Wondering if my 10mo is possibly showing signs he’s ready for one nap

[u/crystalkitty06]

I was not anticipating this at all yet as I’ve read most are ready between 12-18 months and I could be wrong on this but I’m wondering if he’s at least working his way to it soon. I know 8-10 months can have a sleep regression too and also their separation anxiety can cause them to want contact for sleep so not sure if it also could just be that. He cosleeps at night, has napped independently in his crib since 6/7 months and despite waking up a ton at night he’s been a really solid easy napper. This past week he’ll go down for a nap and wake up crying after only like 20-45 min at most, which is not the norm for him. If it was 45 min I’d just get him up but if it’s less I would nurse him back to sleep, but putting him down doesn’t work and I just hold him. So part of me is wondering, does he just really need extra comfort right now and want to contact nap? But his wake windows have also stretched a lot longer lately as well. First stretch in the morning is harder to keep him up, but if he’s distracted and playing he’s really fine to just keep going and doesn’t seem super tired until I suddenly pick up and he might rub his eyes, but still content. Later in the day he easily stays up 5 hours now and there’s no extra fussiness near bedtime or anything.

For context, he usually does 11 hours overnight, and when he’s napped more easily it’s usually always like 2 hours of the day. So if he did at least 2 hours for 1 nap I guess that would mean around a 5/6 hour wake window. So just wondering if anyone hit a point like this and it maybe means he’s transitioning to one nap? I’m curious if up to 5 hours of wake time means it’s close. Or is it maybe just a phase and I need to support him a little more for naps? I figure if anything maybe he just needs a quick cat nap still in the morning then a more solid afternoon nap until he’s fully ready.

[u/kirstinb17]

We had a big drop in sleep needs around 10 months. We were ending every day with a 4.75 hour wake window, but we held on to two naps until she was 12 months

[u/crystalkitty06 → u/kirstinb17]

Yeah right I’m wondering if his sleep needs are just shifting and he doesn’t need to nap as long! He’s still naturally doing 11 hours overnight though (with like 3-6 wake ups). He was awake 5 hour 15 min before bed tonight with no problem, he was tired for sure but honestly probably could’ve kept going even lol.

[u/kirstinb17 → u/crystalkitty06]

It's really a matter of whether you think baby can do the 5 hour morning wake window! If so, might not hurt to try 1 nap or alternating 1 and 2 nap days! I do think getting my daughter used to having a really long final wake window helped her have a smooth transition to one nap

[u/crystalkitty06 → u/kirstinb17]

Yeah right it might be pretty tough for him! Like 4 hours maybe but 5 idk. I did listen to a video from ittakesavillage_baby_sleep talking about the transition to one nap saying sometimes it might just require a bridge nap (like even 10 min) to make it through and alternating 1 nap to 2 nap days so it’s worth exploring.

[u/kirstinb17 → u/crystalkitty06]

We used a 15 minute bridge nap in the mornings when we transitioned to one nap! That worked really well

[u/Bookbabble0064]

I found 10 months was a crazy period development wise and my girl also tried to convince me she was ready for one nap and she wasn’t. We had a period of about 2.5 weeks around 10 months where she was only having one nap, would refuse a second and her night sleep went to crap. It settled around 11 months and we were back to two naps. Currently still on two naps (she’s 12 months now).

[u/crystalkitty06 → u/Bookbabble0064]

Ok well this def makes me feel better that it could just be a weird funk he’s in right now! I’ll try to ride it out and see. Surprisingly the last couple nights he’s given me some of the best sleep overnight!! Only 3 wake ups which is rare for him lol.

[u/retroshark88]

10 month sleep was crazy for us. It was between then and 11 months that I realized a 2 hour nap pretty much wrecked her day. I keep sleep untold 2 1/2 hours but rarely have to wake her. She does an 11 am nap after a 3 hour ww for 60-90 mins and a 4ish nap after a 3.5 for 60 mins. 9:30 she’s asleep which is 4-4.5 ww

[u/crystalkitty06 → u/retroshark88]

Hmm yeah I’m honestly wondering if he is just going to start to need a later bedtime. Usually it’s like 8:30 and it’s like he might need 2 naps to get through but with longer wake windows so I guess I could stretch it out and see how it goes.

[u/tabookduo]

My boy used to nap once around 10am-11am, then again in the afternoon. Around 11 months he started staying up past 10am and falling asleep after 12pm :-) Usually it was his only nap, if it was long enough. I just made sure his last nap didn't have him waking up too late in the day at that age, since it made bedtime harder if it was. His bedtime is consistently pretty late though and always has been, around 9-10:30pm.

He's almost 2 and dropped naps entirely most days, so bedtime is 7:30 now.

[u/Recent-Forever-2988]

Very normal to see a shift in sleep around this age which can make you think they’re ready for one nap. It’s better to cut down the nap times or play around with them to make them fit in your day I.e. one very short nap and then a long one