20 month old suddenly taking short naps

[dkelly718]

Hi! I haven't been on here in a really long time which is a good thing because my lo was sleeping so well. However for the past week my lo has been waking up early from his nap. It seems like he has forgotten how to transition to the next sleep cycle which was a huge problem when he was younger. I am not sure what is going on, I am a teacher and since I had been home for the summer his sleep got even better he was sleeping   for about 11 hours at night and sleeping 2+ hours during the day. Now all of a sudden he is sleeping about 10/11 hours at night but naps are any where from 30-60 mins. He isn't teething and even if he was that has never been an issue he got 4 molars with no sign of pain. The only thing that happened was there was a bad storm during his nap one day and the thunder woke him up. He got scared so I went in picked him up and he fell back asleep on me it seems like since then his naps have been going downhill(not sure if that had anything to do with it or just a coincidence). His schedule is wake-up 8:00 nap around 1:30/2:00 and bed time 8:30/9:00 (depending on nap length and what time he woke up in the morning) Now he seems to be waking up a little bit earlier like 7:30am. If anyone can give any thoughts I would really appreciate it! 

[Buttonbobs]

It could be that he got scared with the thunderstorm and now needs a bit more reassurance, but yes it could be a coincidence. Perhaps his sleep needs are changing slightly. How long has it been since he has been taking ine two-hour nap?

[dkelly718]

Its been a week and a half. At first he was still putting himself to sleep but now he wants me to either hold him or hold his hand until he falls asleep. Today he slept for an hour but I had to hold his hand until he fell asleep. Then he woke up crying (because I wasn't in the room) I picked him up brought him downstairs and he passed out on me on the couch for another 40 minutes which he NEVER does. So I know that he needs more sleep I just don't know whats going on.

[Buttonbobs]

Can you post what your EAS was like over a week ago and what you're doing now?

[dkelly718]

His schedule before was
wake-up 8:00/8:30
nap 1:45/2:00 (for 2 hours I usually had to wake him up at 4)
bedtime 9:00

Now its
wake-up 7:20/7:30
Nap 1:30ish for about 45-60 mins
bedtime 8:30

For the past two days he has woken up but fallen back to sleep on me so he has still gotten his 2 hour nap. I know he is tired because he is waking up crying which he only does if he is still tired.

[Buttonbobs]

The earlier wake-ups could be a sign that OT is creeping in a little bit, but that's not surprising if you're getting short naps too. I would probably continue to reassure him as needed and then work on sleep training once he's caught up a little on his sleep. What is his mood on waking up in the morning?

It may be he is self regulating a bit by shortening his night and perhaps needs a bit of a shorter nap. But, it could be a developmental blip. What is your instinct at the moment?

[dkelly718]

I am not sure what is going on. I def think that he is OT. What confuses me the most is that he goes to bed for the night totally fine not even a whimper but nap time is a complete mess. He was hysterically crying the second I put him down in his crib today. I don't think that a 40 minute nap is enough for him. He has been really cranky for the past couple days and just seems tired all day. I am just worried because I go back to work in a couple weeks and I would like him to be well rested because I know he is going to have a hard time with that and I don't want a super overtired baby on top of it.