OT signs in toddlers?

[sianie]

I do think 8.30pm is on the late side, even if you get him down by 8pm that may help.

9.5/10hr nights are quite short for his age......do you think he's quite low sleep needs especially if he seems quite happy after this length of sleep (some LO's do naturally need less sleep).

[Manueli]

We are not doing any progress. 8pm BT during the week when he is at daycare is really hard for us cause we don't get home till 6pm, then we have to make dinner and either wash or take the dog for a walk. Plus Hayden is always so hyper that getting him dressed and undressed is an ordeal that takes usually around 30 min.

So every weekend I want to get him to bed early and hope for a longer sleep, but it never works that way. Either he has a late nap or on Sundays we are always out just a bit too long cause it is our only afternoon we have as a family together. Today he woke from his nap at 3pm already and I had the plan to put him down btw. 8 and 8.30pm, but his actual BT was 9.15pm at the end.

I do think he is on the lower sleep side, he has always had around 1-2 hrs less total sleep than recommended and I always worried it was me who couldn't manage his sleep needs. And maybe that is still the case, but I don't really know for sure. We usually always had around 11-12 hrs of night sleep though even with a late bedtime (for a while we even had a 10-10 schedule), but since this January he just doesn't want to sleep very long in the morning anymore. I don't know if he now wants an earlier BT or just needs less sleep. I'll keep working on the earlier BT and hopefully will have some better results soon. Bad mom...

[sianie]

Don't beat yourself up...you're doing the best you can! 

I do think that an earlier BT would help but I appreciate it's hard for you to do.

How long is he napping for ATM?

[Manueli]

Most of the time last week we had 2 hr naps, yesterday he had a 2.75 hr nap and then slept from 8.30pm till 6am at night. However he only had one NW at 4.30am, which is great.

I have done some thinking and I have a new theory. I was trying to figure out what changed when he started to consistently sleep shorter nights, and the only thing I could think of is that he started to have longer sleep stretches at night between his NWs. He used to wake every 1-2 hrs and in January he started to sleep for 4hrs at a time. Then I started to wean him and now his sleep stretches are anything from 4hrs up to 8hrs. So maybe he really is a low sleep baby and since he now sleeps better at night, he doesn't need as much total sleep anymore. I guess I can't have both of the good world.

I am just going to keep trying to put him to bed as early as I can and see how it goes. If he doesn't want to have longer nights, well then I guess that is all he needs. I don't think we can consistently have a BT of 8pm cause there is no way I can manage that. I will try for 8.30pm and hope I can keep it up.

Thank you for your help. I will let you know if we have had a change in mind and suddenly longer nights again.

[sianie]

and the only thing I could think of is that he started to have longer sleep stretches at night between his NWs. He used to wake every 1-2 hrs and in January he started to sleep for 4hrs at a time

I think you are spot on....usually with NW's you do get a later WU as sleep has been disturbed & LO's are still tired. When LO's consolidate sleep into longer stretches nights can get shorter, but the quality of sleep they have had is much better as it's not been disturbed.

If he wakes happy etc despite routine tweaks etc then it is quite possible that he is lower sleep needs.

Keep in touch!