do you wake your toddler from naps?

[ZacsMumme]

I wake Z from every nap Unless, he is sick, he has a rubbish night ie teeth or he seems extra tired and can't make his usual nap time.

At this age he is really on a set nap, and It works better for his body clock. We're
WU 6.30-7
Nap 12-2
BT 7-7.15

I think at this age you have to trust your heart. They are so much more aware of what they want and need and as hard as it is, if we can find that ideal balance for them, they will be fine. Even if it's a long nap short night, or long night short nap. They all manage tiredness differently.

I do have to say, the last 2 times I thought Z needed more A he actually was OT so they can confuse us! Usually this mess is as a result of coming out of a developmental leap and me missingsomething, resulting in OT

[gormella]

Hi

I have never woken my now 2 year old from her naps. She takes what sleep she needs in the day nap and then sleeps 11-12 hours at night depending on how long she napped.  I just move bedtime forward by one hour if we had a long nap of say 1.5-2 hours and back for shorter (or no) naps and crankier days.  I don't always get it right but try not to stress too much about it or I'd drive myself mad!!!

[*Kara*]

Alright Claire - things have taken a crazy turn here very suddenly!!  DO NOT allow O to do a mega nap and then a 10.5 hr night!  Alexandra hit the OT wall with force   OMG.  It took a couple of days to sort her out and she is totally an angel with sleep - O would take months to sort

Her naps were taking away from her night sleep and it started to show with crying wake ups at every nap and morning... clearly not enough good night sleep...

I used Sara's idea (Zacsmumme) and we are keeping nap 1230-230pm and I wake her if needed.  She is going down easily at 715pm and sleeping by 720/730pm at the latest... STTN and wakes happy at 620/630am.  Still a touch of OT lingering that festers as a cry out around 545am but it is becoming less frequent... naps are better but she does still need a bit of AP to go down as the OT is still there a bit...

Lesson learned!

[ZacsMumme]

DO NOT allow O to do a mega nap and then a 10.5 hr night!  Alexandra hit the OT wall with force   OMG.  It took a couple of days to sort her out and she is totally an angel with sleep - O would take months to sort

Yup we had this too - hence why now I cap and deal with a bear for an hour after!  They are tricky arent they!

haha isn't it funny we all seem to go through the same drama at different times. So who will be first with the 2yr sleep regression

[*Kara*]

LOL!  They are so much alike!

I suspect O will hit that 2 year bit first... then Z, then A shortly after!

[ZacsMumme]

I hope so (sorry Claire), I don't want to be the first in 2yr OT developmental hell.

[clairebear79]

DO NOT allow O to do a mega nap and then a 10.5 hr night!  Alexandra hit the OT wall with force   OMG.  It took a couple of days to sort her out and she is totally an angel with sleep - O would take months to sort

Aaaahhhh Kara...... this is the same experience we already had & hence why we started capping at 2hrs in the first place.  We had similar thing happen a week or so ago when O was poorly & napped for almost 4hrs - mega late BT & mega early WU = very very unhappy toddler!

Yea I think we'll be the first to hit the 2yr thing.  In fact me thinks we're through the 18 month thing & already hitting the 2yr thing early 

As per pp's suggestion, did a longer 2hr nap to combat OT, which helped for a few days then his WU started to creep earlier again & the final nail in the coffin was a 10hr night.  Yes he gets OT from all the short nights, but he's having short nights b/c he's UT underneath it all.  So.... we're trying some radical nap capping & I've gone in for the kill with 1h 15 nap b/c the 1.5hr nap was still giving really long settling periods at BT.  He's still OT from that 10hr night though - we've already had a crying NW & its only 10.20pm.

[*Kara*]

I've gone in for the kill with 1h 15 nap b/c the 1.5hr nap was still giving really long settling periods at BT.  He's still OT from that 10hr night though - we've already had a crying NW & its only 10.20pm.

This is the hardest part!  Cutting that nap when you know they need it to make up for the short night... but if you don't do it, you get another short night and it just keeps on going for all eternity with a grump!

I am dreading the 18 month regression   I feel we get a regression of some sort every few weeks here!

[clairebear79]

Cutting that nap when you know they need it to make up for the short night... but if you don't do it, you get another short night and it just keeps on going for all eternity with a grump!

That is exactly it - well said!  I need to remind myself of this tomorrow when I want to let him nap for longer b/c he woke OT during the night.

[*Kara*]

Good luck Claire!!!  Think of the long term - in a week, all will be better!  It's 230 - time to wake my bear