help your little one smoothly transition down to 1 nap.

1. Move nap 1 time

This approach tends to work really well for those who have started to refuse the morning nap altogether, or is taking longer to settle.

Gradually push the start time of the morning nap later in the day. The slow timing increments need to be short enough and gradual so your little one doesn’t become so overtired before the nap starts.

The goal is to eventually start the 1 nap in the day around 12-12.30 and this needs to last for around 2-2.5 hours so it balances out the awake time in the morning and afternoon.

I recommend pushing the morning nap to start 30 minutes later every 2-3 days with this working well for those I have worked with. Heading out of the house mid-morning, in the garden or some type of distraction always helps to stretch out the start time of the first nap. This transition takes time and patience.

Difficulties if the nap starts earlier – If the nap starts at 11am and finishes by 1.30pm the day isn’t balanced, too much awake time will be happening before bedtime, which then leads to over tiredness and wake ups at night.

Lunchtime can also become difficult if starting the nap at 11.00 am. You don’t want hunger to be causing the wake up too early from his/her nap.

The afternoon becomes too long, if this happens then bring bedtime forward up to an hour earlier.

An early bedtime will help get on top of the over-tiredness, which will then help with less wake ups at night and early morning starts.

2. Shorten the morning nap

This suggestion is for those who are still wanting to take their morning nap at 9.30 am but would like to sleep longer for 2- 3 hours – These little ones may find powering on through to lunchtime without a nap is far too much and become over-tired.

I would suggest here to shorten your little ones’ morning nap to 30 minutes max, we need this sleep to be a short power nap to help him/her get through until lunchtime. 30 minutes is a good starting point, there may be some trial-and-error before settling on the perfect nap length but nothing longer than 30 minutes.

You might be thinking, I can’t possibly wake up my sleeping baby! But honestly, you can, and you will be surprised by the response you get when waking them up. The reaction is usually the same as when they wake up naturally from a 2-3 hour nap.

I always suggest waking them up gently, so perhaps open the door slightly (don’t be standing right next to them so they wake up startled). Potter around the kitchen or outside the room so they can hear you. If they don’t hear you, then go into the room perhaps open the blinds and gently rouse them.

The morning nap needs to be just long enough to reduce your little ones’ sleep pressure sufficiently to get them through to the longer lunchtime nap.

If you try either suggestion above and your little one wakes up after an hour or less on the main lunchtime nap then try to encourage them to resettle.

They are likely to need some support off you from the start, you need to show reassurance and encouragement to do this. Treat this wake-up as you would with a nightly wake-up, let them know it’s sleepy time and keep the room dark.

How long does it take to transition from 2 to 1 nap?

Be patient with baby, this transition down to just one nap can take time. Give it a few weeks 4-6 to adjust. If you are atill having issues then please contact me for a quick and free 15-minute chat.

Contact me Perth Sleep Specialist.