How can I get her on a routine, without risking OT?

[lesorl]

Bed at 6:30pm... expecting an EW tomorrow for sure.

please someone put me out of my misery!

[lesorl]

I just don't get it...

she woke at 6:52am today, with no NWs.  great night, but why won't she nap longer?

[newmama12]

Hi lesori, I haven't been in here lately. I see you are still having nap issues. We are too. It's so odd. Last week J took 2+ hour naps for 3 days in a row. I was like WOW, we're on to something. But then I noticed her nights dwindled to 9.5-10 hour nights. Hence the 2+ hour naps. Grrr! She was still waking early. Now we're back to 1.5 hour (max) naps and 10.5-11 hour nights. Still ew's though, usually by 6/6:15. To me, that's early. I'd love a 7a-7p or even 6:30a I would love.

Today she had a major meltdown and wanted to nap at 11am. So, down she went. It's now 12:30 and she's up. What time am I going to put her to bed??? 6:30pm? That's be 6 hours of pm A time. Hmmm...any thoughts anyone?

[NiknLily]

Leslie
I've been thinking about number of hours total M sleeps in 24hrs.  I had to look up average sleep requirements today as Lily's sleep is still a little haywire.  At age 2 average total is 13hrs, M has always been on the low side of sleep requirements hasn't she? in which case as she is nearly 2yrs old now this could be your problem, 12hr nights will only result in 1hr nap requirement and thats if they are average in sleep requirement.

[lesorl]

newmama- i'd be tempted to put her down by 5:30pm, but my lo always does well with early bedtimes.  if you put her down at 6:30pm, it's likely you'll have an EW and/or NWs.

Nik- I'm starting to think the same thing.  All the more reason why I need to push bedtime back, but slowly.  Last night was 12 hours 20 mins, nap today about 57 mins.  The thing is some days she'll sleep more than 14 hours.  I guess it all averages to be about 13 hours.

[newmama12]

I think J is on the lower end of sleep for her age. She's almost 20 months and probably gets 12-12.5 hours a day. Rarely 13 and sometimes as little as 11.5. Just depends on the day. It's so hard to push her bedtime later b/c she's awfully crabby come 6pm, especially, when she's napped from 12-1:30 or earlier. Plus, the times we've put her to bed later, she still wakes at 6/6:15am. I think over time things will push out and we'll have a later nap, later bedtime and, with any luck, later wake up time.

[abaker89]

I agree, that does seem like too much sleep.  I guess if you want longer naps, you will have to reduce nighttime sleep.  We have this "problem" as well but I don't mind too much.  Long nights (12-12.5 hrs) but only 1.25 hr naps.  We don't see to have much OT here but it does flare occasionally with a very short nap.  In our playgroup, mostly 19-21 mth olds, the 2 hr nappers do not sleep more than 10.5-11 hrs at night.  There is one but we try to ignore her (just kidding), her 19 mth old sleeps 12 hrs at night and takes a 3 hr nap!   She sure is lucky and she is a great woman for listening to the rest of us whine, lol!

Aileen

[NiknLily]

I bet your right Leslie if you logged her sleep for a week she would probably average 13/day.  At least now you have a reason for the her odd sleep patterns and knowing this you can hopefully relax more on days which seem to have awful naps.  Just keep slowly pushing for that perfect day :-)

[newmama12]

Ok, so we have this new issue now. I posted a thread about it but figured I'd ask you ladies too.

I have no idea what is going on. J still wakes up at the same time, 6:15 give or take, but by 10:30 she's a whining, crying, fit throwing, meltdown mess and wants to go to bed. Both yesterday and today I've had to leave playgroups b/c she seriously cried the entire 45 minutes we were there. We came home, no lunch, right up to bed and she slept from 11-12:30 both days. She's now up and we have the entire afternoon to deal with. I have no idea why she's melting down so early and can't stay up till 12 like she use to. I don't know if I should try for a 2nd nap (which I doubt will work) or just go with a 6/6:15 bedtime. Has any of your lo's gone thru this? It's soooo weird!

[lesorl]

cyndie- is she waking at night, or early?  if so, i'd try putting her to bed 30 mins earlier.  i haven't experienced this myself, but the whining and crying seem like OT.

we had another 57 min nap yesterday, after a 12 hour 15 min night.  last night we had a 12 hour 20 min night, so i'm expecting the same nap today.

how can i push bedtime back with such short naps?  right now i'm pushing it about 10-15 mins every 3 days.  we're at 6:15pm in bed/ asleep by 6:30pm, but i'd like it to be in bed at 7:15pm, asleep by 7:30pm.

[NiknLily]

don't be tempted to rush things leslie, your doing so well at pushing her day forward, rushing could lead to OT which M is very prone to so, lets play it safe and edge forward snail pace!

patience is a virtue 

I pushed Lily on 10mins a day but then Lily was already in a right old muddle at the time so I hadf nothing to loose, I just dealt with any fall out after the event.

I wouldn't do things any quicker than you currently are 

[newmama12]

Lesori, no we have no nw issues and she's not getting up super early. However, sometimes I hear her stir around 3/4am, but I don't really think she's up. She's not crying nor do I even hear her music on. It's so weird! Maybe it's a growth spurt or maybe her 2 year molars. Last night she went to bed at 7pm (yeah, way too late) and she slept till 7:10am! She hasn't slept 12 hours in, I don't know how long. So, I figured we'd have till 12 for nap. Nope. By 11am, she was melting down, crying and wanting to go to bed. I couldn't believe it. That's only 4 hours A after a 12+ hour night. What?!?! It's so strange, but, hey, I'm not going to complain too much. I just do get why she's regressing to needing 4 hours of A when she was doing 5-5.5 just last weekend.

[lesorl]

I'm giving up, for sure.  Last night she fell asleep about 6:45pm, woke at 6:30am, and then napped for 57 mins around 12:30pm.  Boooooo.

[NiknLily]

thats a little short of the average day but I still think if you where to log her sleep over a whole week it would average, her sleep just still hasn't settled into a solid routine.  I do think it it will stabalise when she gets a little older, even if it doesn't stabalise completly you will get more accustomed to her loose routine.

trust me if you have a kid who sleeps really consistently and routinely when they don't sleep well for no apparent reason, that does your brain in!

[lesorl]

well today she was up a little earlier, 6:21am.  do i leave naptime at 12:30pm, and bedtime at 6:30pm?