Nap cut for 20 month old?

[Sam-n-Max's Mommy]

Hello all,

DS is about 20.5 months old and we've had very inconsistent naps lately.  Sometimes he'll fall asleep right away, sometimes it takes forever.  Sometimes the nap is 45 minutes and he won't be APed back to sleep, sometimes he will, sometimes the nap will be 1.5 hrs.  His standard had been 1.5 hours.  When he started doing the shorter naps, he would be insanely cranky when he woke up from a nap, but was sleeping for 11-12 hours per night.  Then he lengthened the nap again for a bit and nights were still 11+ hrs.  For the past few days, however, he took a 1 hr and 40 min nap and a 1 hr and 30 min nap, but then only slept 10 hours at night! The past few mornings at the 5:15am WU, he doesn't cry, just rolls around (awake) for about 1/2 hour and then cries.  Yesterday he was a bear until he had a nap and then was fine.  The jury is still out this morning LOL. 

Would it make sense to limit his nap to 1 hr and keep everything else the same? I feel like more night sleep is better for him even though he is cranky when he wakes up from a shorter nap (he snaps out of it though).  Or is this a recipe for disaster? Not sure if his day time sleep needs are changing.

This is our schedule:
WU 6-6:30 (except the past few days which have been 5:15)
Nap in the crib around 12:30, has been taking forever to fall asleep some days - usually asleep by 12:50, but some days after 1
WU from nap - 1:30-2:30 (ranges between 45 minutes and 1.5 hrs)
BT - in the crib by 6:40 on shorter nap days with a goal of falling asleep by 7...this hasn't been happening though - usually 7:15 or even 7:30.  On 1.5 hr nap days, in crib at 7, with a goal of falling asleep by 7:30.

What do you think?
Thanks!
Nicole

[Roseii]

Personally I would be reluctant to cap at 1 hour, I think 1.5 hours is totally reasonable at his age
How many mornings has he been EW now? You could try pushing BT back a bit, like 7.15? x

[Sam-n-Max's Mommy]

Thanks, Charlibob.  After I posted, I realized that this was probably not the answer LOL.  He EW'ed for 3 mornings, then yesterday morning he woke up at 6 (after going to sleep at 7) so that was good.  Then yesterday he took an hour and five minute nap (on his own, I didn't wake him).  I had him in the crib at 6:30 and he didn't fall asleep until 7:15. He cried out at 12, 3, 4:50, 5:15 and then up at 6.  I didn't have to resettle him, he went back to sleep after crying for about 10 seconds each time.  I think he must be overtired.  I am wondering if it is taking him so long to fall asleep at BT and nap time (yesterday, he was in his crib at 12:40 and didn't fall asleep until 1:10) because he's OS.  He is in therapy for a speech delay and we have been doing a lot of work with him at home too, so I wonder if he is just exhausted and it is interfering with his sleep.  I'm going to try to keep putting him down early and hope that this passes (soon lol).

xxxx

[Roseii]

fingers x'd. I bet there's a lot going on in his little head right now then! Could he be teething or in some sort of discomfort? x

[Sam-n-Max's Mommy]

Thanks - I don't *think* it's discomfort, but I'll keep my eye out.  He has all of his teeth, except his 2nd year molars, which I think he is still a little young for and isn't showing any teething symptoms.  So yesterday - I had him in his crib at 12 and he didn't fall asleep until 12:40 .  Then he woke up at 1:25, and I patted him back to sleep.  He woke up again at 1:45 at which point I took him into my room, laid him on me and he fell back to sleep until 2:25.  I normally do not AP this much, but if he is OT I want to nip it in the bud quickly.  Then I had him in his crib by 6:30 last night and he didn't fall asleep until about 7:10.  He was restless in the early part of the night (no crying though) and then cried out at 3:30 and was up at 5:30.  I brought him into my bed to try to AP him back to sleep (which I again normally don't do), but he wouldn't. 
You would say I can almost definitely rule out UT, right? As long as I know that, then I'll continue putting him down early and hope for the best.  Would you AP to help get rid of the OT or is it starting a bad habit?
I *think* he is tired when I put him down -- yesterday, he signed sleep at 10:30 (which was too early so I didn't put him down) and then signed sleep during dinner, but is still taking forever to fall asleep.
Thanks so much for your help!!

[Roseii]

Sorry been AWOL, how are you getting on? The fact that he is stirring after/mid sleep cycle but then being ap'd back to sleep says OT to me, for sure. Can you ap in his crib at all? Rubbing his back or something rather than getting him out? Having said that, the 6.30 bedtime after finishing the nap at 2.25 would be UT for my DD2

[Sam-n-Max's Mommy]

Is this ever easy LOL? I feel like I do more problem solving over his sleep than I ever did when I was working LOL.

Things have been inconsistent.  I've tried to be consistent with his routine, but he has been inconsistent.  Yesterday he woke for the day at 6:50 (YAY!), then napped for a little over an hour, and then fell asleep at 7:15pm last night.  However, he woke at 5:50 this am.  I feel like we have a few good days, a few bad days, and the cycle continues.  I am really starting to wonder about his 2nd year molars though because this is the pattern we were in when he was teething for like 6 months non-stop.  It's hard to see back there though.  I still think he's a little young for them, but he had all of his other teeth by 16ish months, which I think is a little early, so maybe.  Please no.
How long of a day is normal for a 20 month old? 12 hrs?
Been trying to AP him in the crib as opposed to taking him out because after all of the hard work over the past 20 months, I would hate to create a habit.......
Thanks for your help! XX

[Roseii]

Urgh sorry have some thoughts but baby is crying Be back as soon as I can xxx

[Roseii]

Hey well done on the crib settling Have you tried set naps for a week or so? You'll only know if it's helping after a fair while...
Still sounds like OT to me. I think a 12/12.5 h day is fine, lean mote towards 12 if you only get a short nap tho...
Xx