Should I drop my 14 month old's second nap?

Question

He has never been a great napper. I would be happy if I got an hour out of him. But lately his 11:00am nap is getting longer, just today he slept 2 hours. If he keeps sleeping this long should I drop his second nap? I think he would be miserable staying awake until 8:00pm but I feel like napping him around 4:30-5:00 is to late.

Answer 1

At least an hour but maybe no longer than 2 hrs. Depends also on the childs energy level, some kids need longer nap than others...espeacially if they have been running around etc.... From my personal experience at this age my son would take a nap of 2 hours around 12-3pm and be up all day until late at night. Its exhausting but thats a mom's duty. I had many sleepless days and i know its hard. But if he naps twice , you should just let him nap once and you nap along with him.

Answer 2

From the info in your post, I'm not too sure if you should drop the second nap just yet. If the only sign he's giving you is sleeping an extra hour in the morning, I would suggest maybe moving the morning nap earlier. If he's falling asleep on his own in the afternoon, I would guess that he still needs both naps. I don't know how it is for others, but my son made it easy for me to tell he was ready for less sleep--he would just not fall asleep in the morning.

However, eventually your son will probably need to take only one nap. Every child is different, but I think mine started taking just one nap at around 2. I agree with everyone else: If you are going to drop a nap, it should be the morning one, and the afternoon one should be moved a little earlier. Ideally you'd want it halfway through your child's day, which for most kids is a little after lunch. That's what most preschools do also; naptime is usually right after lunch.

My son (whose 4 now) stopped taking naps altogether at 3, which is a little early compared to what other moms have told me. But the most important thing is that your baby's getting enough sleep overall. Here's what it says in the April 2007 issue of Parenting magazine (pg. 27; hopefully my subscription has finally come in handy!):

Babies: 14-15 hours
Toddlers: 12-14 hours
Preschoolers: 11-13 hours
School-aged: 10-11 hours

According to them, that's about how much sleep kids should be getting overall, including naps. Of course, every kid is different, but the figures seem to be accurate for our family. So, as long as your baby's getting enough sleep, I wouldn't be too worried. It's more of a scheduling issue, which would depend on your family's own schedule and what works best for you and your child. I hope it all goes well for you =)

Answer 3

My 14 month old still naps twice daily, he's up by 7 down by 9:30, he sleeps for 2 hours then he's up till 3 and down till 5 or 6. I would not suggest cutting out his nap as they are growing so fast right now and need this sleep, I think my son is actually taking a longer afternoon nap right now, but the way I look at it is that if it doesnt change his nighttime schedule, dont mess with it, for a few days now my sons afternoon nap is lasting until 7, but he still goes down for the night at 10 which is perfect for everyone here so I let him get his sleep. Just keep in mind that his body is going through so much right now, like when you were pregnant, you were tired all the time, these growth spurts take alot out of babies and they need the rest.

Answer 4

Maybe cut out his morning nap and put him down around 1:00 or 2:00 that way he will sleep a few hours, but also be ready for bed in the evening.

Answer 5

When I dropped the 2nd nap with my son, I dropped the morning nap. He would play until around 12 then eat lunch. He would lay down around 1ish and nap until 2:30 or 3 and then he was good to go until suppertime. Once we had dinner and he had a bath and put on his pjs, it would be 8 or 8:30 and that's when I would start our evening ritual of going to bed, i.e. calming down, reading a story, getting a specific stuffed animal and then going to bed. It was so much nicer too than the 2 naps per day which could really wreak havoc with your schedule.

Answer 6

Why not have him just take an afternoon nap. Have lunch and then let him play for about an hour and then put him down for a nap around 1 or so.

Answer 7

I agree with you 100%. Usually its after age one they drop down to one nap anyways. What I did with my kids is I would try to stretch their first nap so they'd go down to as close to noon as possible. They'd then sleep 2-3 hours (god willing... it make take him a week to get used to it) - and then I had to make their bedtime earlier for a while until they got used to one nap - which wasn't such a horrible thing, lol! They ended up going to bed by 7pm sharp, and they'd sleep through fine until their normal waking time. So in your case I'd drop the 2nd nap, try to make his first nap a tad later, and make his bedtime a little earlier for a while - or permanently if you don't mind it! Hope this helps!

Answer 8

Yeah, I hated giving up that nap too!! It's time though. I put my son down from 2-4 every day. Sweet little thing is asleep right now so mommy can go on answers! :P

Answer 9

Cut out his morning nap if he does not appear to be sleepy at the time and make his nap later...My son is almost 14 months old and i put him to bed from 1130 a.m. to 1:30p.m. he is visibly tired at 11:30 a.m. he goes to bed for the night at 6 p.m. He starts getting cranky at 5 p.m. but i just put on wonder pets for him and he snaps out of it. I'd much rather him be in bed at 6 p.m. so i can spend time with my 9 yr old daughter and unwind myself.

Answer 10

at this age your child is more active and therefore needs to have a total of two hours sleep during the daytime. and 11 hours sleep at night. i found that this worked well with my kids especially if i let them sleep no later than 2pm. i found it better to let them sleep for two hours in the afternoon. then they can get themselves all tired out again and ready for bed at 8pm