Ask My Little Buddha

September 3, 2007 | Print

My baby is 13 months old and I’m wondering when she’ll transition from two naps to one? Any suggestions on how to make the change and how long it takes?

The transition to one nap happens around 16 months. Some children move to one nap earlier at around 14 months, and some later at 19 to 20 months.

Children give signals when they’re ready. They may not sleep during their morning nap time even though they seem tired, or will happily take a morning nap and then fight the afternoon nap. These changes can be disruptive for parents—we lose some of our break time during the day and must manage a fussier than usual toddler.When we decide the signs are clear that it’s time for one nap, we put them down at 11 or 11:30. If we sense a child can make it until noon, and this later time would give him more balanced rest for the day, we might start there. It’s important to observe a child’s cues, and may mean trying a few different times over a week to two week period.

Often noon or 12:30 is a good nap time, and we may slowly adjust to reach that time. That said, some kids need to lie down by 11, which becomes their regular time. We give them a late snack and then lunch when they wake up.

As children’s bodies adjust to the new schedule, some days they may take short naps and other days three hours. Eventually they settle into a regular period of two hours and fifteen minutes, but there can be a range. During the transition to one nap, we keep the days more mellow. We also put them to bed earlier.

Our experience is that it takes two or three weeks before we all settle into the new schedule—and kids can really range in terms of their nap patterns. For Kelly, one child sometimes fought the afternoon nap and wouldn’t sleep for an entire day, another went right to a 12 o’clock nap at 14 months, and the other made the transition to an 11 o’clock nap at 16 months after a few weeks of sometimes a morning nap and sometimes not.

We also recommend reading about naps in a few sleep books for perspective.

Resources for the basics of children’s sleep:

• Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth
• Good Night, Sleep Tight: The Sleep Lady’s Gentle Guide to Helping Your Child Go to Sleep , Stay Asleep, And Wake Up Happy by Kim West
• The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night by Elizabeth Pantley

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