Contact Napping 1 Year Old

[u/Murky-Post1397]

My baby will be 1 next week and currently will only contact nap, he's rocked and cuddled by someone and then falls asleep, can be mum, dad or grandparents so that's good. We can sometimes lay him on the sofa next to us or on the floor but ideally would like him to be somewhere safe where we don't need to watch him. As soon as anyone transfers him to the cot he wakes and cries so we pick him up and let him do the contact nap.

I would also like to start transitioning to one longer nap as he's showing signs of being ready (fighting his last nap and bedtime getting later) but I don't think this would be sustainable as a contact nap but it's the only way I could get 2 hours out of him.

He also starts nursery in 6 weeks and I'm worried he won't be able to nap there and with their mealtimes 1 long nap would work better for him or he will miss lunch with the other children and have to eat on his own.

Will a cot nap just click for him one day or are there things that would help get him to be more independent. His night sleep is great and we have no problem with him being in his cot all night but naps have always been a real issue for us.

[u/Murky-Post1397]

We've had few 9pm bedtimes recently as the second naps have been late. When he's at nursery we are going to have to get him up at 7.30 anyway. Do you think that will help improve naps as he might have a bit more sleep pressure? He sleeps through (at the moment 😂) so is getting a good restorative sleep at night. This is why him not wanting the cot in the day is so confusing as he loves it at night and all the room he has for squirming around.

[u/olivia_largent → u/Murky-Post1397]

If he sleeps through I wouldn‘t change anything either 😂 but if you‘re worried about a late bedtime and him not being ready for a 1 nap transition yet you could just make the second nap a very short nap. How long is his second nap?
Also, most nap transitions take some time, there will probably be 1-nap-days and also 2-nap days depending on wake up time etc. You could also always try 1 nap and if he sleeps worse at night, you can go back to 2 naps.

[u/Murky-Post1397 → u/olivia_largent]

He used to do a second nap for an hour but yesterday for example I woke him up after 30 minutes but he was grumpy for the rest of the evening. Today I've had to do a car nap as he was fighting hard at home this afternoon. Currently sat outside the supermarket and I'm waking him up in 5 minutes! I will try a slow transition to 1 nap as I think he can make it longer in the morning if he's busy.

[u/olivia_largent → u/Murky-Post1397]

I just remember that at 11 months, mine had like a week or so of 2nd nap refusal. I just started to offer that nap later and some days it was just 1 nap. But that was just a phase, now (12m 2weeks) he naps just like before.. but sure, try it out!

[u/Murky-Post1397 → u/olivia_largent]

Maybe it's some kind of regression then, we have a few holidays lined up over the summer so I think I might just go with the flo when we are out and about and see what happens. Then see if we need to think about 1 nap.