My 18 month old has shortened his nap to 1 hour!

[jwhitt]

I posted about my son shortening his naps a  2 weeks ago.  It was suggested that I keep him up later, limiting his nighttime sleep to 11-11.5 hours.  Last week he seemed to do well with it.  Sleeping for 11ish hours at night and his naps lengthened to 1.5-2 hours.  This week however, is a whole new story...lol.  For the last 5 days or so, he's had the 11 hours at night.  He's actually been waking up on his own in the morning, rather than me waking him up so that's become routine for him, but his daytime sleep has only been around 1 hour.  Honestly, I think the longest he's slept during the day for the last few days is 1 hr. 15 minutes!!!  He really seems ok with this...doesn't act over tired by bedtime, doesn't have night wakings (that I know of).  Do you think putting him down later for nap would help this???  Currently he's usually waking around 7:15-7:30 and going down for his nap at 1:00, sleeping til 2:00 and then 8pm bedtime.  I think I was just "blessed" with a child that doesn't require as much sleep as other LO's his age!  I'm pregnant with #2 and I really NEED that time during the day to recharge my batteries and it's extremely hard to do when he only gives me 1 hour!!!

[*Mona*]

hi

my dd [17 months] gets up between 6:30 and 7 and goes down for her 2,5~3hrs nap at 1pm.
I suggest you play with his nap time a bit- 15 minutes here or there. it's tricky isn't it.
could he be hungry hence waking up too early?

Monika

[jwhitt]

Well, first of all, we're not going to get 2.5-3 hours out of him.  2 seems to be his MAX and even when he was napping well, 1 hr. 45 minutes was his norm.  I have no doubts that this one does require less sleep than others, but I feel like he does need more than 1 hour!

He eats lunch right before he goes down so I seriously doubt he's hungry.  And I usually offer him his snack as soon as he wakes up and it's not until 45 minutes-1 hour later that he actually eats.

I'm planning on attempting to push him back to 1:15 tomorrow for nap rather than 1:00 to see how he does.  He goes down ok at 1:00 but doesn't seem super tired at that point either. 

[*Mona*]

ok, so i'd definitely try 1:15 or even 1:30 for his nap time.

let us know how you're doing

[*Natasha*]

How long does he take to fall asleep for the nap?

[MamaC]

Have you tried doing a little more exercise w/ him before say, lunch to wear him out a little? 

[jwhitt]

Yes I've tried wearing him out.  He was outside running around for at least an hour yesterday morning and still didn't sleep long.

He goes to sleep fairly quickly I guess.  It's rare that I even hear any noise at all from his room after I leave.  I know that doesn't mean he's falling asleep immediately, but I would assume it's happening shortly thereafter, otherwise I would hear a few squeals.

He slept in this morning.  I heard him at 7:20ish so I thought, ok he's awake, I'll just lay here until he starts  yelling for me, but I went back to sleep and woke up at 10 til 8, went in and checked on him and he was back asleep again.  I'm kinda worried I for sure won't get a good nap out of him today because he slept so long last night.    But I also think he needed that sleep since his nap has been so short lately.  I guess we'll see...it's 12:30 now and he's playing happily.  I'm planning on starting his video in about 15 minutes to put him going down somewhere between 1:15 and 1:30...we'll see how this goes!

Another thing I just thought about...he's coming down with a cold and that could have a LOT to do with his shortened sleep.  He always seems to not sleep well at the beginning of a cold, then sleep all the time once it really sets in.  Even still, pre-cold I was still only getting 1.5 hours consistently out of him and I'd really like him to do a little more if at all possible...lol.  I know that's not always the case.

[jwhitt]

Well, today was a bust!  I guess I knew it was going to be with the 12+ hours of sleep he got last night.  He went down at 1:20.  I heard him talking until about 1:25.  He coughed at 2:30 and started talking at about 2:40.     It's almost 3 now and he's still in there because he's being pretty quiet and not fussing at all.  I figure if he's not sleeping at least he's laying in a boring dark room being quiet so that's better than playing!

He goes to daycare tomorrow from 9-2 and they do naptime at 12.  There he usually sleeps from 12:30-1:30 and that's it for the day and goes to bed early.  I guess we'll just start all over on Friday!

Just out of curiousity, what would you recommend for his nighttime sleeping?  He's been doing 12-13 hours for so long, it's just like that's what his body is programmed for.  Waking him after 11.5 seemed to help for a little while, but now his nap's been even worse than before, even with the shortened nighttime sleep!  I almost feel like we should go back to the longer nights beacuse at least that way he's getting his sleep!

[jwhitt]

Ok, I thought we were doing better...til today. 

Saturday he napped for 2.5 hours!  I don't even know the last time that happened.  It was wonderful and he was such a sweet boy Saturday afternoon.  I hadn't realized how cranky he really was getting between dinner and bedtime!  Sunday, he did 1 hr. 45 minutes, which is fine, he was happy the rest of the day.  Then last night he went down at 8pm.  He woke up today at 6:15!   He wasn't crying or calling for me so I left him in his crib and he played happily in there til 7:30ish.  He might possibly have gone back to sleep but it seemed like I heard enough noise coming from his room that I'm thinking he didn't.

So, he was acting tired today around 12:45ish, so I went ahead and put him down for his nap at 1.  I figured since he woke up early he probably needed to go down early.  2:10 he was up from his nap!    Is there anything a ALL I can do to lengthen this?  I'm 9 weeks pregnant and in the throes of morning sickness and I desperately NEED him to sleep more than an hour!

[Layla]

If you want a longer nap you probably need to cut his night. He only needs about 11hrs at night & 1.5-2hr nap

Otherwise if his mood seems to be ok on 1hr nap & 12hr night then I would let him be & leave him in the cot for the other .5-1hrs so you can still have your break (unless he's not happy being in the cot for that long). You might also want to wake him up in the morning rather than letting him sleep in so that there is a drive left for a nap later on in the day.

hth
Layla

[jwhitt]

His night has been cut.  Generally he's sleeping 11 at night.  Only 10 last night!  I also have been waking him up (if he's not already awake) by 7:15-7:30 at the latest for between 11-11.5 hours of sleep, but most mornings, he's already awake at that point.

He'll usually stay in his crib an extra 15-20 minutes after he wakes from his nap before he starts yelling for me.

I'm just so exhausted and worn out right now with this pregnancy and morning sickness!  I wish I could just wave my magic wand and make him sleep longer!   

Well, thanks anyhow, I guess there's really nothing I can do if he just doesn't need the sleep, he doesn't need it.  I was hoping we could hold onto a longer nap for a little longer.  And he still does randomly decide to catch up on his sleep and nap longer.  I guess I'll just be happy that he IS sleeping. 

[Layla]

I am sorry I thought he was having longer nights & sleeping in some morning.

I understand you 100% as my dd went on a napping strike for almost 3 weeks. I think if he is sleeping just for 1 hr & seems ok with it & is ok being left in the cot for the remainder of the "ideal nap length" then just let him be . There were plenty of times Isabella would wake 1hr into her nap (also around that age) & I even had a post on it asking for help. I used to leave her in the cot.. sometimes she would go back to sleep & sometimes she didn't. Look at his overall behaviour & as long as he is not heading towards the overtired state, it could just be that his sleep requirements are changing (aren't they always ). In the meantime take a rest when he is napping & try not to think about it.

Good luck