Is 12 months too early for one nap?
A very common sign of the 12 month regression is the refusal of the afternoon nap. A lot of families will think this is a sign that their child needs to transition to one nap - and making that transition too soon can lead to an overtired dumpster fire.
What is a sleep regression?
A regression is a period of time when your baby’s sleep patterns change. It is a temporary set back from your normal sleep habits. It is a time when your baby would typically be sleeping but they may be awake more during the night and are having a hard time going BACK to sleep! It can also present itself as nap refusals…. aka the 12 month sleep regression.
There are 5 main sleep regressions: 4 months, 8 months, 12 months, 18 months and 24 months. There is also the 6 week sleep regression which can often be overlooked because your baby is still a newborn and sleep is most likely all over the place already.
The most common sign you will see during the 12 month sleep regression is your baby avoiding their second nap! Research states that about 17% of children are actually ready to transition from 2-1 naps at 12 months of age (so it can happen, it’s just less common).
If your 12 month old does NOT have lower sleep needs or did NOT nap transition early (4-3 nap, 3-2 nap)…..
…then HOLD ON TO THAT SECOND NAP!! (We may seem passionate about this and it’s because we are— we work with many families who need to break an overtired cycle from dropping that nap too early).
If your child is NOT taking his or her second nap - KEEP OFFERING IT and if they continue to have trouble:
limit nap 1 to 45-60 minutes (this helps increase sleep pressure for nap 2 and it can be the longer nap
increase the timing before nap 2 (up to 4 hours) can also help increase sleep pressure to take the nap
If you try BOTH of those (for at least 1 week) and it doesn’t help— then it isn’t schedule related and is most likely just the regression. They WILL go back to napping - so KEEP offering the nap!
And if it goes on longer than 3-4 weeks WITH making tweaks to the timing, then it really could be time to transition.
Liam (now 5 years old) went through the 12 month sleep regression and he boycotted his 2nd nap for weeks! Fortunately, I kept offering the nap… I would attempt the nap for 1 hour by leaving him in his crib (he would just lay there happily) and I would adjust bedtime by 30 minute (earlier) to ensure he was not overtired.
More nap transition blogs:
Eventually, he began to take his 2nd nap and I didn’t transiting him to 1 nap until 3 months later (when he was 15 months old). If you’re struggling through the transition to one nap, make sure you check out the schedules and transitions package to get timing specific support!
