Any tips for extending a 16mo nap times?

[tinydancer]

Hello -

I've been transitioning my LO from 2:1 naps for approximately a month now... and he is still having trouble linking his sleep cycles. Is there anything I can do to encourage him to sleep for longer during the day? At the moment the only thing that helps is if I bring him into my bed and lie down next to him. It's lovely having a lie-down in the middle of the day - but not very practical!

A rough routine for him would be;
0530/0545 - wake up & bf
0730/0800 - breakfast (porridge & banana)
1030 - light lunch (sometimes he's not too hungry so I'll feed him again on waking)
1130 - bf & nap
*only sleeps for 1hr - 1hr15
5.00/5.30 - dinner
6.45 - bf & bedtime

He falls asleep really easy at both bedtime & naps, pretty tired. If we go anywhere in the car before this nap he's likely to fall asleep.

I usually leave him for 5-10 minutes to see if he will go back to sleep, he is usually crying at this point so can't leave him for much longer or he gets worked up.

TIA

[Scottishmummy]

Hi there!

Are you BF him to sleep for the nap? If so, I'd try to separate the BF from the nap (e.g. BF earlier & not as part of WD) & sleep train for the nap. If LOs are BF to sleep then they look for that to transition through sleep cycles.

If he is an independent sleeper for naps, then I would try pushing that nap a little later. The 11.30 might be also giving you that early start to your day (unless you're happy with a 530 start) & a 1hr15 nap is sometimes a sign of UT.  At this age the nap is typically starting around 12-12.30 at least 1.5-2hrs

Xx

[tinydancer]

Are you BF him to sleep for the nap?

I trained him out of this a while back, so it's only been because he's so knackered from staying up for longer, that he falls asleep at the boob. I was putting him down awake for naps and he'd roll over and be asleep within a few minutes... But good thinking' I'll try and be mindful of this when I'm putting him down.

I will try pushing the naptime out to 1145 for a few days, and then up to 1200 and see how we go. Thank you so much! I had a 5am wakeup this morning and it's definitely not something I'd like to have carry on!!!

If he happens to still be unable to connect up his cycles with the later naptime, is there anything I can do to help him? Does wake-to-sleep work on toddlers? Would you ever recommend walkin-walkout? Or should I just stick with it and cross my fingers?

Thanks again x

[Scottishmummy]

Hi again!

I would try any routine change for at least 3-4 days, possibly a week to give time for settling into it first.

I haven't heard of W2S being used with toddler. I do sometimes do WI/WO with my DD if she wakes early from a nap. I find if she wakes crying she usually needs more sleep and a quick WI, check she has her comforter, sh and WO can help her to resettle.

Other possibility for EW from naps and in morning can be teething? Or working on developmental stuff? Both of those are usually just waiting it out unfortunately!

One more question- in the mornings is he going back to sleep after the BF? We had EW issues with my DD because of an early morning BF. She basically started treating it as a habitual NF and waking for it. I had to avoid feeding until "real" morning to get her to start waking later.

[tinydancer]

in the mornings is he going back to sleep after the BF?

Hmmmm, sometimes he does - if I can coax him back to sleep. He usually ends up in our bed 

What I think might be going on, is that he likes getting up and having a cuddle and falling back to sleep with me right there.

I have been doing 1145 naptime for the last 3 days. The first day was great and he slept for an hour and a half and then the next night slept until 6.15am! But the last 2 days he's only been asleep for 1hr15, and then 1hr yesterday. And both with EW.

Sheesh. I am not really sure what to do! I have found this transition (2:1) so hard!!

[Scottishmummy]

Maybe try pushing the nap another 15mins later, to 12noon? Hold it for a few days.  If you get long naps again, stick with it, if not try another 15min push every 3 days or so until you get consistently long naps,

At 14mo my DD does a set nap around 12.30 for anything from 1.5-3hrs depending on how tired she is  (wu between 6-7am& BT at 7pm).

My DS did a set nap at 1pm from around 18mo