One nap or two naps?

[shancatmama]

At what age did your baby change from two naps to one nap? How did you know they were ready for the change? And what are some sample "schedules" of one or two naps (how many hours between waking up and napping, nap and bedtime)?

My 12 month old has had two naps for several months now. Its been working well and he still (usually) sleeps easily for the two naps as long as I set the conditions for sleep, but the problem is he doesn't seem tired enough at bedtime. He is going to sleep about 1-2 hours later than I expect him to at night (7:30 bedtime is turning into 9:30 bedtime). We wake up at about 6:30am regardless of bedtime so sometimes when he does this he sleeps extra long in his naps to make up for it, making me think he still does need all that sleep. A few days ago he took a 2 1/4 hour nap from 11:15am-1:30pm so I didn't give him any more naps and then he went to sleep for the night about 7:30. However he was REALLY tired in the hours preceeding bedtime and we had to actively keep him awake, making me think he's really not ready for just one nap.

Any thoughts/suggestions? The late bedtimes are really starting to make me crazy.

Thanks, Shannon

[SweetSilver]

It's been a while since my girls took naps, but it was a tough transition, even though, like you, I saw they were ready.  Altering between one and two naps for a couple of weeks is easier on some families, but both times, we made the switch and stuck to it.  The kids WILL be a little tired for a few days, and bedtimes and waketimes might bump around for a little bit until the new routine is established (for us about a week).  There is no exact "normal age", but 12 months is definitely in that range.

     (When kids are ready to drop naps entirely, the same things happen: too awake to go to bed at the normal time.  Some kids don't give up naps for years, others, like my youngest, resist naps so hard, it's easier to forgo them entirely and have early bed.  Also, some parents tolerate later bedtimes than others, especially if they work all day and want to have time with their kids and everyone's well rested and happy.)

Also, for a one-year-old, 7:30 is really late on one nap.  I started bedtime at 6:30, and my friend started hers at 6:00!  At first, if I could keep them up until 5:45 to start stories, that was great, then we worked up to 6:30.  (We have long bedtime routines: the girls are 6 and 4 1/2 and I still start stories at 6:45- 7:00.)

  I am also fond of early bedtimes!