random NW and EW???

[katesmummy]

For about a month DD (22 mths) has been waking in the night anything from 1-5 times. Each time she settles within a couple of minutes of me being there, but if I leave, it starts again. I thought it was teeth as she is getting her 2 yr molars, but she seems ok with them now, and she was having meds but they made no difference.

If she wakes close to 6am, there is no point trying to get her back to sleep as it takes ages and we're up at 7.30am anyway. So I normally bring her into my bed, but she doesn't sleep there either!

She has a 90 min - 2 hr nap in the day, from 12-2pm. If she sleeps later than 2pm, she won't be ready for bed until after 8pm. So I always wake her at 2 unless she wakes herself.

If she has no nap or a very short nap, it makes no difference, she will fall asleep quicker when she goes to bed, but still wake in the night.

She has also started getting up for the day anything from 6.30am - 7am, which is a lot earlier than before (7.30 - 8am)

Not sure what is causing it? She is fine in the day, no teething probs and no sep anxiety. When she's had a bad nap or bad night she is v grumpy and full of tantrums, so I know she isn't getting enough sleep. She also has bags under her eyes.

Nothing has changed in her room or life, she doesn't go to nursery etc. She doesn't seem frightened of nightmares or anything, she just wants me to be there. She pats her pillow for me to put my head on it, and will quite happily settle down if I am there. I don't mind doing this but I don't want her reliant on me to fall asleep, as I think she needs to be able to settle herself to sleep when she wakes (as they do in their sleep cycles)

Just no idea why she is waking and why she is also getting up so early despite a bad night's sleep?

Her old schedule before all this started worked perfectly:

7.30am-8am : up
11:00am - lunch
11:45-12 - put down for nap, asleep by 12 / 12.15
2.00pm - up
5.00pm - tea
6.00pm - wind down, bath etc
7.00pm - bedtime, stories etc. usually asleep 7.15 / 7.30pm

[sianie]

Hi there..

If your LO is starting to get her 2nd yr molars then this could well be part of the issue....2nd yr molars are probably the worst teeth for LO's to teethe & can cause sleep issues on & off for months until they finally come through (they do take ages!) & also meds doesn't always make a difference. Also, teething is much worse at night when LO's are lying down.

If she has no nap or a very short nap, it makes no difference, she will fall asleep quicker when she goes to bed, but still wake in the night.

 

She is definitely too young to not be having a nap....how often does this happen? If this is a regular occurance then she could be OT.

Sleep needs also start to change at around 2yrs old & looking at her previous routine, it could have been she was a bit UT after a 2hr nap but now she's got into a bit of an UT/OT loop. My DS is not much younger than your LO & we have just started having to cap his nap at around 1.5hrs as his BT was getting later & later & his nights were getting shorter.

If it is teeth then there's not s huge amount you can do apart from giving meds & riding it out the best you can.

You could try pulling the nap a bit earlier if she's having NW's & waking earlier (ATM if she's waking at 6am & then napping at 12pm then that's 6hrs A-time on the back of a short/disrupted nights sleep so she's more than likely OT). Still cap the nap at 2hrs for now & try an earlier BT to see if this helps.

Does this help?

[katesmummy]

Thanks for the advice, it is a great help!

Just wondering though, if I move her nap earlier (say put her down at 11:30) and put her to bed earlier (say 6:30) won't she just wake up even earlier in the morning than she is atm?

[sianie]

The problem is that if she's OT, as I suspect, she needs to get caught up on some sleep somehow....teething can shrink A-times & yes, it's possible she'll still wake around the same time in the AM but a lot of LO's will tack onto their night sleep when they are tired & even if she wakes around the same time she would have had a longer total nights sleep & would therefore be more rested, if that makes sense?

Once she's caught up a bit you can push the nap & BT back again. It might be worth giving it a go for a few days to see if it makes any difference (you'll need to give it a few days for her to adjust).

[katesmummy]

that was really good advice on sunday I put her down for her nap at 11:30am, but she absolutely refused it!!! So in the end she was a very grumpy baby all evening, and I put her to bed at 6:20pm. She was fast asleep by 6:30pm, woke once at 1:30am but settled quickly, and then slept til 7am.

I put her down today at 11:30 and she has only just gone to sleep now at 12 noon. I will wake her at 2, but looks like moving the nap earlier isn't working for her :S

I am quite happy for her to get up at 7am (prefer 7.30 like she used to tho lol). Just need to figure out how long she should nap for in order for her to do this...

incidentally my friend's 2 yr old did a similar thing, so my friend cut her naps down to 30 min - 1 hour a day, and she sleeps through again now, 12 hours. But I think 30-60 mins is a very short nap, in the past this has made DD very grumpy.

what do you think?

[sianie]

But I think 30-60 mins is a very short nap, in the past this has made DD very grumpy.

That's very low for a 2yr old, unless they are particularly low sleep needs. Most 2yr olds are still napping around 1.5hrs a day. If the earlier nap isn't working then you could keep it around midday & see if she'll do an earlier BT is she seems particularly tired.

I do think it's more than likely that 2nd yr molars are causing the issue.