Is it time to adjust 23 mo. old's schedule?

[Leosmama]

I haven't posted here in ages, because ever since successfully doing WI/WO back in March, things have been going great.  Our 23 month old son goes down for his nap and bedtime without any problems, and we can leave the room immediately and he's fine.  He also sleeps through the night and is very happy and energetic throughout the day.

For the past couple of days/nights, when I put him down to bed he'll lie there talking, laughing and singing (he just started to sing whole songs out of the blue!) for 30 minutes to an hour.  Last night he did this for over an hour before falling asleep.  I didn't mind too much, since he seemed happy and eventually got to sleep.  Then today I put him down for his usual naptime, and again it took him a little over an hour to get to sleep.  He started off with the talking/singing, but then started crying and I actually had to go in and do a little WI/WO until he finally went to sleep.  Then, he only napped for 1 hr 15 minutes!  (usually naps for 2 to 2.5 hrs).  So I put him to bed early tonight and once again, he was in there whooping it up for a little over 30 minutes (no crying for me though).

So here's his schedule.  Do you think at his age we need to move things around a bit?  Please let me know what you think:

6:30-7:00 wakes up
7:30 breakfast
9:30-10:00 snack
11:30 lunch
12:00-12:30 goes down for nap, sleeps till 2:15-2:30
3:00 snack
5:30-6:00 dinner
7:30 bedtime

Ever since doing the sleep training last spring, we've been extremely consistent with this schedule and it has really worked well for him.  I'm just wondering if his needs are changing.

Also, I know he's not teething, and he doesn't appear to be getting sick.  We haven't traveled, and there have been no changes in our lives.  The only thing developmentally that's happening with him is the sudden singing; he sings the whole alphabet song along with a bunch of other songs, and he also can recite several of his books in their entirety.  I'm wondering if he may just be suddenly having a hard time shutting his mind off so he can go to sleep?

Thanks for any help,

Jennifer

[zed]

Not long after my DS second birhtday he didn't need naps anymore.  I think it might be work your while to move the nap back a little and only for 1 hr and 15 - 30.  See what happens

[Leosmama]

Yikes - I would hate to think he's already starting to drop the nap! 

Today his sitter put him down a little later, around 12:45 and he was sound asleep by 1:00.  She had to wake him up at 3:30.  So yesterday's short nap seemed to be a fluke.

I've always enjoyed his early bedtime (more "me" time in the evening), and I'm afraid I may have to start putting him to bed a little later.  Is that pretty normal for this age?

[zed]

Personally, I would adjust the nap and leave bed time a lone.  I still have my 3 y/o in bed by 7:15.  I love knowing that I can have enough of the evening that I can still go do something.

Maybe try an adjusted nap time for 3 or 4 days and see how things shake out.  You can always go back... It is not like you will be changing your LO's entire day.  You're just adding a couple of stories for quiet time before the nap.

One other thing you could try is to try to increase more outside physical play into the morning A time.  This always works great for me.  I had my boys out at a community play group this morning and we were outside the entire time, riding bikes.  My 3 yr/o is actually having a nap, he never naps.

oh, I better go wake him!!  Good luck, keep me posted.

[Layla]

Toddlers can go through phases where they don't nap. All you can do really is give him the opportunity to sleep & leave him. If he's just playing around, thats fine... at least he's getting some quiet time. Put him down for the night earlier - around 6.30 (if he wakes at 6.30).

I also found that around this age I was pushing Isabella's A time to 6hrs & then 6.5hrs soon after than... so maybe he does indeed need more A time before a nap.

At night, I would probably aim for about 11 hrs of night sleep (although mine dropped to 10.5hrs & 1.5hr nap). You might want to limit nap to 1.5hrs if you want earlier bedtime

So something like this:

6.30 - wakes
12.30ish-2pm - nap
7.30 - bedtime

Personally I wouldn't let a nap go past 1.5hrs... which is enough at this age & you can have a longer (ish) night. . If he woke at 3.30pm.. he might not be ready for bed until 8.30/9pm & he will more than likely wake around the same time the next day... so less night sleep & he might be cranky the next day (this is what happened here whenever I let a nap go too long)

hth
Layla

[zed]

Thank you Layla, you have described exactly what I was getting at.  I just didn't have the time to go into so much detail...  I totally agree....

