The Toddler Morning Nap: When Does It End?
If your toddler also naps in the morning, when do you expect the bliss to end? J is 15 and a 1/2 months old. He still naps morning and afternoon, about two hours each. Before you hate me because my child likes sleeping, know that I think part is genetic (his dad is a sleep bear) and part is pure luck (he loves his bunny, his blanket, and his “bed”).
When will this come to an end? At our 12 month visit, our family practice doc warned me that he would let me know when he was done with the morning nap. She predicted he’d fuss through the whole thing, or remain very alert and engaged in the morning, or just talk in his crib the whole time. So far, none of the above have transpired.
We may be on the verge of it, though, as he does talk a great deal in his crib before passing out in the morning, maybe even 10 minutes of intermittent “bababa” and “gooogoo” and “ah-ball” before silence on the monitor. Will he just talk the whole time one of these days? Will I just know he’s done with morning naps? Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the time to work, write, nap, run errands if a family member is nearby, cook, clean, and whatever else the day requires. But I’m curious as to the evolution of this whole nap thing.
I need some experienced parents to fill me in on the scoop and their experiences here.
I see his resemblance to you in this photo 🙂
Finally! He really is his father’s son 🙂
My babies were all down to one nap by 18 months, but it did vary. We like early bedtimes in the B family (mommy sanity time), so it was clear when they stayed up later that they were getting too much sleep. The thing I’ve noticed is that P, now 16 months, would still go down about 10AM for a “morning nap” if I let him, but then he would take a 3-4PM nap and not be ready for bed until 9-10PM. That doesn’t work here, so I keep him up until 11:30AM-12:30PMish when he takes a 2 hour nap and is ready for bed by 7PM. Not sure if that helps you, but that’s what happens here. 🙂
BTW, one nap is so freeing! Much less concern about those days when you’re out of the house and trying to be sure he gets his naptimes in.
One other thing, I wanted P to be ready for one nap at the beginning of our homeschool year, because that would have been easier for our schedule. I tried it for one week, and it clearly wasn’t working (he was really fussy, falling asleep at 9AM and/or 5PM, not good times, etc.), so we went back to two naps for another month. Then, he was ready. If you’re wondering, try it for 3-5 days and see how he does. Just keep in mind bedtime will probably be earlier, and/or he might sleep in later for a while to adjust.
This is so helpful to hear. I similarly don’t want to have a later bedtime (and we are down by 8pm for J). And it’s helpful and comforting to hear that one nap is truly freeing, because although I feel hampered by the two naps, I also love that he has so much rest and I get so much done. Good to know about the test-drive possibilities too!
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