The 2 to 1 Nap Transition
THIS IS A HARD ONE. In my experience, this one is the hardest transition. The 2-1 nap transition typically happens between 14-18 months. SOME babies do this at 13 months but I prefer 14 months. Your baby might not be ready until they’re closer to 17-18 months and that’s totally ok. There is a 12-month sleep regression that many babies go through. While some go through it at 11 months, some go through it at 12-13 months. At that point, many families feel like they need to transition to 1 nap. However, the majority of babies are not able to handle those long wake windows at that age (13 months) and changing to 1 nap too soon will be detrimental to their sleep (fighting bedtime, middle of the night wake ups, early rising, etc.). We’re talking about babies going from a 3 hour wake window to a 5 hour wake window. That’s so much longer! If you do it too early, it could spiral into other sleep problems.
You’ll know your baby is ready for 1 nap if they are at least 13-14 months and they’ve been fighting their morning nap (taking longer to fall asleep) for 10-14 consecutive days. I know that might seem like a long time but remember, regressions can last 2-6 weeks. We want to make sure this isn’t the 12 month sleep regression rearing its ugly head. Observe your baby. Take notes and see how long it’s taking them to fall asleep. If it’s taking 30+ minutes to fall asleep (and they’re happy), consistently, day after day, they’re showing you signs that they can handle longer wake windows. Key work is “happy.” We want to make sure they are happily playing, babbling, rolling around in their crib, for 10-14 days, before we consider dropping the nap. If they are crying and upset, you know they are overtired and it’s not time to transition to one nap.
So, how do we do this? I recommend starting by capping their morning nap to 45 minutes. If your baby typically took a 60-90 minute morning nap, start shortening it. (Yes, wake them up.) We want to slowly transition to one long, glorious afternoon nap. We’re not taking sleep away. We’re consolidating it to one nap, instead of separating it between two naps. At this age, we want babies to sleep 2-2.5 hours during the day. If we cap their morning nap to 45 minutes, we will offer baby a 90 minute afternoon nap.
If your baby typically wakes at 7:00am and his normal nap time is 10:00-11:30, try the first nap from 10:15-11:00am and then an afternoon nap from 2:30-4:00pm. Then, bedtime would be at 8:00pm. Wake windows remain 3-3.5/3.25-3.5/4. After you’ve capped the morning nap to 45 minute and they’ve been fighting it for 10-14 days, you have a couple options.
The first option would be to gradually back up the morning nap, which would result in an early bedtime. For example, if their nap is typically 10:15-11:00am, you would extend their wake window by 30 minutes. Their nap would be 10:45-1:15pm. Their last wake window extends to 5.5 hours. So with this schedule, bedtime would be at 6:45pm. After being here for a couple of days, push the nap even more and offer the nap from 11:00am-2:00 or 2:30pm. Eventually, if your daily wake time is 7:00am, the nap would be 12:00pm-2:00/2:30pm with a 7:30/8:00pm bedtime. (I know this is a lot of number crunching.) With this method, you are slowly increasing their wake time to allow their body to adjust. The downside is babies take time to adjust to a 2-2.5 hour nap. If they only nap for 30 minutes, what do you do? What happens when they wake up at the hour mark? Getting your baby to take one, long, glorious nap takes patience and consistency.
The second option (I recommend this option) is going to one nap cold turkey. Now, this takes some planning on the parents part. If you are extending your baby’s wake window BY 2 HOURS, you will need to make a game plan. I want you to think of random, “exciting” activities for your baby to do all morning. If you plan on leaving the house, do it within the first hour or two to ensure they won’t fall asleep in the car. (Car rides are the bane of my existence and will ruin this process). Plan different stimulating, engaging activities for them to do. We want to distract them from being tired. I find water play to be especially useful. If bathtime is part of your bedtime routine, you might need to add in a second bath in the morning to keep them entertained and distracted. Bring out old books, go to different parts of the house. Keep it moving. Have both parents involved. It will be mentally draining for you as a parent to be with your child for two extra hours in the morning. For real. Different activities could include pouring and dumping with cups and bowls in the sink, bringing out legos from the basement, throwing sensory scarves, exploring tupperware filled with dried black beans or split peas, giving them new kitchen utensils to gnaw on, cutting playdough, blowing bubbles, etc. Think outside the box. Communicate with your partner and delegate. At this age, babies have short attention spans. Have one partner plan 5 activities and have the other partner plan 5 activities. That way, the load doesn’t fall all on you.
This transition can take a lot of time. You could have an early morning where your baby had multiple night wake ups and they’re up for the day at 6:00am. Some days might be a 2 nap day whereas other days might be a 1 nap day. The lack of consistency can really throw a parent off. Mentally plan ahead and know this transition is hard and it’s OK to be frustrated and annoyed.
Offering a 2-2.5 hour nap is going to be different for your baby. They’re not used to such a long time in their crib. Nap training takes longer to see results. In short, if you want your baby to take a 2 hour nap, you will leave them in their crib for 2 hours. Some parents want to do checks. Others do not. Whatever system you’re comfortable with, stick with it. You can do this!
