My 15 month old can't possibly be refusing her nap - AGAIN????? Help!

[Lulu m]

Ok, my LO has never been a good napper until we went down to one nap - around 11 mos. Then she slept like a dream! 11-12 hrs at night, 1.5-2.5 hr nap during the day. I couldn't believe it! Life was GREAT!

Now the last few days she is up to her old tricks. I seriously can't take it. After nearly a year of nap HELL I do not want to go back there. I am out of patience. I also nap when she naps as I am a horrible sleeper at night, so her naps are precious to me.

Here is our sleep routine:

7:30am-ish - wake
12:30-2:30pm - nap
8:00pm - bed

The last couple of days she has had a hard time going down for her nap. Yesterday she woke after 1 hr 20 min - screaming, and I was able to rock her back to sleep. AP, I know. She slept for another HOUR, and cried when I woke her. Huh?

Today she mantra cried for 15 minutes before falling asleep, woke after 45 min, and I could not use any form of AP to get her back to sleep. WI/WO did not work either. I tried getting her back to sleep for an hour. No way, no how. She just wanted to play.
Huh? Seems opposite of yesterday!

Last night she had several night wakings - none that were too long, and she put herself back to sleep, but I am nervous where this is headed.

We had a check up yesterday and the Dr. said she might be sleeping too much?
Thoughts?

Please help. I can't do this nap hell again! I would love some advice.

P.S. Not sick, no fever, no SA, and no teething, so I am frustrated and confused!!!

[coopers_mommy]

There is always the possibility of needing less sleep, but every time I found myself thinking it, it was actually just the opposite!  I think around this age, there is just a phase of crazy horrid sleep...we went through it! 

When she refuses naps or doesn't nap long enough, are you putting her down earlier?  Have you always been able to go by A times or clock times?  These are a few things we had to figure out when DS's naps or night sleep would go haywire.  Also, have you thought of pushing her nap back by 15 minutes to see if she's needing a little more A time? 

Like I said earlier, I really believe it's a phase to keep us moms on our toes!  Next you'll be dealing with molars....

[Lulu m]

Hi there - thanks for the reply.
I used to do A times, but her cues were SO off beat I decided to go by the clock.
No later than 7:30am wake up, 12:30 nap, bedtime 8pm.
I think I am going to try a 7 am wake up and see if we have better naps? Maybe she needs more A time? Or just move her nap to 12:45 or 1?

[coopers_mommy]

We moved the nap back as I hated waking DS up and I LOVED that extra 30 minutes to be able to shower and get ready for the day.  But, whatever will work for you.  Could she possibly need to go down at 7:30 for bed, or would that make her wake at 7?  DS goes through phases of sleeping 12hrs a night sometimes and then only 11....I told you, always keeping me on my toes. 

We also tried being "strict" with clock times, but some days when DS was just really OT from the missing sleep I would go back to the A times I knew he could handle.  We are pretty stuck on clock times these days, although in the event that he decides to wake even 15 minutes early, I prepare myself to put him down 15 minutes earlier (A time) to try to ensure a decent nap. 

Do you wake her in the AM at 7:30 or is she waking on her own?  If you're waking her, then I wonder if she really wants to sleep till 8 to get 12hrs in.  If this is the case, maybe you can adjust to allow her the 12 hrs at night? Just a thought.

HTH

[Lulu m]

Hmmmmm...... so much to think about!
I did not wake her this morning, but I would say 50% of the time I do wake her in the mornings, and she wakes easily and happy.
I also wake her from her nap most days - after 2.5 hours, because I do not want it to affect her night time sleep.

As far as putting her down earlier for bed - which we did tonight since she napped so poorly, all she does is mantra cry and babble until her regular bedtime. She did that tonight - ARGH. We did have an earlier bedtime for her, but EW were a problem for a looooonnnggg time, and the ONLY thing that worked was a later bedtime.

This morning she woke on her own around 7:15am, which is 15 min earlier than normal. I only put her down 5 min earlier for her nap, but she carried on for 15 min, and only slept for 45. Then I tried to put her back to sleep. Usually if she is OT, she falls asleep without a peep, but wakes 20-30 min later screaming, and I can use AP - rocking her - back to sleep. Today she just wanted to play - not interested in a nap. Whereas yesterday AP worked just fine.

Keeping me on my toes is right!