Poll Discussion: Dropping Naps

 

Our current poll is on dropping naps. I want to cover all naps in general. Most babies start out with 4 naps when on a 3 hour schedule (bedtime is around 7-8pm, so any sleep starting around there is night sleep). So we will start under the assumption that there are four naps. It is very helpful for me when compiling answers if you at least number the answers you give. You can also copy the questions and answer them. If the question does not apply to you, simply put “N/A.”

  1. What age did your baby go from 4 naps a day to 3 naps a day?
  2. What age did your baby go from 3 naps a day to 2 naps a day? 
  3. What age did your child go from 2 naps a day to 1 nap a day?
  4. What age did your child start to not always fall asleep for the 1 nap each day?
  5. What age did you move from one nap a day to rest time?
  6. What age did you stop having rest time consistently?
  7. What method worked best for dropping naps for your child (cold turkey, more of a weaning process, shortening other naps, something else?)?
  8. What signs did you follow that it was time to drop a nap?
  9. Any words of advice for dropping naps?

6 thoughts on “Poll Discussion: Dropping Naps”

  1. 1. What age did your baby go from 4 naps a day to 3 naps a day?- I don't remember for either of my kids2. What age did your baby go from 3 naps a day to 2 naps a day? – My son was about 9 months, my daughter was about 7 months. 3. What age did your child go from 2 naps a day to 1 nap a day?- My son was about 14 months, my 11 month old daughter is still at 2 naps. 4. What age did your child start to not always fall asleep for the 1 nap each day? N/A5. What age did you move from one nap a day to rest time? N/A6. What age did you stop having rest time consistently? N/A7. What method worked best for dropping naps for your child (cold turkey, more of a weaning process, shortening other naps, something else?)?- They both have chosen cold turkey for dropping naps. It seems that once they didn't take the dropped nap for 2 days in a row, they never went back…even if I tried. 8. What signs did you follow that it was time to drop a nap?- For the 3rd nap, my daughter always hated that nap (and so did I since it was always during our dinner time). It would take her 30 minutes of crying on/off to get settled enough to fall asleep. And then she'd only sleep for 30 minutes. It was too much of a battle, so we just dropped it. – For dropping the 2nd nap, if my son took a morning nap, he'd have a really hard time with the afternoon nap. Either it would take him an hour to fall asleep, or he'd stay awake the whole nap in his crib. I dropped the morning nap so he would take better afternoon naps again. 9. Any words of advice for dropping naps?- You'll have to adjust the strategy to each child and possibly each day during the process. Some days my kids needed the extra nap if we were extra busy, or if the other naps were shorter for some reason. – Switching schedules is always rough in the beginning, and eventually it will sort itself out. – Know that when you drop the 2nd nap, the afternoon nap might begin much earlier than you plan for it to be. With my son, we were lucky if we could keep him awake until 12/12:30 in the beginning. Then when he started to struggle falling asleep at that time, we moved it back to 1:00. Now it's more around 1:30/2:00 because I aligned it with his younger sister's second nap. Luckily, by that age, they're a little more flexible!

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  2. What age did your baby go from 4 naps a day to 3 naps a day? 4 monthsWhat age did your baby go from 3 naps a day to 2 naps a day? 8 monthsWhat age did your child go from 2 naps a day to 1 nap a day? ~15 monthsWhat age did your child start to not always fall asleep for the 1 nap each day? 2 1/2 yearsWhat age did you move from one nap a day to rest time? At almost 3 I've started calling it rest time. She sleeps 50% of the time.What age did you stop having rest time consistently? N/AWhat method worked best for dropping naps for your child (cold turkey, more of a weaning process, shortening other naps, something else?)? Mainly used a weaning process for the first few days but at some point I would drop it cold turkey.What signs did you follow that it was time to drop a nap? Bad nighttime sleep, waking earlyAny words of advice for dropping naps? I agree with Erin… When going from 2 to 1 naps, you will most likely need to move that nap time (and lunch) up quite a bit. Then they will slowly move it back over a few months.

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  3. What age did your baby go from 4 naps a day to 3 naps a day? 5 months or so What age did your baby go from 3 naps a day to 2 naps a day? 8 monthsWhat age did your child go from 2 naps a day to 1 nap a day?16 monthsWhat age did your child start to not always fall asleep for the 1 nap each day?He's 21 months and is still taking that napWhat age did you move from one nap a day to rest time?n/aWhat age did you stop having rest time consistently?n/aWhat method worked best for dropping naps for your child (cold turkey, more of a weaning process, shortening other naps, something else?)?Cold turkey. We would drop the nap because he wasn't sleeping well so he didn't have a problem when we dropped it.What signs did you follow that it was time to drop a nap?Taking a long time to fall asleep, not sleeping at all Any words of advice for dropping naps?Don't be too eager to drop them. Sometimes they just go through phases of not sleeping well or taking a long time to fall asleep but that doesn't mean to give up on that nap right away

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  4. 1. What age did your baby go from 4 naps a day to 3 naps a day? Son no.1 at 5 months, Son no.2 at 6.5 months.2. What age did your baby go from 3 naps a day to 2 naps a day?Son no.1 at 8 months, Son no.2 around 9 months, but had a lot of trouble with naps during this time. 3. What age did your child go from 2 naps a day to 1 nap a day?Son no.1 at 14 months. Son no.2 is still having 2 naps (10 months old). 4. What age did your child start to not always fall asleep for the 1 nap each day? Son no.1 at 2 years 5 months.5. What age did you move from one nap a day to rest time? Son no.1 around 2 years 7 months when moved him into a big bed. I set up the room for nap time, but gave him the option to play quietly or take a nap. He would usually play a little, poo in his nappy then get into bed and sleep.6. What age did you stop having rest time consistently? Son no.1 at 3 years 3 months – he was napping about 1 day a fortnight.7. What method worked best for dropping naps for your child (cold turkey, more of a weaning process, shortening other naps, something else?)? We went cold turkey and he usually adjusted quickly, although it took him a month to fully adjust from 2 naps to 1 nap.8. What signs did you follow that it was time to drop a nap? Sleeping badly for all naps. Taking a LONG time to go to sleep in the evening.9. Any words of advice for dropping naps?Take it at the child's pace. Have an early bedtime for as long as they need it.

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