less than 10 hours of night sleep - how to fix it?

[newmom11]

hi there.  i have a spirited 15 month old son who has always been a great sleeper, but is on the less than average side of sleep needs, the problem is that now he's consistently sleeping less than 10 hours a night and i can't help but wonder if he is needing more night sleep.  he's become a bit grumpier the past few weeks and i don't know if it's this young, frustrating toddler stage where they can't verbalize what they need or want or if it's teething (he's getting his 4th molar in as we speak) or if it's an OT state.  since he's always needed less sleep than the average baby, i am tempted to chalk up the grumpiness to teething or a frustrating stage of toddlerhood, but i just wanted someone else's opinion.  our typical day looks like this:

6 or 6:20 - wakeup
7:30 - milk and breakfast
10:30 - snack
12 - lunch
1- nap (usually 2 hours, sometimes less)
3 - milk
4:30 - snack
6:30 - dinner
8 - begin bedtime routine, usually asleep by 8:30 (with as much as 15 mins of crying, although most nights it's 5 minutes or less)

Please help...this fussy stage is really hard to deal with since I stay home full time and have no breaks. 

[knackered]

With my DS, crying at bed time always means OT. Have you tried an earlier bed time?

[Mama2boys]

Hi,
I think your LO needs an eralier bedtime. I'd try for 7:30ish.\
They can normally take 5/5.5 hrs of A time at this age so looks like the nap is quite late as is the bedtime.

My LO when wakes around 6/6:30 naps 12-2 and then is in bed by abt 7:30/8 at the latest.
Could this work for you?

Mukta

[knackered]

Yes - an earlier nap also could help.

HTH
Anna x

[newmom11]

i've tried an earlier nap time and it only produces a shorter nap b/c he's just not tired enough.  we are trying to get an earlier bedtime by shifting it back 15 minutes every day.  last night we had him down by 8:30, the earliest all week and he woke at the same time, but at least he got 15 extra minutes on the front end.  he shows no sleep signs what so ever, so it is very hard to tell when he is tired.  he'll do about 7 hours of A time in the morning and he goes down very easily for naps...talks for about 5 minutes and peacefully goes to sleep.  he does about 5 hours of A time after his nap and cries before bed.  i do wonder if he is OT.  but is the young toddler stage also particularly fussy anyway...simply b/c they want to do so much, but can't verbalize or communicate very well?  doesn't less than 10 hours of night sleep seem very little?  i have so many friends who's 15 month old kids or older still sleep 12 hours at night and take a 2 hour nap.  my lo has never slept more than 10.5 or 11 hours at night...i just want to get back to the 10 hours again. 

[Fiona (Leah & Kians Mom)]

Ds also does about 11 hours at night, we have a pretty much set naptime of 12.15 ish give or take, putting him down earlier ends up with a short nap and he is able for 6 hours in the morning. He is usually up by 2.45 pm latest but usually around 2.30 and in bed by 7.15 so he does about 5 hours in the pm.  It does take him a while to fall asleep though, 15 mins at lunchtime no matter what time I put him down and 15 to 20 at night so he is usually asleep by 7.45 at the latest.
I would go for an earlier bedtime