How will I know when my 14 month old is ready to give up one of his naps a day?

Bonnie - posted on 10/24/2010

If he is sick right now than it probably wouldn't be a good idea to try to take a nap away from him. He needs his rest. If you are thinking of waiting until he is better, then I would try taking his morning nap away. He may sleep a tad bit longer in the afternoon though. As far as his cold goes, you could try elevating the mattress a bit where his head lays and also try a vicks vapourizer. Those require the liquid vicks and it creates a steam to help breathe easier.

Sarh - posted on 10/24/2010

Have you tried sitting in the bathroom w/the shower on hot to create a lot of steam, close the door and sit on the toilet lid w/him, this should help break up the crud in his chest and/or nose. The mattress being elevated should help some as well.
About the naps, I just let me daughter nap as she needed and still at 4 yrs old I let her nap during the day if and or when she wants to... they still nap (have rest time) in K-4. You should use the nap time as a time to get things done or take a nap yourself. I don't see anything wrong w/napping twice a day. My 4 month old will lay there and talk to himself for a bit before napping or falling asleep for the night as well. And yes, he most likely is waking during the night due to his congestion. I'm not sure how big he is, but if he will fit in his swing or bouncer still then maybe that will help keep him a bit more elevated, just make sure he is on the floor and strapped in, I'd put him in your room. You could also put him in his stroller to sleep and see if that helps.

Nicolle - posted on 10/24/2010

thanks for your input leanne.... I hope that the only reason why he is waking up is because he is congested.. i do prop his crib mattress as he was an acid reflux baby and when my doc told me about it...that was a life saver! I feel bad letting him cry when he gets upset WHEN he has a cold cause I feel like it gets him all worked up and takes a long time to settle again. but I'll try it... i was using a humidifier it seemed to be making alot of noise so tonight im going to try with out it... i was wondering if the noise of the humidifer was waking him up...anyway hope it all works itself out... thanks for your advice

Leanne - posted on 10/24/2010

My son gave up his second nap at 14 months and it was obvious that he was ready. My son would get up around 9 am and then nap from 11-1ish then I'd try to put him down again around 4:30 but he'd just play and chat and whine for over an hour! We finally gave up on the nap because he'd play for an hour then sleep for about 40 mins and he'd be all cranky afterwards. My son is now doing a 2-2.5 hour nap from about 1-3 every day and that seems to be working well for us. I would wait a bit longer before cutting out your son's second nap as it seems like he does still need it, since he's getting more than an hour of sleep during that time. What you can try to do, is push his morning nap back by about 15-30 mins and see how that changes your day. We've been gradually pushing his morning nap back for 2 months, and now he's awake for about 5 hours in the morning and 6-7 after his nap. It sort of evens out the day.
Don't let the talking/playing fool you though, some kids just take longer to settle in. My son still plays for about 20mins or more before his nap, but I think it's good for him to have this quiet play time by himself too.

If you do cut out his second nap, for a few weeks I'd try putting him to bed at least half an hour earlier so that he's still getting roughly the same amount of sleep, just in different periods.

About the night-waking, is your son congested? If so, that's probably why he's waking up in the night. Also, my son will wake up if he has a runny nose as it kinda pools under him (he's a stomach sleeper). You don't have to go in and get him at night if your son can self-soothe, most of the time they just go back to bed after a brief awakening.
A couple things you can try if it's due to congestion:
Proping the mattress up -put a pillow or towel UNDER the crib mattress (not in the bed!) to raise the head or foot of the bed so your son can breathe a little easier.
Try a humidifier -the humid air helps keep him from feeling dried out and you can buy baby-friendly vapor stuff for colds (just ask the pharmacist).

Basically, just keep in mind that his cold will pass and he'll get back to his old routine shortly.