Naps aren't as long as they used to be!

[maybell245]

Hi Everyone,
Any help or advice on this would be much appreciated.

My daughter is 20 months and has been on EASY since she was 5 weeks.  She has been a good sleeper most of the time except when a routine change was needed.

She has been on the following routine since she was 15 months.

7am Wake - snack with milk in cup (She sometimes wakes early between 6:15-6:30 but talks to herself in bed and may or may not fall back asleep before I go to her at 7)
Activity until 8am Breakfast
Activity until 11:45 am Lunch
Light Activity until 12:45 start nap routine
1-4 nap (She usually sleeps 2.5 hours at the least it was usually 2 hours 10 minutes and occasionally she would sleep the full 3 hours.  She doesn't cry normally and if she wakes early will talk to herself or just lay there awake and relaxing until I go get her.  Or my mother in law while I am at work).
4 pm snack (usually a vegetable or fruit and some kind of protein)
5:45 Dinner
7:00 Start bed routine
7:30-7:45 Asleep for night

So that is the routine and it has been pretty consistent until about 3 weeks ago when she got her very first cold!  (I know I am lucky she has never been sick until now!)  She was fine during the day when she was playing or eating, but when she had to lay down for naps or sleep she would cry and often panic because she felt worse laying down.  When she would finally go to sleep she would wake early for naps or at least 2-3 times during the night and it would take 30 minutes at the least to get her to go back to sleep.  We tried to stick to our routine as close as we could, but she needed cuddling when she felt awful so we held her some until she calmed down if she was really upset and then put her back in bed.  She would often get fully upset again and I would lay next to the bed to convince her to lay down and pat her until she laid down. 

About 6 days ago she seemed better.  She napped and slept through the night.  That was a Thursday.  She napped and slept again Friday-Sunday.

Monday, Tuesday and today (Wednesday) she has napped 1.5 hours at the most and seems ready to play when she wakes.  My mother in law said my daughter cried through most of her nap on Monday and she had to hold her so she wouldn't.  Tuesday she just only slept 65 minutes and then cried until someone got her up.  Today I was home and she slept 1.5 hours and seemed ready to play.

She has still been asleep before 7:45 those 6 days and out of bed at 7 am (with some days of her normal EW, but talking in bed or laying there quietly).

Is she not adjusted from being sick yet?  Does she need a routine change? If so, what? 

Looking for advice and feedback.

Thanks so much!

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

If she is shortening the nap herself and is still having good nights I would say she has done the routine tweaking herself . If she is happy waking after an 1.5 nap and goes until normal bedtime I would just roll with it!

[maybell245]

Thanks.

She is confusing me though - the last 2 days she napped 2+ hours and slept at night, but cried in her sleep off and on.  She's been overly clingy to just me too.  And today she screams like the world is ending when she needs a diaper change and is fine the rest of the time!

Is this just todderhood on fully now?

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Sounds like it, and maybe a bit of separation anxiety too.

[maybell245]

So the last week she isn't waking up happy nor going to bed happy.  She cries when put down for naps or bed and nothing seems to console her - pu/pd, shushing, pacifier, stuffed friend...nothing.  She may calm, but then she won't lay down and actually go to sleep.

When she does finally fall asleep she lays there hours later and cries in her sleep but is not awake when she does this.

At this point, I think she is overtired because she is kind of cranky off and on the rest of the day and she is usually pleasant.

I don't know what to!

[maybell245]

Oh, and she is EW.  Wake up time is 7 and the past 3 days she has gotten up as early as 5:30 crying.

[Truly Blessed]

Hi Hun,

((HUGS)) it's so hard when they're unhappy this way.

On first glance I agree it does seem like she was SR (self regulating) then it seemed that OT had kicked in somewhere along the line. I wonder if it may be worth checking that she isn't in any discomfort at this point as this does sound like perhaps she may be in pain with teething maybe? Does she have her molars through yet? Also following the cold, sometimes ear infections occur quite often at this age, so just something to consider.

Other than that, routine wise, what used to work for DS at this age was to temporarily shift the nap early by 30 mins to an hour depending on how tired he appeared and his mood. This sometimes can result in a more restful, longer nap. Is that something that you think may be achievable?

Vicki.x.