The reason my Son dropped naps all together at this age is b/c he was sleeping at least 12 and somtimes 13 hours at night.

[Leosmama]

Thanks for all the replies!  Well, after going to sleep at 8:30pm last night, he woke up super early this morning - 6am!  So, after taking him out to play at the park this morning, I got him home for an early lunch and dh put him down for a nap right at 12pm sharp.  It's now 12:37 and he's still going strong in there, no sign of sleep.  I figure I'll wake him after 1.5 too 2 hrs of sleep so he'll be tired again at bedtime.

You know, for a while we were limiting his nap to 1.5 hrs, but after awhile it started to feel wrong.  He'd be so cranky and really seemed to need more sleep.  Plus, the other toddlers in my mom's group are all taking these crazy-long naps, 3 - 3.5 hrs, so I thought maybe he should have a longer nap.

I just don't know where it all started to go wrong; we've been on such a great schedule and he was sleeping so well and going down so easily.  I don't know how it got messed up.  I am making sure that he gets enough A time, and will try to add even more to see if that helps.  And maybe try going back to the 1.5 hr naps again to see if that helps.

The other thing that seems to be cropping up is this sudden SA, which he hasn't had in at least 8-9 months.  He's ok when we put him down, but a little while later he's calling out for us and starts to cry.  It feels like we're regressing here 

[Layla]

How long ago were you limiting the nap? Did you have the same problems back then as you do now? He might not have been ready for a shorter nap then

SA - there is another bout of SA around this age so its not regression but something than happens with alot of toddlers - its all natural. Try to spend as much time as you can during the day hugging & playing around, lots of attention... etc... & you might want to try a longer windown as well with lots of cuddles & kisses

[Leosmama]

We were shortening the nap from about last May till just recently.  At first it seemed to help him sleep longer at night, so we were all for it    But then we noticed that he'd still have some early wakings and decided it was best to let him nap a little longer.

OK, so today, he was put down for a nap at 12:15, and fell asleep around 12:45 (again crying out for daddy, which up until a few days ago he never did).  I was planning on waking him 1.5 hrs later, at 2:15, but he woke on his own at 2:00.  So I figured he'd be good and sleepy at bedtime tonight.  I took him to the playground and had him run around and play for over 2 hrs.  Then he had a good dinner and more playtime, then quiet reading with me before his bath.  We did two books, then we turn out the lights and I sing to him, and he goes into the crib with his water and blankie.  And he's in there just whooping it up!  I knew he'd be doing this because all during the bedtime routine he was very lively and energetic.    What is it going to take to get him to be sleepier at bedtime?  It seemed like just yesterday that he could be up from a nap at 2:00 and be totally sleepy and ready to crash by 7:30.

Well, he's been in there for 15 minutes; now we'll see how long it takes for him to fall asleep and then what time he wakes in the morning.  Should I try an earlier or later nap tomorrow?

[zed]

Personally, I did nap at 1 pm at this age and then bed 7:30.  You may want to try what you are doing for a couple of days to see if things stabolize before you make another adjustment.

[Leosmama]

The thing I'm discovering is that he really needs a longer A time (he always has needed less sleep than the average for his age).  If he naps at 1pm, and wakes at 3pm, he would not be sleepy at all until 8:30 or 9.  Yesterday he was asleep at 12:30 and I woke him at 2:30 (he wasn't too happy about it though!) and then he went down pretty easily and was asleep by 7:45.  I'm trying to get him outside more to run around and burn off some energy, and that seems to help.  The only problem is, I'm newly pregnant and starting to feel really tired, so I'm wishing I could get more rest!

So what do you all think: should I wake him from his nap a little earlier, or just let him nap as long as he wants/needs?  I have to say I was really enjoying the longer naps but if it interferes with bedtime then it's not worth it.

[Layla]

i would wake up at 1.5hrs

[zed]

i would wake up at 1.5hrs

me too

[Leosmama]

Well, I saw this too late today; he's almost been napping for 2 hrs and I'm about to wake him up.

Although today was different; he woke up about 30-45 min. earlier than normal due to an extremely soggy, leaking diaper    So after being a cranky mess, I put him down at noon for his nap and he conked out immediately.  Maybe I'll start waking after 1.5 hrs tomorrow and see how things go.