# is mine the only toddler whose one nap is in the morning?



## indigosky (Sep 4, 2007)

DD is 16 months old and shifted to one nap a day a couple months ago. The shift was easy, and it's all working great.

What baffles me is that her one nap is still in the morning -- she is totally unable to say awake more than 4 hours after she gets up in the morning. She she takes a nap at 10:30 or 11 a.m., sleeps for anywhere from 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours, and then is awake no problem the entire afternoon until bedtime, sleeps around 11 hours at night.

But all the fun toddler activities (playgroups, story hours, etc) take place exactly during her naptime. Will her nap just gradually shift to the afternoon? Or are we doomed to miss all the fun as long as she still takes a nap?


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## mommy2abigail (Aug 20, 2005)

IDK, but mine have always had weird nap times too. Well, maybe not times so much, but length of nap...dd1 took two 30 minute naps until about 20 months. And dd2 started taking one nap at about 7 months, and now at 14 months that one nap is usually only 30-40 minutes long.







I'm tired.


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## THANKFULFORFIVE (Jan 8, 2009)

Nope, you are not alone...mine is doing the same silly thing! I still take her to story times and such, she just usually sleeps in the car on the way. It's like she only needs 10 minutes then she's fresh and ready to go! Ugh! At least mine doesn't get crabby without the nap. When we do go out and skip the nap, she does eventually go down for a late afternoon/early evening nap. I just know those are the nights she is up late. I can't really complain because she sleeps through the night with 10-11 hours stretch. I'll take it!
She's never been a good sleeper, so ANY nap is a good nap!


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## *Erin* (Mar 18, 2002)

my 14 mo ds is the same way. he naps from 10:30 or so, for an hour to 2 hrs, and he's good for the rest of the day, unless we've had a very busy one. he'll catch a quick power nap in the late afternoon sometimes.


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## OGirlieMama (Aug 6, 2006)

I had the same situation and frustration (about missing activities) when my girls first went to one nap. They'd go down around 11 for about an hour, and then be OK for the rest of the day. Eventually, as they got more accustomed to it, the nap drifted later and later, settling on around 1-1:30.


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## justthinkn (Apr 11, 2008)

She wakes at 6a, and initially when she dropped to 1 nap at like 13mo, it was 9:30-10a! Now at almost 22mo, it's shifted to 11-11.30 - still the same interval (hours awake) before she's ready for bed, so she's sleeping an hour or two less at night now. *sigh*

I would love to be able to take her to 11.30a storytime!! But I may have to wait til she drops the nap, and I'm not wishing that day to come sooner


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## Ruthie's momma (May 2, 2008)

No, my 21 mo takes her nap in the morning. She is usually ready to go down by 10:30 or 11:00, too.


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## angelachristin (Apr 13, 2007)

mine used to do the same thing, he wakes up between 7-8 am and would be ready for a nap between 10 and 11 at the latest--and it was annoying because that is when all the activities are! It's only probably within the last month that he has started napping later, around 1 or 1:30 pm. He's 28 months old now.


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## beingmommy (Sep 4, 2008)

My DS is the same! He started this at 18 months and is now almost 22 months and still takes his nap from 10:30ish until about 12 noon. If I try to push it much later he has a meltdown. It is really frustrating as most fun activities in my area are also scheduled during his naptime. Even the playgroup I started myself has suffered as all the other kids have a different nap time. It is frustrating. But I expect eventually he'll start to shift his nap later.


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## lisalulu (Jun 15, 2005)

Same here-10:30 is nap time! It unfortunately leaves him pretty cranky by 5 but he just won't take another nap.


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## Justmee (Jun 6, 2005)

Avraham Tzvi is like that. His morning nap is pretty consistant, the afternoon one less so.


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## Robbins0614 (Jul 5, 2006)

DS did the same thing. He had been taking one 2.5 hour nap every day late morning/early afternoon, and overnight he switched to needing a short morning nap. It took me a couple of days to figure out what he wanted and I had a difficult time adjusting since I had been used to a longer time to get stuff around the house done. That lasted for several months and I hated missing out on all the toddler activities so we would select one here and there that we would go to and just try to get a later nap in that day which usually worked out for us. But just last week he changed again and went back to an afternoon nap. So, hang in there. Things might change again soon!


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## abitofcrunchmama (Jan 21, 2008)

Yep, my guy sweet spot to nap is around 10:30ish. I don't like it, since he will be up by noon ready to go for the day and it seems to make the afternoon longs (since most kids are napping when he wakes up). So, some days i'm able to push him until noon. Or he will nap in the car in the AM, while we are out and then take a longer nap around 3ish.


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## wholewheatmama (Oct 22, 2005)

Same with my 16 month old. Her preferred naptime is around 11. We can, however, go to a 10 a.m. playdate because as long as she is having fun and is distracted enough, she will stay happily awake until around noonish. She would like to have a short nap around 4 each day, but I strongly discourage it since bedtime is by 7ish. As long as she had a decent nap earlier in the day, the late afternoon nap is unnecessary. I'm hoping her naps gradually shift to early afternoon...


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## MamaRuga (Apr 23, 2008)

Same thing here. 14 m.o. usually naps between 10-11 a.m. for 1 1/2 hours. A second afternoon nap has always been hit or miss. If she does have one it is very short. She has been like this for months now.

But in the last week she suddenly shifted to 12:30 and sleeping for 2 hours. Just out of the blue... not gradual at all. Not sure what is going on and if that was just a fluke or if she is going to be an afternoon napper now. I'm so used to our afternoons out routine that it will be hard for me to adjust to getting out in the mornings to do things.


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## ishyfishie (Dec 20, 2006)

My 19 mo dd takes one nap a day and it's usually around 11 or 11:30. She took a very long time to transition fully to one nap per day but I've had no luck trying to push the single nap more toward afternoon unless we're out of the house doing something. If we're home, she almost always goes down by 11:30, sleeps for about an hour and a half, and then is up until bedtime. She goes to bed around 8 most nights and is usually up around 7.


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## gopalakrishna (Mar 19, 2008)

Thought about asking the same question...DS dropped the second nap around 15 months and his only nap now is around 11am for about an hour and a half. If I want to take him to an activity in the morning, it works for us to pop him in the car and let him snooze for 10-20min in the car on the way and then wake him up. He is fine for the activity and then will take a second nap later around 2:00. That might work for you guys!

I always thought that once they dropped the 2nd nap the one nap got longer...not so for us! He is never going to be a three hour napper


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## askew (Jun 15, 2006)

My 2.5 yr old STILL wants to take one nap at 11AM. If we have stuff going on I can keep him up until noon with no problems. The problem is, if he sleeps after noon he won't go to bed as easily at night. I am wondering how the transition will be to the 1-3 nap at preschool next fall.


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## DandeCobb (Jul 20, 2006)

my almost 3 year has napped at noon for 2 years now (side note: i can't believe he is old enough to have 'done' anything for 2 whole years!!) and it seems like lots of kids his age, if they nap, do it later in the afternoon. Our problem right now is the baby naps in the AM and PM so I have someone napping at all times it feels like!


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## megan sacha (Oct 24, 2005)

Same boat here. DS transitioned to one nap at 15 mo and at that time was waking really early...6am, sometimes earlier and wanting to nap at 3-4 hours after waking. Now at 24 mo he goes 4-5 hours before napping, never longer. He in the past month has started getting up later and therefore has moved his nap to start between 11 and 12 most days. I'm just now starting to think we may be able to start doing some of those playdate activities but it's been so annoying and isolating.


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