16 mos old waking hour earlier in the am and waking earlier from her nap

[G and G]

Hi there. My DD will be 16 mos next week.
We have been on this sleep schedule/routine since for nearly 7 mos:

7:30am wake
12:30-2:30/3:00 nap
8:00pm bed

The last few days she has been waking an hour earlier in the morning, and today she woke 45 min earlier from her nap. She seems just fine, but I don't know why this is happening or what is going on. I don't like it!

It's as sif daylight savings taught her she could sleep less at night and be ok with it? I sure do not like getting up an hour earlier!

[deckchariot]

sleep needs for bubs tend to drop around 18 mos, so it's possible she's getting there early (especially if she went down to 1 nap at 9 mos - which is also early).  So you may want to try cutting the nap back some.  At 18 mos, most bubs are taking 1.5 - 2 hr naps, so if she's getting 2.5 - 3, she may just not be tired enough to sleep longer at night.  Also, night sleep drops to 11.5 hrs, and she's already there, so with the longer nap, it may just be a case of day sleep robbing night sleep.

hth
michelle

[G and G]

Thanks! Yes, she went down to one nap at 10 mos - early. I fought it, but she was just ready. With one nap things got so much better, so I guess she must just need less sleep. She was up early again this morning, but is content to play by herself. So if she will do that, then I will be ok with it! I am glad you clarified for me.

[deckchariot]

glad I could help

[G and G]

OK, can you ust reassure me that this sleep thing is normal?

My DD is sleeping 1-1.5 hours LESS at night and 1/2 less during her nap. It is driving me crazy!!!!

We starting putting her to bed a 1/2 later - maybe that is not good - but it was taking her so long to fall asleep at night, now it takes her just a minute to go to sleep. But she is then also waking an hour earlier in the morning, so this is 1.5 hour less of sleep! Only 10 hrs. She was doing 11.5 only 10 days ago. I don't get it!

[deckchariot]

that seems like a pretty extreme drop - what's her current routine like?  I'm wondering if the nap is too close to bedtime and/or too long....

[G and G]

Hi there.

Her routine was this:

7:30am wake
12:30pm - 2:30/300pm nap
8:00pm bed

Now it has been
6:30am wake
12:30-2:00pm nap
8:30pm - bed

Let me know what you think!

She seems happy enough, but it does seem like a big drop in sleep to me.

[deckchariot]

that is a pretty big drop, but nothing seems too "off" in her routine.....hmmmm.....If you put her down for a nap at 12, will she nap?  Wondering if she's going down a wee bit too late for that nap, so that's pushing her whole day later and she's a wee bit OT at bedtime and thus you get an EW?  If 12 is a no-go for a nap, and 8 is no-go for bed, then I'd say, she's fine with the new routine.

[G and G]

Hi there - and thanks for your response.
I do think 8:30 is too late of a bedtime. She is having such a hard time winding down that she ends up going to bed later and later! We read her books for 20 min, give her a bath, then sit with her in her rocking chair and offer some water and put her to bed. It is a STRUGGLE. All she wants to do is play! I am thinking of letting her watch TV - which I am VERY strict about, but it is the only thing that makes her sit STILL. Maybe this will help her wind down?

Also, she has a blankey that she LOVES. She sleeps with it, and we give her 2 in her crib, because she usually loses one in the night. Lately she has been screaming for it at bedtime and at naptime, so maybe she needs THREE in there! I'll put in 100 if it will work. Perhaps I should be giving her a big 'security' blanket to help? Her loveys are only 6x6 little silk blankets.

Thoughts? She was up even EARLIER this morning. UGH!!!!

I think is she could wind down easier, so would go to sleep easier and the EW would stop.

Thanks!

[deckchariot]

Many, many mums with toddlers experience the wind down issues!!!  Not that it's necessarily helpful to know you're not alone, but you're not alone   Have you tried starting the wind down even earlier?  Sometimes the hyper - ness at bedtime actually indicates OT.  I, personally, wouldn't recommend TV, even though she'll sit still for it, it is very stimulating for toddlers, and she may have an even harder time winding down after watching it.  It's also possible the bath and/or the books are overstimulating.  Have you tried doing the bath first, then reading some books that are about sleeping?  We keep a basket of books that are just for reading at nighttime, as they are all about going to bed   That and Abby gets all wound up from her bath and needs some calming down time afterwards.

And by all means - more lovies   Abby sleeps with a blanket, 3 bears, a cow, and a hippo (that's as big as her) - but if that's what she loves....I'm all for it !