1 hr nap at 23 mths-due to pooping?

[abaker89]

My 23mth old has been doing great and now every day she only naps for 1 hr exactly and she has pooped when I go get her.  I don't know if that is what is causing her to wake or not.  I have tried extra prunes, no prunes, food at different times and nothing helps.  She used to go right before her nap or in the morning and now she just doesn't.  She is teething but I have medicated her and it has not helped.  I know an hour isn't too bad but I am newly pregnant and very sick so I want to see if she will go back to her old schedule.  Before this started, her schedule was:

Wake 8
Nap 1-2:30 (90 min but usually a few times a week I get 2-2.5 hrs)
Bed at 8

Everything is the same but she is only napping 1 hr, any ideas?

Thanks,
Aileen

[becky1969]

Hmmm. How long has she been on this routine? It could be that she needs her nap to be a little later now, and she's 'short' napping because she's not sleepy enough.  On the other hand you went from 90 minutes to 60 minutes, and this may just be how much sleep she needs at this age!

I think I'd try a slightly later nap time - 30 minutes or so -- and see if that changes the sleep pattern at all.


Of course, the poo may absolutely be waking her.  We went thru phases like thta and all you can really do is wait for their body clock to change again.  Sigh.  Or change the time of her lunch, I guess.  You know, maybe offer a light meal at noon and then another light meal when she wakes.  Definitely give her an hour between meal and nap time.

[abaker89]

Thanks for responding!  I see what you mean about the time, she has been on 5 hrs A time since probably Nov and it has suited her fairly well.  Maybe it is time for a switch to 5.5 though it will require some schedule change since lunch is kind of her cue to go for her nap and we can't have lunch that late!  I know what you are saying about decreasing sleep but its not just 90 to 60 min, I was getting 2-3 days of 2 hr naps so her normal pattern was 4 days at 90 min and 3 days at 2 hrs so it is a big decrease.

As for the pooping, when I delay the nap after lunch, she actually still doesn't go but then goes earlier in her nap which gave me a few days of 45 min naps, yuck!  Its actually seems like the sooner I get her down after eating works to prolong the amount of nap time before she has to poop.

So maybe I should just try to have a late lunch a few days and put her down at 1:30 and see where that gets me?  I don't mean to complain about an hour nap (especially since we've had our share of 25 min ones!) but I am so sick with morning sickness and I want to keep the schedule that we were on.  Thank you!

Aileen

[becky1969]

Hey, feel free to complaiin about the 1 hour nap! Heck, I complain about 90 min ones and I know I have no right to.  We all have some routines that work better for our families than others, and we have every right to try to make it work the way we want.  And pregnancy is not for sissies, so don't blame you wanting more sleep out of her!

Try the later nap and see what happens.  If she's been at the same routine since Nov. it may very well be time to change.  At our house, LO needed to extend A time about every 6 months between 12 and 30.  sounds like that's where you are too! Good news he's really stabilized since 30 months, and I think from here nap just gets shorter rather than changing time in the day.

[abaker89]

Thanks!  That is good info to know, so we should expect a switch to 6 hrs A time in 6 mths or so?

We have done 5.5 hrs twice and still only gotten an hour nap but she didn't poop either time.  Does that mean she has gotten into the habit of this shorter nap now?  Is there anything I can do to encourage her to sleep longer?  I already leave her in there for at least 30 min after she wakes since she is just talking to herself.

Thanks!
Aileen

[becky1969]

It may just take some time to lengthen.  I'd leave it at 5.5 hours for another 2-3 days and see what happens.  If you *still* get an hour nap, then you might try 5.75.