DESPERATE FOR HELP! 18 mos old nap refusal...whats going on?!

[lily528]

OMG ladies, to any of you who know me you know how long and hard our process was to get good naps...finally!  I can't believe this regression...I just want to cry.  here is the story...

It started last week..where she'd go down for her nap as always at 12:30 but after 30 mins of playing..ugh I went in there and shse had pooped..ok so I put her on the potty to finish...put a clean diaper on and back in the crib we go...she went to sleep around 1:30-4!  whoa ok off day...ha I wish..this has continued ever since...now I've learned to try to get her to go on the potty before putting her down (she isn't strictly going potty...mostly just poop but on occassion she'll go peepee) but most times she won't poop and then I'll figure ok she doesn't have to and I put her down...and sure enough she is up and playing for long periods of time...and she poops!  ugh...change her and back to bed..but her naps have gone from 2-3 hrs to being just under and hour - 1 1/2 hrs...

Now today...I thought ok got to make her poop before nap..and I decided to push the nap a little later in the day to help this happen...at 12:30 i put her on...she pees and says she's done...figure i'll have her in the crib by 12:45, has her bottle and i put her down...plays and plays i go in after just a few mins of this thinking i'll catch her...she says peepee..she goes on and she poops....ok great..off to sleep.....NOPE!  I'm afraid maybe she didn't finish she keeps saying peepee i put her back on she does nothing...back in crib...we do this several times and finally it's 1:20 and I give up put her down tell her to go to sleep and she plays until she FINALLY goes to sleep at 1:45!  what's happening here people?!  (I should add she isn't eating much of her meals these days either...is this teeth?)  She thankfully is still sleeping through the night but has been waking a little earlier some mornings. 

We are going away in 7 days (first time I've ever left my kids and I'm sooo nervous and upset about it ) we will be gone for 6 days this is just awful timing for this to be happening...if you've read all this I sooo appreciate it along with any help or advice  you have to offer..I'm desperate to figure this out asap...hopefully before leaving

[emily3434]

Oh my goodness-I understand the stress over sleep when you are going out of town!! My ds is also 18 months. I feel like in the past week he's really turned into a trickster and has started testing limits and manipulating a bit.  Do you think shes playing you a big to avoid the nap?   My other though is that my lo doesn't poo when we are out and about or if the day is really exciting, and on those days without a doubt he will poo during a nap and tiny the nap after 30 minutes.  I have also noticed my naps ate much shorter all of the sudden and bedtime has been moved forward because of that.  My lo gave me trouble for naps big time-and I think he will give up naps sooner than others.

Sorry for no real advise-just sharing a common experience.

How is her temperament? After those naps?  Definitely could be teeth!! Have you tried medication?  Thinking of you and hoping she gets back on track or that you can feel good about possible new sleep patterns!

[lily528]

no apologies needed...I appreciate the "you are not alone" posts too.  I move up her BT too if it's under a 2 hr nap...yesterdays nap that finally started at 1:45 went til 3:20...but I didn't instruct my dh to put her down earlier...in fact she went down about 15 mins later and he says she was up for a bit once down too.  I did this because her naps are starting so much later than they use to...by a good hour or so...so I thought a 15 min push on BT wasn't a big deal...she had been waking a good 30 mins earlier in the mornings as weel and this slightly later BT has seemingly taken care of that...thank goodness...a before 7 wu is just brutal around here...and believe me we've had plenty in the past.  this is so difficult after all that it took to get on that wonderful schedule and again having to leave soon is truly stressing me out.  I am typing up a schedule for my sister and I stopped at nap time because I have no clue what to tell her as I am moving through it blindly myself. 

She is a SMART cookie so I def often wonder if she is playing me to delay her nap.  I didn't know about the 18 month regression so I am definitely going to research that next.  With the not eating it COULD be teeth making the naps short I suppose but I don't think its what is delaying as she is very happy and playful while NOT sleeping in there lol.  Thanks for reaching out and hopefully we both get our answers soon