Age to Switch to One Nap and Nap Mats

[Cat Herder]

Licensing is cool with it because it is two, one-hour periods, per day. Most of which they are not asleep. Fresh air, sunshine, safe sleep surface/position and within 25 feet of me at all times. Much safer that letting them fall asleep in a baby swing like happens at most places without indoor staff during outdoor playtime.

[Cat Herder]

Sometimes I roll their cribs out onto the back deck under the umbrella. Sometimes I put their crib mattress into a resin kiddie pool under a tree. Sometimes I put their crib mattress in a lawn wagon with rails. https://www.amazon.com/gp/cart/view.html?ref_=nav_cart Sometimes I put their crib mattress into a kiddie tent that zips up with a screen for bugs. All dependent on if the ground is cold or wet.

[Eleamo84]

From my experience infants seem to naturally get to the point of where they take one nap at naptime. I tell the parents that it's child led and that they are wanting to nap only at that time.

[SandBox]

I manipulate morning naps too to get them to transition by cutting them shorter and shorter.

[Alwaysgreener]

What do you sleep them in outside?

[Cat Herder]

I never start a morning nap routine.

Infants sleep at will throughout the day. Sometimes an hour, sometimes 15 minutes, I don't keep score of it at all. Infants go to the playground for two hours per day, like everyone else, so often sleep out there, too.

By the time they are 12 months, they are excited to get to lay down on a mat with the big kids and are generally the first asleep since that is the only time the classroom is quiet. Everyone stays in the same room at all times.

[GirlMomma]

Alwaysgreener sounds like a few parents I have 😂

[Alwaysgreener]

GirlMomma yeah I was shocked because I know most people pull their kid out by 3 but apparently they were waiting for her to get potty trained and she wasn't.

When she was three her brother age 7, one day he got mad because I didn't let him warm the baby's bottle. He says I warm sister's bottle at home. According to him she still took a bottle at night.

[GirlMomma]

Alwaysgreener WHAT?! By that age, they can climb out!

Both DD were out of their cribs by 18 months too.

[Alwaysgreener]

My kids were in beds by 18 months, so it threw me off when Dcg at 4 use to talk about a crib at home. She was heavy by that time and (not fully potty trained) I hated having to lift he onto the table for a change and couldn't imagine having to lift in and out of a crib.

[Rockgirl]

I start transitioning them to one nap at 12 months. If they can’t make it to after lunch right away, I shorten their morning nap a little more each week until they can make it all the way through the morning.

[BaileeB]

I don’t think I could keep DCB13months awake until nap time even if I wanted to 🤣 I lay DCB6mo, DS11mo and DCB13mo down in the room next to my playroom at 10 and then at 2/3ish. DS and DCB13mo can’t keep their eyes open any longer than that lol if I don’t lay them down they will lay down on the floor and go to sleep and get run over by the older kids lol
right now they are in pack n plays but DS has started showing interest in laying on a cot and I’m thinking of transitioning him after he turns 1 and seeing how it goes. DCB13mo naps so well that I’m sure I could put him on a cot and he’d be fine, just haven’t tried yet

[GirlMomma]

I definitely agree with CH. All of my DCK will lay down and nap at DC but not all of them nap on the weekends for DCP. Most of the time, my DCK transition to cots here before they are out of the crib at home lol

[TwinMama]

I've learned the less discussion I have with parents about my schedule, the better it goes. At 12 months, I move them to 1 nap per day. It does not affect what they do at home on weekends.

That's a very good point.

[Cat Herder]

I've learned the less discussion I have with parents about my schedule, the better it goes. At 12 months, I move them to 1 nap per day. It does not affect what they do at home on weekends.