Now you have a walking, talking child who is so much fun. He likes to see how far he can throw his supper across the room, how many toys he can get into the register and much more. As well, he is entering a stage that I find to be one of the toughest – dropping the morning nap. Now if it was only that simple. But, instead of going smoothly from two naps to one, your toddler becomes stuck in an awkward phase where he only sleeps for one nap while still desperately needing two. He may even start to resist all naps and even begin waking at night again. And all that hard work at sleep training seems to have gone out the window. 

In order to get things back on track, one strategy stands out. If your child only had one nap and is really tired and cranky at the end of the day, try putting him to bed earlier. If you wait until his usual bedtime, he will likely have a hard time falling asleep and even start waking at night because he is now overtired. Putting him to bed earlier will help him catch up on lost daytime sleep. But not to worry! This won’t cause him to wake up earlier in the morning. It just gives him the opportunity to catch up on the sleep he needs. Best advice for this stage….hang in there!! Although it might take several months, eventually your toddler will switch to one solid nap per day. And on the bright side, you will get more time to spend interacting with your little one 🙂

From the Sleep Consultants, Allison Naidu and Adrienne MacQueen, with Sleep Matters