Here are the results for the poll on dropping naps. You can see the original answers here.
- What age did your baby go from 4 naps a day to 3 naps a day?
I don’t remember: 2
4 months: 1
5 months: 2
6 months: 1 - What age did your baby go from 3 naps a day to 2 naps a day?
7 months: 1
8 months: 3
9 months: 2 - What age did your child go from 2 naps a day to 1 nap a day?
N/A: 2
14 months: 2
15 months: 1
16 months: 1 - What age did your child start to not always fall asleep for the 1 nap each day?
N/A: 4
2.5 Years: 2 - What age did you move from one nap a day to rest time?
N/A: 4
2.5 Years: 1
3 Years: 1 - What age did you stop having rest time consistently?
N/A: 5
3 Years 3 Months: 1 - What method worked best for dropping naps for your child (cold turkey, more of a weaning process, shortening other naps, something else?)?
Cold Turkey: 5
Weaning Process: 1 - What signs did you follow that it was time to drop a nap?
Hated the Nap: 1
Poor Sleep at Other Times of Day: 3
Waking Early: 1
Not Sleeping: 1
Taking a Long Time to Fall Asleep: 2 - 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. -Erin
– Switching schedules is always rough in the beginning, and eventually it will sort itself out. -Erin
– 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! -Erin
-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. -Jennifer-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. -Lisa-Take it at the child’s pace. Have an early bedtime for as long as they need it. -Becky
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