One nap - only one sleep cycle?

[jordiwes]

Hi there,
I can't seem to figure this one out. My LO has been mostly on one nap for a few weeks (she's 18 months). When she's with my mom, she'll nap for 2 hours.
When she's with me, she wakes up after 45 minutes (the first sleep cycle, I'm assuming) and says "Mommy, mommy".
Here's the story. If she wakes up early in the morning, she yells for "Mommy, mommy". I HAVE to pick her up and then lay her back down and say still "time to sleep". She won't go back to sleep on her own in the morning without seeing me. She does STTN though.
For her nap, I lay her in her bed awake and she falls asleep on her own. But EVERY SINGLE TIME after 45 minutes she's up. I pick her up, lay her back down, and she's quiet for 10 minutes, then "mommy, mommy".
This weekend, she was so tired, I let her sleep on me after the 45 minutes. She slept more than 2 hours each time.
I've tried W2S and it's backfired every single time.
How do I get her to nap longer? She can do it at my  mom's! Same setup!
Thanks for any advice.
Steph

[KellyC]

Ooh, how frustrating!

Does she go down at the same time with both you and your mum or perhaps have a quieter morning when she's with your mum?  One sleep cycle would usually have me thinking over-tired.  How about the conditions of the room she's in - is it darker at your mum's?

Kelly x

[deckchariot]

I'm guessing she knows you'll come back in, but your mom won't, so she probably still wakes after 45 min, rolls over, goes back to sleep....but at home, she knows you're there, so she calls for you instead.  Toddlers are just like us, they wake when they sleep - we just roll over, readjust and go right back to sleep.  your dd calls for you.  I'd suggest doing wi/wo when she wakes - don't pick her up, just tell her "it's time for night night" and then leave.  Repeat if she's still calling for you.  I'd do the same thing with the EW as well - that may just be reinforcing the nap waking.

Can you post her one nap routine and we'll have a look just to make sure it's not an OT issue? 

hth
michelle

[jordiwes]

One nap day:

Wake @ 5:45am-6am
Nap @ 11:30am-? hopefully 1:30!
Sleep @ 7pm

I can't seem to get more than 11 hours at night. She does 10 hours on a 2 nap day.
If she wakes before 6, I always walk in, pick her up and lay her back down. Sometimes she'll be quiet for 15 mins, occasionally 30.

She seems tired.

2 nap day:
Wake @ 5:45am-6am
Nap@10:00-10:45 (if you wake her before this, she is grumpy the whole day)
Nap@ 3:00-4:00
Bed@ 8:00

[deckchariot]

Has she always been on the short end of sleep?  If not, I'm guessing her overall day is too long.  I know you said on a 2 nap day, she only sleeps 10 hrs - if she's not a low sleep needs bub, that's probably an OT night.  How often do you do a 2 nap day?  Or are you only doing 1 nap days?  On one nap days, can you bring her bedtime earlier?  Even 30 min might help.

Barring any changes from tweaking her routine, I think it's likely a prop issue - she wants the extra cuddle - and she knows you'll do it.  So I'd do wi/wo and just calm her with your voice not your cuddles - it may take a few days to convince her that you'd like grandma and she needs to go back to sleep on her own.