Standard to tweak nap time at 18 mth or ?

[toffer]

My Lo is 18 mths and has been an awesome sleeper for most his life. He sleeps 8-7:30 and 12:30-2 or 2:30. Easy to PD and I usually wake him in am....He has 8 teeth coming in at once right now...canines and molars
The last few naps were shorter than usual but normal BT and WU then he had longer naps but has been waking early last few days. He has a dose of advil every night right now to help him sleep. My question is; do they need nap tweaking at this age or is this probably a pain issue? I am thinking the 8 hr advil administered at 7 pm is wearing off and causing EW's ( 6am). I miss my sleep though and if he needs his nap pushed out and shortened then will do that but I don't want to rob sleep if it is pain SWIM?

[toffer]

I should add that I have read most of the sticky above about 18 mth naps, but don't feel like he is in the same situation as a lot of the other LO's at that age right now. I shouldn't complain since he is doing very well overall, just wondering if we need a slight tweak or ride it out. I hope to have a 2 hr napper for another year

[Buntybear]

Hi I found that between the ages of 1 and 2 the only tweaking I really needed to do was push the nap back by 15 mins, hth x

[cuckoochick]

It does sound like it could be pain related to me. What is he like
when you PD for naps and BT? Any signs of UT? Also what time are you PD for the nap when he's EW? And how is he settling then?

Hugs

[toffer]

He is easy to PD as long as I stick to my routine. I don't change nap time or bedtime at all...we do a scheduled sleep time. I never found he would sleep earlier if I tried to put him down and if he did sleep a bit earlier( 15 min max) then he would wake earlier and it would turn into a bad cycle...He has always been able to stay up till 7:45 ish so we just stick to that.
Last few mornings when he woke early he also had soaked through his diaper and had a wet pajama'a and sleep sack. He doesn't usually pee while sleeping. so am assuming he is peeing after waking up, but ?? could be wrong. A wet set of clothes would definately wake me up too. He slept till 7 this am but was soaked again and wide awake when I went in at 7:15. Normally dry and still asleep till 7:30. I am going looking for heavier overnight type diapers today just in case that will help. He sleeps bum up and it is leaking out the waistband. Even though I "tuck it down" LOL

[cuckoochick]

Sounds like his routine has been working well so could be teeth. I'd maybe leave it a couple of days then while he is teething and you explore heavier duty nappies! If things are still wonky then it may be time to tweak.

The only thing that stood out to me is that his first A time is 5hours so it could be that it does need pushing back a bit. My DD, at 14.5mosis doing a 6hr first A with a 2 hour nap (although she has a shorter 5hr A to bed). I'll ask for more eyes on your post.

Hugs. After the 2:1 things can sail so smoothly that it's tough when it goes crazy!

[clairebear79]

The only thing that stood out to me is that his first A time is 5hours so it could be that it does need pushing back a bit.

This would be my thoughts too.

My DS, at 17 months is currently doing WU: 7am, Nap: 12.30-2.30, BT: 7.30.  We started to get earlier waking when we were doing around 5hrs AM A time & I've found that increasing to 5.5hrs has really helped.  I think we are also verging on needing to cap his nap shorter & head towards a 6hr first A, 1.5hr nap, 5hr A to BT but he's teething his 2yr molars & is extra sleepy atm so I'm enjoying it while it lasts!

I wonder if you nudged the nap towards 1pm so he's doing 5.5hrs in the AM this would help.  Like Nicola & myself, we have both found that with the longer A in the morning our LO's haven't needed quite so much in the afternoon.

HTH.xx

[toffer]

Well he was dry this am but up by 6:45 again. The overnight diapers did the trick, so it wasn't wet waking him today. He really crashes at 12:30 so not sure he could do 1pm....he has always had a longer A time in the end of the day as well. I could try pushing nap to 12:45 and may try that tomorrow, but then what if he wants to sleep till 3pm? I wonder if he would stay up later or if I need to wake him at 2:30 still to get an 8pm BT...I go to bed at 9pm, so want to keep my 1 hr to myself! I was really hoping it was teeth pain and it would go away. It still might I guess, but he has 3 or 4 still to pop through, so there is a month of teething still to go by my guess.

[clairebear79]

I wouldn't jump by 30mins at a time either but 15mins is pretty gentle.  I'd probably hang fire if you suspect teeth but if he seems ok & things are still wonky you could give it a try. 

Does he mostly nap 2hrs or is it more commonly 1.5hrs?  If you do push the nap to 12.45 I would be inclined to cap it at 2hrs max, or 1.5hrs if that's his typical nap length.
 

I wonder if he would stay up later or if I need to wake him at 2:30 still to get an 8pm BT

Like I said, I've found that by increasing the AM A time, my DS actually needs a wee bit less A to BT, so you might find if nap goes to 1pm (so 5.5hrs AM A time) you can let him sleep til 3pm (assuming he typically naps 2hrs) & he will still go down ok at 8pm (5hrs A).  And if he doesn't then I would probably cap the nap a bit shorter.

HTH.x

[cuckoochick]

Just wondering how you're getting on...