19 mth old - playing at naptime

[KECA]

So my 19mth old is changing things up with naptime and I'm not sure what to do.
Her old routine used to be:

8/8:30 - wake
12:30 - nap (right after lunch) for anywhere between 1.5 and 3 hours but generally 2
8/8:30 - bedtime

Now some days she goes down and sleeps as usual at that time, and other days she plays and plays and plays in her crib (blankets and rolling around, "jumping", etc.).  I go in every once in a while to remind her it's nap time and she'll fall asleep sometimes around 1, sometimes around 1:30 and sometimes around 2...usually after I go in and remind her.  Now it's almost 3:30 and she's still in there "playing" when she was put down around 1:15.

What does this all mean!?

We do have a 9 week old now in the house - and I've read others saying something about hearing that it can affect toddlers naps - but I'm not sure where this idea comes from and what it means.  I would think 19mths is too early to drop the nap...

Any suggestions?

[becky1969]

Oh no, she's not ready to drop the nap!

I suspect she's just ready to increase A time a bit.  If she wakes at 8:30 and goes down for nap at 12:30, that's only 4 hours of A time.  Pretty short for this age, which should be closer to 4.5-5.5 hours of A time.  My guess is if you change nap to 1:30, she'll go to sleep faster.  What happens when you put her down to early is she plays ('cuz she's a toddler and that's what they do!  ), and then overshoots her sleep window so plays and plays and plays and has trouble winding down.

The sleep troubles with new babies have to do with emotional insecurities in toddlers.  They worry that mama is having fun with little one, or that mama won't be there for them now that another baby is there to take up mama's time, etc.  If you're not seeing any other SA or insecure behavior, I'm guessing you just need to increase A time.  Try 4.5 hours A time first and see how that goes.  Increase by 15 min. each day until you see her napping better.

[KECA]

Great!  Thank you for taking the time to reply - I tried 1:15 today - went in a couple times to remind her it's sleep time and she fell asleep at 2:30 - so we'll keep trying to find the right nap "time" again for her with the 4.5-5.5 A time suggestion.