from easy to difficult - nap trouble!

[jool]

Hi

I just wondered if anyone would be able to help me out please? I have an almost 8mth old daughter and up until last week she has been brilliant with her naps ~ she had got into the habit of us being able to put her into her cot and leave her after a few minutes whilst still awake and she would go to sleep on her own without any fuss.  Now, I think we are in the middle of a nap schedule change, (from 3 short 45min naps through the day down to 2 which is proving interesting enough) but suddenley she wont go to sleep by herself - it can take up to an hour to settle her, and bearing in mind she has only had 45mins in the morning and would really be due a decent sleep mid afternoon she is really fighting it (yawning and rubbing her head and eyes indicate a tired little bean) but she kicks about, shouts and generally resists sleep.

She is teething at the moment so Im wondering if that might be what is causing this disruption (although we give her teething gel when she is in obvious pain which seems to help) - I would be so grateful if anyone can advise me what to do, after things going so well for the last few months Im starting to wonder where Ive gone wrong!

Kind regards, look forward to hearing from you!
Jool

[Aly Mac]

Hi Jool, and welcome!!!

Can I ask that you post your day/night routine? What she had been doing and what her last day has been?  Teething could definately be contributing to the problem, but it could be A times too.

[jool]

hello

My daughter usually wakes up at 7.00am and has her breakfast. 
She will usually have a morning nap at about 9am and sleep for 45mins, then she gets up and have a bottle of milk at 10am.
Her previous routine has then been another nap at about 12pm for 45mins and her lunch at about 1pm.  She then would take another 45min nap at around 3pm and have her tea at 4pm and supper about 7pm.

Recently though she is sometimes sleeping for over an hour for her morning nap and missing out the mid morning nap, lasting through til mid afternoon before showing signs of tiredness again (she will go down quite happily when this is the case with only a little fussing with blanket kicking etc).

If the early morning nap is just 45mins though, she is showing signs of tiredness again by the time she would usually have her mid morning nap and attempts to put her down at this time have resulted in her playing around in the cot, kicking off the blankets and appearing wide awake.  Im left feeling a bit confused here, and have taken her back downstairs where she happily plays with her toys.  Once or twice she has gone to sleep at the mid morning nap time but the afternoon nap becomes a nightmare, yesterday for example took an hour before she would settle.  I have a feeling she is getting enough sleep from two naps but I dont know whether I should be taking this mid morning nap out of the equation completely to allow her to get used to just two per day.

Activity wise, we allow her to play with her noisy toys for a short time, about an hour or so before nap time we replace them with softer toys, teddies and stories and often I will sit and read with her and create some quiet space for her (ie no tv on etc).
I think my little girl is quite spirited, but also has angel tendancies, she has slept through the night since 12 weeks old and only wakes if there is a good reason for it (such as teething pain of late or a recent sick bug she had).  She has never been confused about night and day, and has never woken in the night thinking its time for play. 

Well, thats basically it I think, hope I havent forgotten anything and I look forward to hearing from you!
Many thanks for taking the time to read
Jool x

[Aly Mac]

Hi Jool, it sounds like your lo could do with a longer A time int he morning.  At her age, 3hrs is average, but the first A time is always the shortest.  Just extend by 10mins or so with quiettime or longer A time (walk in the garden maybe).  Try this for a few days as it may not work first go.  It sounds like she is fine on 2naps if she has a long first one, so the key is to get it longer.  A time would be the first way to go. If it's  a long nap, great, you can put her to nap again mid afternoon as she's been doing.  If it is a short one though, she wont' be able to stay up as long, so try an dput her down around 2hrs later.

try this for a few days, as it may not work first go.  you may have to tweak things a bit.

hth

[jool]

that sounds like a great idea - thanks! I never even considered stretching her A time out - sometimes you need somebody to give you a gentle nudge to remind you that old routines might need adjusting so starting tomorrow I will give it a go and fingers crossed it will probably solve the problem!

Thanks for your help
Jool xxx

[Aly Mac]

Let us know how you go Jool.

 

[jool]

Hi

Great news!
Ive tried the new method for a couple of days, leaving it a bit longer in the mornings before I put her down for a nap and it seems to have done the trick - she sleeps for about an hour and a half and then has enough energy to carry her through to the afternoon when she sleeps for up to two hours!
Thanks so much for your help and advice, life seems much easier for both of us now!

J x

[Aly Mac]

My pleasure Jool..