12 mth LO no longer sleeping, standing in cot help!!!

[Rachael Carter]

I am at my wits end trying to sort out my 12mths old naps.  She has gone from being a very good sleeper with 30 mins in the morning, 1-2hrs at lunch time and then down for the night by 18:30.  She now has found her legs and will not lie in her cot for naps, so it's a constant battle for me to get her to lie down, very frustrating as I can see she needs a nap!  Up until now I have been entering her room, not saying anything, lying her down again, stroking her head and walking out, this tends to go on for about 1-2hrs, by this time I am knackered and so is she.

I was thinking of taking away her morning nap, as she took 35mins before she fell asleep this morning, do you think this will help?  Should I continue what I am doing and keep on putting her down until she eventually gets the message?  Is there anything else I can do, she has been an angel with the sleeping up until now, but this is when I most need her sleeping as I am pregnant with Number 2!!!

Please help!!!!

[KellyC]

Sorry, that doesn't sound like much fun!

First of all the standing - are you going to her because she's standing or because she's crying?  I really wouldn't worry about getting her to lie down unless she's upset and needs you, Zander is often stood up when I leave the room at bedtime.  I suppose the difference is that he's tired enough to lie himself down and go to sleep so perhaps her standing is a sign that she's not going down at the right time rather than an issue in itself.

I would definitely give her the 30 minutes you set aside for her morning nap and, if she doesn't go to sleep during that time (which is plenty!), get her up and get on with the morning and try for one nap on those days.  To begin with, you may find she takes the morning nap some days and not others until you don't need to put her down at all anymore.  Another thing I might try is putting her down for her morning nap 10 minutes later (which can make all the difference) and letting her sleep (or giving her the chance to sleep) for a reduced 20 minutes.  Let me know if I can help with suggested times for her naps, Zander dropped his short morning nap at about the same age.

Kelly x

[Rachael Carter]

Thank you for your response:

Some suggestions of timings would be good, this is what we have been doing:

7 am milk (she has normally been awake since 6am)
7:45 breakfast
8:45 nap
9:30 up & out
12:00 lunch
12:45 - 13:00 sleep (normally 1-2hrs)
15:00 milk
17:00 Supper
17:45 bath
18:30 milk then bed

This has been working perfectly until she found her feet!

I normally go up to her because she is crying and standing, but this normally happens when she is supposed to be having her lunch time nap, for the last two days she has spent 1-1.5 of nap crying & standing.  She gets so tired that I have to lift her and take her out in the buggy and within 5mins she is asleep so she definatly tired!
Her evening sleep tends to be better, as I know she gets back on her feet when I leave her but she tends to get herself down one way or another but does take about an hour to an hour and half.

I can't really move the morning nap much later as two times a week she goes to Nursery and we have to be there by 09:30.

I have been trying to move her bed time in the evening later to 19:00hrs but because she has not been sleeping during thd day, this has not been possible.

Any suggestions welcome - thanks.

[KellyC]

It sounds to me that she may be overtired by her lunch time nap and, ideally, you'd move the morning nap forward so that eventually it's starting at 9.30 and finishing no later than around 10.00, keeping her lunch time nap at the same time.  There's nothing to stop you doing something different on non-nursery days and doing what you can on the other 2 days!  On the nursery days are you also restricted as to how early you can put her down for her lunch time nap?  If not, I'd aim for no later than 12.30, possibly even a little earlier if she's still fighting taking a nap at that time.  You really don't want her to be too tired for this second nap so she'll take closer to 2 hours than 1 hour, then she'll be less tired at bedtime and may also sleep later in the mornings.  If she's only taking an hour for her second nap I'd definitely be looking to shorten the space between the morning and afternoon naps some how to ensure she's not going down overtired.

Kelly x