Bed time battles - help

[wag]

Hi there got advice in past and we thought everything was fixed but .............


DD is now just over 17 months, we just moved house last week but problems have existed for about 5 weeks now.

The routine that worked was

7am    awake, milk
8am  breakfast , play activity etc.
11 - 11.30 fall asleep for nap
1 - 1.30pm wake and lunch
5.30pm     dinner
6.20pm     watch in the night garden
7pm bath, milk bed generally asleep before 8.15pm.

Then she started pushing her morning nap in to the afternoon
7am         awake, breakfast etcthen activity
12noon     lunch now earlier, (but eats well as breakfast now teamed up with milk)anytime between
1pm and 2pm get her down to nap  (now the problems start)

get up after say 2 hours maximum ( she would sleep longer)  have tried 1 hour, 1.5 hours as well all same result at bedtime.

5pm dinner - eats very well.
6.20 pm In the Night Garden
7pm bath, milk. bed

asleep anytime between 9 - 10.30pm  Whilst drinking her milk she can suddenly stop, ask for bed, when we out her in it is just fooling about but sometimes on her hands and knees and hitting her head off the top of the cot, or constantly wants water to drink (and she does drink not just a sip) then she wants back out, in out you name it.  Daddy is not acceptable she became really upsetwhen he tried the other night to I could get a rest, and I mean really upset.

Must admit we have fallen back in to the habit of staying with her until she is asleep and it is driving me nuts again.  When previous routine worked she was so relaxed after her milk, we brushed teeth put her i bed and she was asleep within 5 mins.

Sorry about length but going nuts and pregnant again and stuck in a sleep rut.

Many thanks in advance.

Wendy

[salbaggio]

Would it be possible to have a comfy chair in her room (or even some cushions on the floor) and sit quietly with the light low gently reading or singing for 10 minutes before you put her into her cot?  It might just help relax her further. Perhaps you AND Daddy could then do the pick up, put down thing calmly till she settles.

That way she would see that you both need her to sleep.  When I was pg with my second, my son of a similar age acted like this.  He didn't want Daddy because he knew that as I was so fatigued he was going to be able to play me up more.  When we stood together calmly reinforcing the matter he got the message quite quickly because when I was getting stressed, Daddy could instinctively take over and vice versa.

Hope that makes sense?

[wag]

Hi there

Thanks for your reply, at the moment and always in the past , we read a couple of books, milk with light off but Winnie projector on ceiling, brush teeth and then sing twinkle twinkle while putting her in to bed, then darkness.  I have tried just sitting in the chair near her many a night just saying time to go to sleep and lying her back down when up, also sorting her sleeping bag as she gets herself in quite a knot with all the moving about.  Some night I have even given in and tried to rock her but she just pushes away and wants bed and can get upset.  I wonder if she is just not tired enough with that nap being later now.

thanks

Wendy

[andibig]

I think part of the problem is the nap may be too late.basically it might be not enough time from when she got up from her nap till bedtime for her to be tired enough.
DD normally wakes around 7am and her nap is around 12.30.she is normally asleep around 8pm,sometimes later if she woke later at the start of the day.
HTH

[wag]

Thanks
We have spent the last two days just watching, we just cannot get her to go down earlier for her nap, and she is just not tired at bedtime, just let her stay up the last two night and played low key, at 9pm we done wind down and she went to bed okay.  She can stay on the go for about 6.5 hours no problem, we are the ones showing tired signs.  Yesterday she went to sleep at 1.50pm told DH to try to get her up after 45mins ( I had to go to doctors and supermarket) when I came back she was still sleeping , his answer could not get her up!!!   Therefore he let her sleep for nearly two hours   MEN!!!!

I think I need to kick start her into a better timetable - if dry tomorrow run her ragged outside and try to get her down for that earlier nap and try a shorter nap.

Thanks

Wendy