Transitioning to one nap

When it happens

Most babies drop to one nap between about 13 and 18 months. Before 12 months is early and usually a false alarm.

Signs of genuine readiness, seen consistently over two or more weeks rather than a bad few days: refusing one of the two naps outright, taking a very long time to fall asleep for either, waking early in the morning because there is not enough sleep pressure, or the afternoon nap pushing bedtime very late.

Signs it is not time: a few refused naps during a leap, an illness, teething, or a holiday. Babies go through patches of nap refusal at 8-10 months and again around 12 that resolve on their own.

The transition typically takes two to six weeks and is not linear. Expect good days and bad days in the same week.

How to make the switch

Do not go cold turkey. Push the morning nap later by 15 to 30 minutes every few days, aiming to land the single nap at around 12 to 12.30 p.m.

Alternate. On days that go badly, offer two naps; on days that go well, one. Most families run a mixed schedule for a few weeks and that is normal, not inconsistency.

Bring bedtime forward — often quite a lot, sometimes to 6 or 6.30 p.m. — during the transition. This is the single most useful adjustment and the one parents resist.

Cap the single nap at around two to two and a half hours once it establishes, so it does not eat into night sleep.

Get outside in the late morning. Light and activity carry a baby through the wobbly hour before the nap better than anything indoors.

Feed lunch earlier than feels natural — around 11.15 or 11.30 — so a hungry baby is not fighting sleep.

The difficult middle

Expect a rough patch. A baby stretched to one nap is overtired before their body has adjusted, and overtiredness looks like early waking, short naps and evening meltdowns — which then look like the transition failing.

Car and pram naps are legitimate during this phase. A nap that happens is better than a nap that does not.

Watch for the false ceiling: many babies drop to one nap, then briefly need two again during illness or a growth spurt. Going back for a week is fine.

For daycare children the setting will usually have one nap time. Match it at weekends rather than running two schedules, which prolongs the transition.

And be patient with the timeline. Six weeks feels endless in the middle of it and is entirely ordinary.

Frequently asked questions

Q: My 11-month-old is refusing the morning nap. — Almost certainly a phase rather than a transition. Keep offering; it usually returns within a couple of weeks.

Q: How long should the one nap be? — Most children settle at about one and a half to two and a half hours, starting around midday.

Q: When do children drop the last nap? — Usually between three and four years, and some children need quiet rest time long after they stop sleeping.

Q: Bedtime is now very early and I get no time with them. — It is temporary, and an overtired baby costs more evening than an early bedtime does. It usually moves back within a month.