Sleep routine

Question

Dear fellow mummies, my LO has always had a rather strict 2 naps sleep schedule that she follows (mostly because she wakes up daily at around the same time every morning)  since she was 8 months old. Now that she is 14 months old, Im trying to switch her to a one nap schedule. And also because recently with her 2 naps schedule, she takes longer to fall asleep for her second nap. Since the change in her nap schedule, she started sleeping very poorly in the night (waking up multiple times crying) and also take very short naps in the afternoon for only an hour max. Shes sleep trained. So when we leave her in her bedroom for naps, she will take a cat nap (about 15mins) and then sit around (fiddling with her soft toys and occasionally crying) till we pick her up. She also started to get tired at lunch and falling asleep at her high chair right after lunch, but wakes up 15-20mins after we put her into her cot. Is this sleep regression? Or is she not ready to transit to 1 nap? And if so, why is she also starting to sleep poorly on her previous 2 nap schedule? Any other mothers with sleep trained babies and a strict sleep schedule can help please? Tia!  #advicepls #pleasehelp #firstbaby #firstmom

Jan Samson · Answer

Hi mum, I went through something quite similar also and honestly the nap transition can be really messy for a while. From what you shared, it sounds like she might be in that in-between stage where 2 naps is becoming too much but 1 nap is still a bit too early, so everything just feels off and night sleep gets affected too. What helped me was being a bit flexible for a period, like some days still doing 2 naps if she clearly cannot make it, and some days 1 nap if she is resisting the second one, instead of forcing a fixed switch too fast. Usually it settles after a few weeks once their body clock adjusts again.