Is my 19mo dropping her nap???

[Ambinsi]

Please say it ain't so!!!! 

My 19 month old has always been a tough napper...She would only nap under certain conditions, and the slightest change in her routine would throw her off. We had the dreaded 45 minute nap stage that seemed to last forever. She eventually broke out of that slowly when she dropped her 3rd nap. When she finally dropped her 2nd nap I was able to get a solid nap out of her that was 1.5-2 hours long. That is the longest nap I could get from her except for the RARE exception. Lately, as of the past month, its been all downhill.

Lately her one nap of the day is becoming shorter and shorter and some days she's refusing it altogether. Again, I find the slightest change in our routine affects this nap. For example, today I went to the supermarket with her. I was out of the house early and had her home in plenty of time to relax and unwind. (I've found in the past that if I get home too close to nap time, she's OS and won't take the nap) She got up at 7:20 this morning. I made sure I was home well before 11 and attempted to put her down around 12:45, because anything later is no good either. As I write this, she's running around in her crib.

So.....is this it??? Is this a sleep regression, or is she starting to drop this nap? (I don't know if I can handle that  ) Or....even worse....can I never leave the house with her again??

[clairebear79]

Hiya when did she nap in the end?  It could be a sleep regression (think there's a big one at about 18 months) but could it just be that she needs a touch more A before her nap?  My DS is a little younger than her & he is generally doing around 5.5hrs A before his nap now.  Could you try aiming for 1pm & see how she fares?

[Ambinsi]

She wound up falling asleep eventually (after what seemed like forever but I left her in there because she wasn't upset or crying). She only slept for maybe an hour.

About the A time....in the past, if she got up at 7 I would put her down for her nap around 12:30 or 12:45 and she'd give me 1.5 - 2 hours. I haven't really changed her A time....although the past few days she's been getting up a little later. Today she got up at 7:30, and I put her down at around 12:50. She napped for about 45 mins and then kind of rolled around, dozing on and off for another 45 minutes. I kept leaving her in there because she kept looking like she was going back to sleep. I think she was in and out of sleep during that time.

I'm afraid to put her down past 1, because I'm afraid to have her sleep past 3. I like to maintain her 7/7:30 bedtime.

But what do you think, should I keep her up longer and give her a later bedtime??

[clairebear79]

What about waking her at 7am to keep your routine on track?  Or if she is going down at 1 wake her by 3 so you maintain BT? 

[Ambinsi]

I am back....which isn't good. She's so inconsistent and her wake up time, bed time, or A time seem to have nothing to do with the length of her nap. Its so frustrating.

Most days she's down to under an hour. Every now and then she'll give me 1.5 hours or maybe more but that's become the rare exception when it used to be the rule. Some days she flat out refuses the nap altogether.

I'm going to keep trying until she consistently refuses it, but I really think this nap might be on its way out. She's now 20 months.....is this even happening to me???

[gormella]

hi

re Ambinsi,p, children generally shouldn't be dropping their naps at this age from what I hear.  my 21 month old LO also had a hiccup period a few weeks before Christmas where she would cry at each nap and wouldn't settle for it and I just went with it for a couple of weeks and gave her super early bedtimes when she hadn't napped (which helped so we had no NW and this didn't cause EW either thankfully, just replenished her sleep needs). 

I now take her upstairs for her nap 5 hours after she wakes, won matter what time she wakes.  So that means she has 10 mins wind down with me in her nursery before her nap and settles to sleep sometime after I leave her nursery.  so A time is probably between 5 1/4 to 5.5 hours all in all.  After the nap her A time to bedtime is around 4-5 hours on the whole depending.

I read somewhere to watch the child more than the clock at sleep times which I have found very helpful (along with keeping one eye on the clock too to monitor A time).  The three yawn rule has also been very instrumental in getting her to bed at the optimum biological sleep time.

I notice her dip a lot just before shes ready for nap time, she starts to look sleepy and rolls on her tummy with her head on the floor and when I see that first yawn (of the three yawns they do before they are ready to sleep) I just say the magic word that I use as a bedtime trigger word and she nods and is happy to go straight up.  she sleeps for an hour and a half which is fine by me as she seems to wake refreshed and sleeps a good 12 hours at night. 

How long does you LO do at night Ambinsi?



 go s

[clairebear79]

gormella you are lucky my DS rarely ever yawns!

Ambisini - what is your routine generally looking like now?  I do think gormella is right this may just be a hiccup period where she refuses & then she may well go back to taking the nap again, so you may just have ride it out a bit & do like you say & keep offering it.  At the end of the day you can't force it, so if she doesnt sleep then give her an EBT & this should keep OT at bay.

[Buntybear]

Most days she's down to under an hour. Every now and then she'll give me 1.5 hours or maybe more but that's become the rare exception when it used to be the rule. Some days she flat out refuses the nap altogether.

Out of interest how long does she sleep at night?

[Ambinsi]

I'm sorry I haven't been keeping up with this....I've been posting about other issues, unfortunately. However, our naps are still a problem so I'm back.

Buntybear, to answer your question, she usually gives me an 11-12 hour night.

[Ambinsi]

I'm sorry, I'm just seeing that there were other replies.

Our general routine, assuming she's up around 7am (which is the norm) is:
7 - w/u
8ish - breakfast
playing, snacks, books, etc. etc. etc. and then I start watching her at around 12.
12:30/12:45 - in crib for nap. She usually falls asleep within 5 minutes or so. Rarely protests going down for a nap.
Bedtime is usually anywhere between 7 and 8 depending on when she wakes up from her nap. (I also want to note that her bedtime seems to be naturally getting later. She's more awake and alert at 7 now, and if I put her in too early she's babbling, laughing, rolling around for an eternity.)

So....basically I've been giving her between 5.5 - 6 hours of A time. You think that's too long??

I do hope this is a stage, but I feel like I've been trying to ride it out for awhile.

She took a 2.5 hour nap on Thursday but she was under the weather. Today again she refused her nap. I left her in there as she was literally running around in her crib, but I finally went in after she threw her lovey out over the side. I knew it was over at that point.