20 month old with shrinking nap--tweaks to help lengthen it?

[Peek-a-boo]

My DS has never been a fabulous napper--always better at night sleep than napping.    We had a little trouble after we moved (he was 18 months at the time), did wi/wo and all was well and he was often sleeping 2 hours and 20 minutes for his nap.  Then two weeks ago, his nap started getting shorter. 

Here's his routine:

8:00 wake up
1:00ish nap
9:00 bed time

I was putting him down just before 5 hours of A time--any later he seemed OT.  Then he started chatting forever before falling asleep and his naps got shorter, so I started putting him down at 5.25 hours of A time--less chatting, naps went back to 2 hours and 20 minutes.  Had a week or so of long naps and then the last two weeks, naps started getting shorter again--often just 1 hour and 20 minutes.   

He's falling asleep independently like a rock star--no props at all. 
He seems tired and grumpy when he first wakes from these shorter naps, but then does okay for the most part through the eveninig. 
Before nap I don't really see any sleepy signs.     But then, for months, I don't see sleepy signs with him until he's OT. 

Any ideas?  Do I move the nap earlier?  Later?  Or is he just being his mysterious napping self and I should just ride it out?   

TIA 

[momofclaire]

Bethany,
Claire did this for a while.  Her naps had been so consistant and then all the sudden she went from a three hour nap (God love her) to a 1.5 hour!    I was terrified as half my daytime break was being taken from me!    It seemed that it was developmental.  I put her to bed earlier when she napped shorter and after about two weeks we were back on track.  She is 22 months and her routine is:
8:00 wake
1:00 nap (2 hours)
8:00 bed

She has always needed a bit more sleep than most though.  I would just go with it and compensate with an early bedtime for a week or so.  After that two week hiccup we noticed that Claire had a huge vocab explosion and a few physical milestones like jumping and sommeraults.  Hopefully yours will pass quickly.
 
Myia

[Peek-a-boo]

Thanks Myia--I'll keep my hopes up.   

[MDHmommy]

Bethany - Marshall's nap will fluctuate like that sometimes too and I just scoot his bed time earlier as well. It usually lasts a couple of days and then goes back to normal. I've never been able to figure out why...but thankfully, it has always gone back!
Kate

[Peek-a-boo]

Unfortunately, my LO won't do early bed times.     He screams and we end up doing wi/wo until near his regular bed time, when he proceeds to fall asleep.  Ocassionally it gets him so worked up that he ends up falling asleep even later than normal.  The earliest I can get away with is 10-15 minutes, so we do that.    

Something is definitely up with him though.  He was super fragile this morning--crying about everything.  About 1.5 hours before nap time, he pinched his finger in his closet door, so I sat down with him and he nursed.  He nursed for every (which he doesn't normally do) and suddenly I noticed his eye lids starting to flutter down.  So I sat him up, read him books, and put him down for his nap nearly an hour earlier than normal.     I was nervous it would back fire, but he seems to have settled really quickly.  Crossing my fingers for a solid nap, perhaps he'll get cauagt up a bit and maybe this means I need to nudge naps a bit earlier.  So confused, but will keep muddling away. 

Thanks for the encouragement that it's likely a blip.   

[Brandonsmom]

It seems like when Brandon turned 18 months old we had sleep issues come up again. First, he decided he didn't like the white noise anymore and just preferred soft music. Then about a month of everything going smoothly he started back up again. This time it was a molar coming through, only I didn't discover it until it already came in. Now he's 21 months and screams when being put to bed. I still believe it has something to do with his teeth because the only way to settle him into bedtime is to offer him some cold milk. And this is even after he's had dinner. But it's no fun to begin our wind down routine with a cranky baby. And his naps have gone from 2-2.5 hours to 1.5 hours. I've also tried putting him down earlier for bed and it's just a power struggle. I'm hoping whatever phase this is, it passes quickly too! We are going on vacation in a couple of weeks and I'm already dreading it.

[Peek-a-boo]

Update . . . no improvement.  We travled a bit last week, and he's had a cold, which is mostly better now.   

Yesterday he napped for 1 hour and 20 minutes.  He woke up around 40 minutes, squeaked a bit and then went back to sleep . . . which is very unusual for him. 

Today he woke up around the 45 minute mark and didn't go back to sleep. 

I'm reluctant to tweak anything until his cold is really better . . . but I'm worried that he's getting OT.  I'm putting him down just a wee bit early for bed (15 minutes) and if his naps stay like this, I'll try to keep nudging it forward, but do ya'll think it would be worth while to adjust his A time?

He's awake 5 hours before his first nap, but then he chats for a while (10-30 minutes) in his crib before falling asleep.  Does this seem age appropriate?

Routine . . .

8:00 wake up
1:00 nap (doen't actually fall asleep until 1:10-1:30)
8:45 bed

[Zoey]

J, J, J... 

I saw elsewhere that he could be teething, plus a cold - do you think these two things could have something to do with nap time?  Have you tried giving him some Motrin or Tylenol before the nap?

Your routine is much like mine;
645a
1145a-2ish nap
7/730pm bed

If he is talking for that long... have you tried putting him down to nap at 1230? 

Also, when do you try bible study, like what days?  Could the extreme dislike of the nursery be having some residual effect on him?

Just some thoughts! 

[Peek-a-boo]

Keep meaning to get over here  to update . . .

Bible study is only once a week--Tuedays.  This is our fifth week.  Previous weeks he's been content in the nursery for an hour or longer.  Two weeks ago he made it the entire time.  I know it's not his favorite nursery, but I'm starting to wonder if this weeks over the top melt down had to do with him not feeling less-healthy than I realized. 

I did a probe and his 2 year molar which has been swollen for a bit is defnitely more swollen.  I'd sort of ruled that out b/c he hasn't had any night waking, but I got to thinking, that he's always a more fragile napper, so perhaps it's just more disruptive for naps. 

My plan is to give Advil and put him down earlier for now.  I feel much better just having a plan.   

I thought his cold was getting better, but he's still quite snotty and after a wild liquid poo today, I think he may also be coming down with a tummy bug that DH has.     He was acting very tired all morning this morning, so I put him down a little extra early.  He's sleeping now. 

So, we have lots of complicating factors.  I'll stick with this plan until he seems healthy and go from there.

 

[momofclaire]

Bethany,
I hope he feels better soon.