Rocking the Single Nap

I consider myself lucky that JB has been a pretty consistent sleeper all along.  Even though he didn't sleep through the night until 10 months old, at least he minimized the wake-up to 15 minutes once a night at 3AM.  He's now done the 7:30PM/8:00PM - 7:00AM for as long as I can remember, and I can count on one hand (actually, two fingers) how often he's woken up in the middle of the night and required our attention since 10 months.  EXACTLY TWICE, both times when we were in Texas.  Yes, we are lucky folks.

JB has always been a pretty good napper, too.  He's been rocking the two naps a day at 10AM and 2PM for…oh, I don't know…where is that baby book….oh, right, still not updated.  Let's go with "quite a while".  They aren't marathon naps, but decent.  The doctor warned me that most kiddos drop down to one nap between 15 and 18 months old, but I chose to ignore that.  Since JB's two speeds are "on" and "off", we needed that "off" position at least twice a day to survive.  :)

However, certain factors came into play and impacted the nap schedule.  First, this kid's dance card is super full during the week, but all his little friends are one-nappers and his playdates get cut short in the mornings. Second, JB started swimming lessons, and the lesson time I chose was 10:15AM.  Third, Nanny Y has found fun things to take JB to during the day (library, museums, etc) that start right at the morning nap time.  And, lastly, the past week or two his two naps have been nothing short of craptastic.  He's not sleepy at 10AM and it backs up the whole schedule.  He naps later and later meaning bedtime is rough at 7:30. A few days he slept only 20 minutes during both of his naps.  This results in a total cranky-pants toddler.

cranky pants JB

So the Sunday that Daylight Savings began, little JB woke up at 8AM EDT.  This was expected with the time change, and - as we saw it - and opportunity to capitalize on an already screwed up schedule.  We distracted him during the day, went out to lunch and kept him happy with grilled cheese, let him play with a phone on the car ride home, and plopped him in his bed for his first - and only - nap at 1PM.  AND HE SLEPT UNTIL 3:15!!  He was a little more sleepy than usual approaching 7PM, but overall did great all day long.  The transition had begun!

Since then, here's what we've been facing.  Definitely a transition, and we all know that transitions are no fun.  The first week looked like this:

• Monday (3/9) - woke up super happy at 7:30AM, napped from 12:00PM - 1:45PM, went to bed a little tired/cranky around 7:15PM
• Tuesday - woke up content at 7:00AM, napped from 12:00PM - 1:30PM (hum), was great until 6:40 and then had a complete meltdown. In bed by 7PM.
• Wednesday - woke up grumpy at 7:15AM, napped from 12:00PM - 1:30PM, had a cupcake for dinner at his friend's b-day party and was a wild child until 8:15PM.
• Thursday - woke up at 7:15AM, napped from 12:15PM - 2:35PM (getting there), asleep by 7:15PM
• Friday - woke up at 7:00AM, fell asleep in the car on the way home from a playdate with Nanny Y, slept from 12:15 - 3:15 (waking up in protest twice), then in bed by 7:30PM.
• Saturday - woke up at 6:00AM (whaaaaaaat?), nearly collapsed after swimming lessons but stayed awake till 12:30 (sleeping till 2:30), in bed by 7:00.
• Sunday - woke up at 6:15AM (whyyyyyy?), so sleepy after church so we did naps at 10AM and 2:30PM (he needed it), stayed up partying with the adults for my birthday until 9PM (!!!!)

By Week 2 I was convinced he was still ready for 1 nap a day, but realized this was going to take a bit longer than I thought.  The thousands of google articles I read assured me a tired toddler was par for the course and to stick with the strategies (and earlier bedtimes).  

• Monday (3/16) - woke up at 6:30AM (better), napped from 12:00 - 1:45PM (better), started falling apart in his bath at 6:45PM, cried himself to sleep around 7:00PM (so sad - he never does this!)
• Tuesday - woke up at 6:15AM (but played contently 'till 645), napped from 12:00 - 1:45PM, went to bed at 7:15PM without a lot of drama
• Wednesday - woke up at 6:15 but went back to sleep until 8AM!! Napped from 1 - 3PM, went to bed at 7:15PM 
• Thursday - woke up at 8AM again!  Napped 1 - 2:45PM, and in bed by 7PM.

I could probably keep tracking, but tracking can become quite addicting without a lot of benefit.  I can also make myself crazy with tracking (proof in point: I went through TWO Itzbeen timers with newborn JB!!)  If I were putting this into a status report I would say we're "on track".  I still think JB shows some signs of being tired at times, but then a lot of the time he seems perfectly fine and busy.  He has started to hate his baths, but I can't tell if that's associated with the nap or not (maybe just a phase??)  I probably could/should have moved bedtime to even earlier (6:30PM??), but it's so hard to do when that's your only time with your kiddo.  #workingmamaproblems

Overall, dropping to one nap has been relatively smooth. Won't say we're rocking it yet, but we're getting there.  :)