I’m going to try and keep it brief. We are in an overtired mess and I don’t know how to fix it because of nap refusals…..My lo is 2 yrs old today! She has always had high sleep needs.
Ideal routine (not had for a while)
Wake 6-6.30 (if shes still asleep - rare - we have to wake her at 6.30 to be ready to leave on time)
Nap 12.30-1.00 for 2 hours (will wake after 2 hrs)
Bed 7-7.30
Recently she has started refusing her naps or wanting to nap later – say 1.30 - 2.00. I find that if she’s still asleep at 3 she won’t settle at night so I wake her as long as she’s had at least 1 hour. Last week she refused to nap at nursery and at grandparents. She has always slept badly at nursery which is a major issue in her overtiredness but she normally does 45-60 mins at nursery (she only sleeps there twice a week). She normally sleeps very well at grandparents and has to be woken.
Our current day is something like this;
Wake 5-5.30
Nap 1.30-2 – woken at 3
In Bed for 7 – talks to herself up to 8. Latest has been 8.45!!!
Night wakenings from 2 onwards – can sometimes last up to 2 hours – try to settle her, stay with her, or just leave her – nothing seems to work.
I find if I hear her stirring and get to her before she fully wakes I can sometimes shh her back to sleep but if she actually wakes up then we’ve had it. I leave her mumbling, crying out occasionally, change her nappy sometimes but generally leave her unless she really cries.
Currently a good night’s sleep is 8.30 – 5.30…. which is terrible.
I’ve tried putting her down for her nap earlier but she won’t have it – tried at 11.30.
Tried putting her to bed earlier – she talks to herself but then starts to cry and I have to go in and she will only fall asleep if I’m in the room – whereas usually she self settles. But she does go to sleep earlier.
My OH thinks we should drop the nap but I think that would be a disaster. The 2 days when she refused her nap one night she slept throu from 7-6 which was fantastic but the other night she did 6.30 – 2.30, then 4.30 for 45 mins…….
She is teething her 2 yr molars – nothing through yet but I can feel a lump. We do give Paracetamol before bed & I’ve tried dream feeding her – but I either wake her or it doesn’t work! (Not tried Neurofen as she has asthma) She’s started asking for ‘better’ medicine before bath and pointing to the bottle – if I say no then she points in her mouth and say’s ouch…… The little monkey has realised we give it to her when she says ouch so now just asks for it… We’ve gone through a lot of Paracetamol recently.
Any advice would be appreciated. I’m so tired and also 23 wks pregnant.
I feel an absolute failure of a Mum because my daughter still doesn’t sleep at 2 years old. Because she’s so tired we are having major tantrums & behaviour issues
