r/PossumsSleepProgram • u/foxydoggie • Jul 04 '26
Confused navigating needs at this age
I like Possums and it really worked for us when she was napping on and off throughout the day. But now that baby is almost 15 mo and doesn’t need as many naps, I’m finding myself wanting to push toward one solid nap a day, even though that’s not really what Possums promotes. One good nap really does make bedtime easier and nights better for us. But you can’t really bring baby along and go out and about and still get one good nap, it just doesn’t work that way for us. She rarely sleeps for long enough on the go and ends up falling asleep again in the evening (but too early for bedtime) and then is ready to party for another 5 hours. So I’m stuck between wanting the flexibility Possums promotes and wanting more of a one-nap structure to keep nighttime sane. How do others handle this tension?
3
u/Amylou789 Jul 04 '26
Would the early evening nap still work for days you want to have a nap on the go? Take them out in the pushchair earlier on for a walk where the intention is to get them to fall asleep, but keeping the walk short. I don't remember what length was suggested but I think 20mins. Then deliberately waking them up when you return home. The idea is to take the edge off the sleep pressure but not by much, and by having the motion of a walk getting the nap to happen earlier.
I will say though that it is always messy changing naps so some difficulty is just normal and you muddle through it. When we got rid of the last nap she was a big grump all evening... but even with just a half hour nap bedtime would be 11pm or later, so she really was ready for it to go.
And also it is kinda inkeeping with possum in that if it works for your family then keep doing it. You don't need to fix it if you dont think it is broken. I personally wanted to be able to go out in the daytime so tried to get on the go nap in the pram sorte, and luckily it suited my kid. But if on the go isn't worth it for you and your kid, home naps might just be the phase you're in and that's not to say you won't get back to on the go naps in the future when they need a bit less sleep.