anyone else nap cut with a 12-18mth old??

[huntersmummyinoz]

subject says it all.

basically ds2 has started some EW again. yep he is teething canines which i am sure is playing a part BUT i can't help but think we may need to do some more nap cutting again he will sleep 2.5 to 3hrs if i let him. he has been on one nap since 11mths old. around 2mths ago i cut nap to 2.5hrs, now it's 2hr15. will prob cut to 2hrs. i'm just hesitant to go under 2hrs nap until he's older and these teeth are out of the way, but will do whatever needs doing to protect his night sleep i guess as it's nudging under 11hrs again i know he is low sleep needs but sheesh, at this rate i'll be happy if he keeps a nap til he's two! i didnt have to cut ds1's nap to 2hrs til at least 2.5 yrs or older...

so i'm wondering what success others have had with nap cutting so young.
- how much did u cut the nap down to?
- did it stop EW and keep longer nights?
- how long was their total sleep (nap plus night)?

thanks, kirry

[sianie]

Hey Kirry!

Added a comment on the FB group but will add here too...

We're getting shorter nights with E too who has been on 1 nap for 2 mths (he's nearly 17mths now)...his naps have never been long (max 2hrs) but he's always been a better night sleeper & was doing 11hrs45mins/12hr nights but over the last week he's been waking earlier (he was waking around 7am from a 7pm BT with nap 12-2pm). We're now back to 6.30am (ok, not a disaster!) & I worry it will start to creep earlier & naps have been off too (shorter).

I haven't ruled out teeth either...he's due his canines any time now so this could be adding to the mix too!

What does your day look like ATM? 

[~inbalance~]

Kirry, F is 13mos and if I let him sleep over 2hrs 15mins we get singing EWs!!  Today I made the mistake of letting him sleep 2.5hrs because of a 6am wakeup, and he was wired at bedtime.    I feel so guilty waking him at 2hrs so I give him 2hrs 15mins most days and I think that is working ok for us.  Our day typically looks like this:
7/7:30 wakeup (though EWing at 6 the last two days, boo!)
12:30 nap
7:30 bed

I actually think F would do good with a 2.5hr nap at 12 but I just can't seem to get home with enough time to do lunch and get him in bed by then, so 12:30 nap it is and I wake him.

[*Liz*]

I had definitely cut J by 18 mths - I think I first limited his nap to 2 hrs by 16 mths. That was 4 mths after he went to 1 nap.

That gave me 11ish hr nights (3 hr naps was singing 9.5 hr nights).

At this age his sleep would have been about 13 hrs in 24, often 30 mins less than that.

[jackman]

Hi Kirry,
Not sure if you want to use us as a reference point, but just wanted to add my two cents to this subject. 

As you know we are also teething canines. J is nearly 18mo and low sleep needs as well. If I let J sleep more than 1.5hrs (he usually wakes on his own now a days and we moved to one nap about 2mo ago), his nights will be short - around 10hrs. As it is, J has been shortening his nights again and we are hovering around 10hrs40m. I'm thinking of cutting his nap to 1hr15m to maintain 11hrs, but I've been a bit hesitant since he is teething. Plus I can't imagine an lo functioning on so little sleep during the day! I have to admit, I'm a bit scared to do it. Anyway, for now I'm sticking with 1.5hrs and the shorter nights at least until J stops teething.

 

[Kay Dee]

Hiya, we nap cut at that age. DS transitioned to one nap early - at 10months - and initially we did a 2hour nap. But the EW started around 11months so we slowly chopped time off the nap to keep the nights at 11.5-12hours. He seemed to need a nap cut every 2 weeks from 12-15months! But then he settled down and stayed around 1hr - 1hr 15mins for a full year until he started showing signs he was getting ready to drop it.

We found even a 10-15min cut could make all the difference to his nights sleep.

DD is 11months now and on one nap already and we get EW if she sleeps 2 full hours so we're heading the same way with her  

Hope this helps...

x

[huntersmummyinoz]

sorry for late reply! he has been bit of a teething cranky mess the last few days.

thanks for your replies

so i've moved nap time 15mins later and cut 15mins, and moved bedtime 10mins later too so that if he does a 10.5hr night then wake up is 6am. last 2 nights have been better (11hrs and 10hr55), mostly waking around 6.30/6.45am with a 7.30pm bedtime.

i remember back to around 2mths ago i was cutting his nap to 2hrs, then he was really really sleepy with teething so was giving longer naps of 2.5hrs. all fine for 2/3 weeks and i guess he is just back to normal now and needs it cut again (hopefully not too much!) tho he is teething canines now, will see what happens with those i guess.

thing is darn video monitor is a blessing and a curse, i actually count the time he is asleep, eg. last night i walked out at 7.25pm, he was asleep at 7.45pm, awake at 6.40am, but not a sound i only know he is awake from the monitor. got him up at 7am. so i count that as 10hr55 sleep, but if i didnt know better would think it was 11hr35. what i'm trying to say is that i guess average sleep needs guides are made from how long people 'think' their children have slept, not what the necessarily have IYSWIM anyway, he is a stealth waker, he will quite happily lay there for 30 to 60mins before making a sound or start chatting to himself. so i am thankful for that, but he was waking WAY too early anyway, ie. i would see him awake at 5.30/6am. i'm rambling, but wonder what u think?

anyway,

sianie, typical day is now:
wake 6.30/6.45 (hopefully)
nap 12.45-2.45 or 1-3
bedtime 7.30 (i'm out of the room by then)

liz, K seems to be on similar amount of sleep to J. interesting that u mention 9.5hrs after long naps as that is what H is doing atm if i let him nap more than 50mins.

oanh, like u i'm hesitant to cut his nap much more too. i already feel that he doesnt get enuf sleep when averaging 12.5 to 13hrs sleep i think i'll hold at 2hrs for now til teething is over too, tho if he starts doing 10.5 or less hour nights again i'll have to suck it up and cut it i guess...

kdee, THANKYOU!! i know it's not good news for you, but i really needed to see just how much i may need to cut his nap down to keep his nights 11+hrs. he actually used to do 11.5 to 12hr nights and they've gradually gotten shorter and shorter so i prob needed to cut him AGES ago. when did your ds drop the nap altogether? my ds1 still naps at 3.5yo on most days, NO WAY will i get that with ds2, so better start preparing myself now! also, did u move the nap later as you cut it, or just woke him earlier and earlier?

[Kay Dee]

Hi! He dropped it totally at 2.5 but it wasn't too bad as I still put him down for quiet time while his sister naps so I get a break! The best thing since we dropped it is that his nights are better than ever. I put him down between 7-7.30pm and he'll stay in bed until 8.30am. Like your DS he's a stealth waker (now! he wasn't at your DS's age ) so he's always awake when I go in to get him up and I'm not sure exactly what time he wakes but I think it's usually around 8.

I moved the nap a later as I cut so his wake time stayed the same IYKWIM but I never put him down later than around 1/1.30pm as I needed him up by 2/2.30 for a 7/7.30pm bedtime. So when the nap was 2hrs it was around 12.30-2.30 and when it was 1hr it was 1-2pm.

The nap cutting worked great for us as it kept his overall sleep up so his form was best. He slept way less with a long nap and a short/broken night.

Great that your nights have improved! Don't be afraid to cut