27-months, sleeps only 8.5 hrs at night? going crazy!!

[imaayafa]

hello mums. i used to write on this board last yr when my littlest one was waking every 2 hours, screeech! thankfully, over time, he started sleeping almost through--9-10 hours usually with only one waking. he was always up by 6 the latest, and we always thought 9-10 hrs at night with 1-2 hr nap during the day was very little sleep for this age and we explained it away that he is just very hyper active. but lately he is sleeping less and less. down to only 8.5 hrs a night, keeping with his 1-2 hr nap around 1 (at daycare, after lunch). i feel this must be too little sleep for a kid his age but he refuses to go back to sleep, despite my hushing and patting. this morning at 445 he declared, IM FINISHED SLEEP! does it sound like an exxageration to say that this is turning our lives and our health upside down? we have tried putting him to sleep at 8, 830 or 9, and he doesn't sleep longer either way....and we have tried to cut out the afternoon nap but he can't stay awake by late afternoon so he obviously needs it (and sometimes he falls asleep quite early in the afternoon). are there toddlers around age 2 who only need a total of 9.5-10 hours a day, including naps? someone once told me it could be a sign of worms or parasites or a systemic yeast infection, anybody ever heard of that?? will be thankful to hear any hopeful stories or tips. thanks!

[rinajack]

When my DD was 2.75 years, her night got that short, and that is when we dropped the nap.  She now does 10.5-11 hours overnight.  However, my instinct with your lo is that the afternoon nap is too late - if your lo won' sleep in, you need the nap to be a bit earlier, so you can do an earlier bedtime, and get your longer night that way.  Even now, my DD doesn't sleep past 6, so we always have her in bed by 6:30pm. When she first dropped the nap, she had some nights as early as 5pm.  I have a friend with a DS this age (same age as my own DS), and he was doing this for a time - she now makes sure his nap is closer to 11/11:30am, and then in bed and asleep by about 7:30pm.  He usually then sleeps til 5:30am, making a 10 hour night which is much more reasonable.

She has had to be quite firm with him to achieve this. 

[imaayafa]

thanks, rina. i was also thinking that he should go down earlier for his nap but i spoke to his daycare providers and they always tell me that he is wide awake and refuses to go to bed before lunch or that they don't have the time to shush him to bed now that he's older and they have to do that with the infants. in general at his daycare, the babies have a morning nap but the toddlers only nap after they finish eating, which is anywhere from 1245-145. i also think it's too late but i don't know what to do. when i asked if they could make that effort they said instead they would wake him after onlhy 45 minutes of sleep instead of letting him sleep 1.30 or 1.15....but i dunno...hate to think he'll be exhausted...what do you think? i am dreaming of those 10 hour nights that i used to complain about being too short

[rinajack]

If they shorten his nap, which some people do on the way to dropping the nap altogether, then you would be in a better position to do that earlier bedtime.  Shortening the nap is the other way to achieve that.  Since you are not in control of the nap time, that is likely your best bet.

The earlier nap is certainly worth a try on the days he is home though, so that you can let him have at least a couple of long naps a week.  Being really tired and going to bed early has to be better than those super short nights, imho.  And certainly better for you also.

[imaayafa]

thanks i appreciate yho. do they always sleep longer at night with a shorter nap? or do they get overtired? i'm always afraid to put him down before 8 with the fear that he will wake before 5 (which has happened many times). dream for him to sleep til 6. everyone always says that the more they sleep the more they sleep, so it's confusing.

[rinajack]

The more they sleep, the more they sleep was never true for either of my kids.  However, earlier bedtimes do not usually mean earlier wakeups, they generally wakeup around the sameish time each day.

For a very long time, we accepted anything from 5am as the start to our day, the kids are early risers.  These days, it seems to be anywhere from 5am to 6:30am but usually before 6am.

You are right that shortening a nap can lead to OT.  But in your case, since you can't control nap time, I think shorter naps are less likely to cause major OT than those super short nights.