Day sleeps for 16 month old... advice please???

[Amber4]

Really hoping to get some wisdom from others about transitioning from 2 day sleeps to 1. Up until 2 weeks ago, my DD always had a morning nap of 1-2 hours then an afternoon nap of about the same. In the past few weeks there have been quite a few days where she's had a shorter morning sleep and/or skipped the afternoon nap altogether (just played in her cot for 30-60 minutes). But when she has skipped it, she still seems overtired to me - she's a cranky bunny from about 5pm until bedtime at 7:30pm

I was thinking maybe it was time for her to move to a single day sleep so for the past few days I've kept her up in the morning (this isn't easy as she yawns come 9am) and put her down between 11:30 and 12. On day one she slept for 3 hours and I decided it was worth her morning fatigue to do it that way. On day two though we had a tortured time at the grocery shop as she was soooo tired, she began to snooze in the car on the way home at 11:15am, was too cranky to eat much lunch and then slept for only 1.5 hours. The usual afternoon crankiness also began at about 4pm (same if as when she skipped her afternoon sleeps).

I don't want to force any kind of new routine on her but I do want to be consistent-ish and not flip flop back and forth. Problem is I don't really know if I'm reading her right (nothing like parenting to make you feel like an apprentice). If she does change to 1 daytime sleep this has implications for our usual activities which have to be changed too, so I'd rather do the change once when it seems like its best for her. How can you tell that your toddler is ready to move to one sleep per day? Is it "normal" for them to be short-fused come late afternoon or is this a sign that she hasn't had enough sleep?

[Arimeh]

The transitioning to one sleep is hard and I've found it takes a few weeks for them to get used to it.

My two girls dropped theirs around 12 months, DS was 14 months. I moved their morning nap forward by 15 mins a day until their body got used it it - seems a more gentle way to transition than to go a few hours later straight away.

Good luck!

[kiwimummy]

My DD has been on one day sleep since 10 months. DS was a bit better at about 14 months!

I found with both of them things were much easier once we settled down to one sleep. They slept better and it was actually easier to plan around going out etc. Sometimes during the transitiion it's helpful to do one sleep one day and two the next, then one and so on. I don't think that's inconsistent in terms of confusing them, it's just helping them transition more easily.

I think it sounds like you're reading her right. And I reckon a bit of grumping in the late afternoon is pretty normal! Earlier dinner might help on those days?

And - I didn't go out anywhere we'd be driving back late morning - or you get that fall asleep in the car like you described!

[MumtoA]

my DD is 13 months and i am in the same boat as you atm. Some days she is so tired by 9am and others she tends to be able to go all the way through till after lunch - we are still working out the kinks - other days she has 2 sleeps - i just kind of gauge it on how she is coping that day.

I agree with Kiwimummy - falling asleep in the car is the big killer. Today i visited a friend and DD missed her morning sleep. She then fell asleep in the car for the 45 min drive home and then wouldn't have a sleep in the arvo. I still leave her in her cot for about an hour though to 'rest'. She doesn't get upset just lays in there talking to her bears, so i figure it's better than nothing. On the days she doesn't have a proper sleep though, i do tend to give her dinner earlier and have her in bed by 6.30 otherwise she is a nightmare!

Soooo in saying all that! I am just tending to go with the flow for the time being as she is still in the transition mode and will work it out - i just sort of think that DD is just like me in the sense that some days she will just be more tired than others so she will sleep more on those days IYKWIM...

good luck! xo

[helle]

DS made the transition on his own. Maybe just wait til she does too?

[[M]umma[M]ia]

Try feeding her lunch a little earlier (say 11am?) and then when she gets up give her some afternoon tea. I wouldnt try and go out too much until she gets used to it. In the car at 11:15am she is bound to fall asleep. Try and make sure if you go out that you are home by 10:30ish so she can have an early lunch.

My DD cut out her day sleep at 12 months and its just about sitting back and working out your own child again as you did when you worked out when to put her down for her 2 sleeps.

It will be hard as he body is used to sleeping twice during the day. Go for more chilled out activities until her body gets used to it.

Dont be suprised if she goes back to 2 sleeps when shes sick

[Miss.B]

Oh my, it seems like my DS has had just one sleep a day since he was born! lol. For a long time I tried to get him to have the two sleeps as he would be rubbing his eyes red raw around 4-5 pm if he had the one nap anywhere between 10 and 11 that would only last an hour to an hour and a half. A couple of times I let him fall asleep around 5 pm but then he wouldn't go to bed at a reasonable time and everyone was still awake at 9 pm
I wrote a post not too long ago asking how I could encourage DS to at least sleep longer that the hour or hour and a half he's been sleeping for what seems like eternity, and the lovely ladies said to offer him an early lunch and tire him out a bit more in the mornings. It worked the first time I've attempted it, as he slept for 2 hours. Hooray!!!! The following days he went back to 1 -1.5 hours. The other thing is that if I push him out a bit too much in the mornings, he gets overtirred and only sleeps for an hour and then it's like 12.30 pm and a whole afternoon of not sleeping!!! I am definitely not looking to him dropping his sleep altogether.
GL hun, I hope the transition is easy on your DD. It sounds like you're already making the steps in the right direction!

[Fleur]

Liek Kiwimummy, we did one sleep one day and two the next. Or rather alternating as we needed. If she was up early, it would be a 2-sleep day, if she slept in & we stayed home all morning, a one sleep day. She ended up making the switch to one sleep eventually on her own, but our transition phase was a couple of months.

[Amber4]

Thanks everyone... as always the BB community is such a wellspring of advice and experience.

Putting together all of your suggestions it seems like my take-home message should be transition her more gently, expect it to take some time (I can't believe after parenting a baby/ early toddler I forgot that one! ) and don't push ourselves too much while we're doing that. Today I've put some of your ideas into practice.. we did a quick trip of errands at 9am, home by 10 and after some morning tea popped her down for a nap... she went to sleep without a whisper. I also appreciate the ideas about being led by her needs just as I have days when I'm more tired than others.

Can I just add at this point that even with this developmental change in her, it's really hit home just how fast they grow up. I'm happy and excited for her that she's evolving but grieving too that this is one more sign my little 'baby' is a baby no longer No doubt I'm not alone in that sentiment.

[Fleur]

Can I just add at this point that even with this developmental change in her, it's really hit home just how fast they grow up. I'm happy and excited for her that she's evolving but grieving too that this is one more sign my little 'baby' is a baby no longer No doubt I'm not alone in that sentiment.

No, you're certainly not alone there