Help with nap schedule

[Carmela's Mom]

My son is 19 months old.  He is a GREAT sleeper (well compared to my almost 4 year old who is still an awful sleeper)....bedtime around here is 7:00 pm.  I prefer it to stay that way for both my kids because my 3 year old doesn't nap, and so she needs the early bedtime.  My son usually sleeps 7-7:30ish.

Which brings up my issue.  By 12:00 he's usually not ready to go down for his nap, but I put him down because I prefer the early nap time so he goes to bed early.  Some days he goes right down and takes a nice nap, but other days (like today) he'll talk for an hour and then finally take a crappy nap at 1:00.  Do you think if I moved his nap back to 12:30, he'd fall asleep right away and still go to bed at 7:00???

Any suggestions?

[* Paula *]

It is worth a try.  I would give it a try for a few days and see how things go.  If it does not work, you can always go back to the way things were.

Good luck, let us know how things go.

Paula

[Layla]

You could try 12.30 & wake him up at 2pm so that he goes down at 7pm

[Lilah'sMommy]

How long does he nap on a good nap day?  I bet he'd go down easier at 12:30, and you could let him sleep two hours-- my DD1 still did three hours at that age and still went down for the night at 7:30 or so (and no, I had no idea how lucky I was, LOL!).

[Carmela's Mom]

My son will nap anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 hours!  He's a good sleeper 

[Petra-Kate]

I think it is worth a try.  My son decided to move his naps from 1:00 pm until 2:00 and would sleep until 3:30 or 4:00. He was still ready for bed at 8:00 pm. 

(We opted to move his schedule to 8:00 pm so I can have a little more time with him in the evenings since with my commute I often get home between 6:00 and 7:00 pm. DH is the stay home parent.)

[Carmela's Mom]

I'd love to move back BOTH their bedtimes to 7:30-8:00 BUT if my oldest isn't in bed by 7:00, I fear what the next day will bring

I'm wondering if this is just a phase with him.  Today we had a busy morning.  I went ot the gym so he went to the child watch and played nonstop for 1.5 hours.  We had lunch, picked up my daughter from school, etc.  I put him at 12:20 and its 12:42 and he's still talking in there   I'm wondering if I'm better off putting him in at 12 so he can wind down (if that' swhat he's doing) and fall asleep prior to 1:00

Suggestions?

[Petra-Kate]

If you had a busy morning, he might have needed to have time to wind down. Was he giving you sleep cues when you put him down? 

[Lilah'sMommy]

I'm trying to remember what Lilah did at that age... I know she still took 3 hour naps because I got pregnant with DD2 when she was 19 months and I really appreciated the 3 hour break.   I think she slept from 12:30-3:30, with a 7 am wake up.  She still was able to fall asleep easily by 7:30-8:00.  So 5.5 hour morning A time and 4-4.5 hour pm A time.  (I think).  It wasn't until she was nearing 2 that she needed at least 5 hours between end of nap and bedtime.

[Mum of girl, boy, boy]

Hi Carmela's Mom,

Just out of interest how long is your wind down period with your youngest and is it consistent. I am asking because we have just had to move DS who has just turned 2 into a bed due to climbing out. We spent 3 hours at one nap time returning to bed but he's got better but I shouldn't speak too soon!

As I knew the getting out of the cot thing was just around the corner we started lengthening the wind down time. I just remember my daughter needing much more time to wind down as she got towards 2. I have also been trying to keep it very consistent and with big cues that bedtime is coming. I often feel too exhausted to do it but the extra effort seems to help and gone are the days of in the cot, goodnight being enough. There's a goodnight song I have on one of my dvd's from England and they love that or I play lullaby music whilst reading books. I have also tried again to introduce a comfort item and finally he's taken to one. I know most people think it's a bit late so why bother but I could see him becoming much more aware emotionally again of seperation. Ellie (elephant) now goes everywhere. If I see him start to get a bit wound up and more aggressive (when tired or hungry) I pass him his ellie. This has only been going a week but I am hoping it will help him a bit.

Also, until recently he's been the most angelic baby and very easy. I definately took that for granted a bit so didn't look for as many things to help him because he looked like he just didn't need anything. Perhaps because DD was so demanding/sensitive and I was trying to do anything to make life better for all of us. The other thing that's helped again is the blackout blinds. I just pinned some blackout blinds to his window and he's settling quicker again.

Just some thoughts from us. I am hanging out at the boards again. I guess looking for some support as I find most parents give up on naps as soon as the kids have a choice but I am pushing myself to keep it up for the long term benefits.

Good luck.