My son has been a good sleeper pretty much since he turned 1 and went down to one nap. However, recently (he is currently 33 mo), his night time sleep has been awful. Previously, his schedule had been:
Wake 7:00
Nap 12:30-3:00
Bed 8:00
Asleep 8:30
Now he is falling asleep later, waking earlier and taking either longer naps or fairly short naps, depending on the day. He has become very irregular. Here is his schedule for the past two days:
Day 1:
Wake 5:30
Nap 12:30-3:30
Bed 7:30
Asleep 10:00
Day 2:
Night Wake 2:00
Asleep 3:00
Wake 6:30
Nap 12:30-2:30
Bed 7:45
Asleep 9:15
Day 3 (today):
Wake 4:00
A few things to note...he doesn't give us much trouble about going to bed. We have a standard bedtime routine and stay calm and relaxed, reading books, singing songs. Once in bed, he sings, talks about his day, plays with imaginary toys, counts...I really have the impression that his mind just can't slow down enough to fall asleep. He doesn't come out of his room or ask us for anything.
Also, some nights he will wake for 1-3 hours and play, sing, etc then go back to sleep. Other nights, like last night, he will wake and do this, but not go back to sleep. He stayed in his bed talking, singing etc from 4am until when I got him at 7:30am. About once every couple of weeks he will sleep very late, until 9 or 10.
Sometimes on the weekends he will take marathon naps, like 3.5-4 hours. I know this is because he is overtired from lack of nighttime sleep.
I can see a direct correlation between the amount of sleep he gets and the number of tantrums, tears, etc.
This started months ago but continues to get worse. Right now we are potty training (which isn't helping) and getting ready for a new baby in about a month. In a few weeks he will also begin transitioning to a new class at school.
Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated!!! We are all tired here and it's not going to get any better with a newborn in the house!!! Thank you!!
