Naps. I seem to be doing it wrong.

[hermione]

C is 18 months old. Everyone seems to think she should for sure be down to one nap a day. And she is - unless I'm home. 

If im home she still has a late morning and late afternoon nap. If it's H or my mom, she sleeps at noon or 1 for 90-120 minutes. If its me, she loses her shit around 10:30 or 11 and must nap. I don't know why! 

Maybe be they are just willing to put up with more fit throwing than me? Maybe I'm too quick to say eff this behavior, you need a nap? Maybe I do more physical stuff in morning so she's more tired?

Two naps don't really bother me but one is more convenient. Really, I feel like I'm messing up somehow when people express shock that she still naps twice.

Any thoughts about this?

[gibbinator]

I think you are winning if you can get 2 naps out of a toddler *thumbs up *

[sent]

So you have the opposite problem of my napper theory. If I were you, I'd roll with it and bask in your mommy quiet time.

[carolinagirl831]

My dd at 19 months, refuses to nap for DH and I on the weekends, she only will for the nanny. Sooo if she naps for you at all I consider that a win

[Deleted]

That is my exact baby, except he goes to day care. He happily plays there from 8:30 until 12:30 whereas at home with us I cannot even fathom him being awake that long. At home by 9:30 he is usually rubbing his eyes and/or laying on his blanket on the floor until I put him in bed. DH and I think maybe we're just boring?

[hermione]

Oct 27, 2014 10:39:55 GMT -5 @notquiteblushing said:

That is my exact baby, except he goes to day care. He happily plays there from 8:30 until 12:30 whereas at home with us I cannot even fathom him being awake that long. At home by 9:30 he is usually rubbing his eyes and/or laying on his blanket on the floor until I put him in bed. DH and I think maybe we're just boring?

Notice I skipped the boring theory in my OP, lol.

[toesie]

If she has the 2nd nap as usually and doesn't have issue at bedtime, I'd keep it up and enjoy it.

We went down to 1 nap when it took me 30mins-1h to put her down for the first nap even though she looked tired, and she didn't have the second nap till 2-3 in the afternoon.

Right now, she still looks tired around 10, but time outside usually perks her up enough.

[hermione]

Oct 27, 2014 10:42:21 GMT -5 @vicmo said:

My only thought is that we forced B down to 1 nap when he started acting crazy at bedtime and refusing to sleep. And I know sometimes you deal with C not wanting to sleep in the evenings? No criticism, just wondering.

Also, Bas usually goes down for his single nap around 12, and the hour from 11-12 is a cranky whinefest around our house. Sometimes he won't even eat lunch because he's too tired/grumpy.

While I often post nighttime antics on social media and make liberal use of the hashtag #bedtimeisforchumps, the answer is honestly not really. C's bedtime is about 8:00pm. She has ALWAYS gotten up sometime between 9:00pm and 11:00pm for about 30 minutes and then goes back down pretty easily. It's just her routine and since we're usually awake until midnight, we just just roll with it.

The recent 18 month sleep regression/Wub loss/2 year molar perfect storm was obviously an exception but, knock on wood, we seem to be past that.

[lilac05]

I think any of your theories (or a combo of them) could be right. You're definitely not doing it wrong! If she needs sleep, she needs sleep. Enjoy the quiet.

DS1 took two naps well beyond 18 months (& still takes long naps at almost 4). He just needs a lot of sleep...he's super high energy the rest of the day! I've had several people say he's getting "too much sleep." No such thing for an otherwise healthy kid! (I wish DS2 would need as much sleep, but at 14 mo, he frequently sleeps less than DS1!)

[ssmjlm]

Is it a hunger thing? Even if E sleeps in a bit on weekends and we have a big lunch, sometimes she still needs a small morning snack, if only an apple pouch or cheese stick.

But our weekend schedule is obviously looser than daycare.

[hermione]

She's pretty easy to read when she's hungry. She signs eat over and over and points to what she'd like you to give her, lol.

[Deleted]

DS is 21 months and pretty similar. Daycare (which is 3x a week) he naps around 12 for 2.5 ish hours.

When he is home, he generally likes his 10:30 nap and often a little catnap around 4:30 or so.

The earlier day nap is generally more convenient since we can do something in the afternoon (and he'll usually get his cat nap in the car on the way home or whatever).

[dcn]

I think two naps is plenty normal at 18 months, I know a few toddlers who hung on to two naps until close to two. Also, the transition to one nap took at least a month for Ds. Some days he'd be ok with one others he needed two. It is a weird time.

You could try to go outside when she gets fussy mid morning to stretch time out, then an early lunch and nap around 11:30 or 12?

[Deleted]

DS1 took 2 naps until 2. He had to go to one for daycare, so he moved to one, but it took a while to adjust.

[Deleted]

I've found that I'm much quicker to put DD down for a nap as soon as I see signs of tiredness. My H will let her play until it's noon (naptime) or 7pm (bedtime). Maybe you're just more attuned to her tiredness signals?

[djc315]

N still will take a morning nap at daycare. He is so busy there, I can't imagine how cranky he would be if he didn't get that extra hour of sleep.

Do what works for you!