help with a routine tweak

[momtonb&ab]

OK, Niklas and Addison are 20.5 months.  Have been 12 + hour nighttime sleepers since about 4 months and we have worked through nap changes over time .....  when we went to one nap we struggled with nap length - it has really never been more than 1.5 - 1.75 hours, rarely 2 hours.

We've just recently moved and had a lot of transitioning (although their room is essentially the 'same').   I thought we had settled well as we had a whole week in the new place with good 12 hour nights, good settling, and 1.75 hour naps.  But we have had 3 days in a row that went something like this:

7am wake up (normal time) but somewhat cranky
1pm down for nap, very normal wind down routine but play, fuss, and squeal until almost 2
2:20 wake from nap
6:30 bath
7pm bed but fuss and chatter for at least 30 minutes, maybe more

we once had a similar issue and we put a curtain between their cribs to discourage talking and it helped a bit, but this time this doesn't seem to make a difference. 

Other milestones:

they have all their teeth but for 2 year old molars - no sign of those that i can see.
they have been walking/talking for ages - nothing particularly noteable the last few days
they had ear infections (a common thing for us) 2 weeks ago but everyone seems well right now
they have been a bit aggressive (pushing) but that seems to have come 'after' the bad sleeps so i attribute it to overtired.

does anyone know what i need to tweak to get better settling/sleeping?

[becky1969]

I think they are overtired by nap time.  It could be left over from the ear infection, or it could be from the changes with the move etc.  I realize they were sleeping well at first, but sometimes things start to accumulate, you know? In other words, the move itself was fine, but add to it getting over an ear infection and pretty soon they are too tired.

I'd try nap time 30 minutes earlier than normal, and see if that doesn't cut down on the play and help them to nap longer.  You might try giving them a longer wind down both at naps and bedtime too.  Perhaps a little more reassurance/soothing before sleep periods will help them to relax a bit more and make it easier to sleep.

An earlier nap time will probably be a very temporary measure.  I suspect after 3 or so days of napping longer they will catch up on sleep, and go back to the old routine.