Have you ever wondered if you dropped the nap too soon?
Maybe your child had all the signs, and you've been seeing them for a couple of weeks (plus sleep is super disrupted!), but they can't seem to fall into a new routine?
Ugh.
How do we know??
Short answer: You don't always know.
Long answer? See below!
Common signs that your child needs to drop a nap (a quick review):
They protest a nap, usually the last one of the day
They take all their naps well, but bedtime is now late (past 8 pm)
They sleep okay during the day, and bedtime is okay, but they're up early
You've also considered their age and change in sleep needs, and that's led you to drop a nap!
But what if you've done that (and it's been a couple of weeks at least), and you still can't seem to fall into a schedule?
Sometimes, we have to go back a step!
Yup, I know that's not fun, but it can happen.
The 2-1 nap transition and 1-0 nap transition are, IMO, the two most challenging nap transitions.
The wake windows increase significantly, bedtime moves up quite a lot and we're often dealing with overtiredness.
Signs that you may need to go back to more naps:
Your baby isn't coping with the longer awake times, despite your best efforts to stretch them (see blog post on this here)
Putting them to bed early results in them constantly treating it like a nap
They're waking up more at night (due to overtiredness)
They're waking up early, exhausted, which makes it difficult to maintain the new nap schedule
AND it's been at least two weeks of trying out the new nap schedule
Nap transitions can take 2-6 weeks to establish (I know, that's not great news)
But, lean into your intuition.
If you feel like what you're doing isn't working, it's okay to go back to more naps.
It may be for a few weeks or several weeks, but either way, parenting is full of trial and error, so let's lean into that:)
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Here for you,
Melody Patton
P.S. Is your child not sleeping well, regardless of their nap schedule?
Don't wait! Summer is a great time to get more sleep!
Plus, I have a summer sleep promo happening now until August 31st!
$100 off basic/classic/premium sleep packages + a 30-minute free call add-on for you to use whenever you need it!