16 month - only one nap, starting to get shorter and shorter! Please help!

[Brischit]

I wrote a few weeks ago about my little girl and that she would only sleep 1hr then I would go in and resettle her and she would sleep another 40min.

I've tried the suggestions of putting her to bed earlier in case she was OT, but that hasn't help to lenghten her nap. She is now nearly always sleeping only 40min, sometimes one hour but that's all.

I really don't know what to do to help her sleep more. I'm lucky in that she is an easy going toddler, so she doesn't really get cranky after only a short nap, but I can tell that she is still tired.

Her day looks like this:

7am - wake up
7.30 breakfast
9.30/10.00 snack
11.30 lunch
12ish nap - AND THIS IS OUR PROBLEM - at the moment she only sleeps 40 min (max of 1hr occasionally) and then won't go back to sleep, even if I try resettling her....
2ish snack
5.30 dinner
6.00 bath
6.30 read and cuddle
7.00 bed

She sleeps a sound 12hrs at night, does that mean she might only need the shorter nap during the day??? I am so confused at the moment and don't really know what to do... Put her down earlier, later, not worry and just let her have 40min??
Maybe it's just me and I would like to have a bit more rest in the middle of the day (or more time to get things done)

I'd love to hear if somebody has the same issue and also if I can get some help and advice.

Thanks heaps

[LucySol]

have you tried a 12.30 nap instead of 12pm and see if it makes any difference? maybe she isnt quite tired enough to take a long nap?
other than that if you think she may be OT how early have you tried giving her nap?

i think its going to be about finding the right A time to get a decent nap!

Lucy xxx

[*Becky*]

I agree with lucy about the nap time. Try 12.30pm and see x

[Brischit]

Ok ladies, thanks for the advice. I'll give it a go today. She woke up a bit before 7am, and I'll put her down at 12.30 - Do you actually mean that she should be asleep by 12.30 or put her to bed at that time? She usually takes about 10 min to go to sleep. I wasn't pushing the nap later anymore because she seemed to be tired at around 11.30 already.

It all went really well until now and I feel that I can't tell anymore if it is just a yawn or if she is genuinly tired.... Toddlerhood!!!! Who would have thought that it is more complicated than babyhood!!?!?!?

XX

[katie80]

Yes, it does seem to get harder to read their cues sometimes!  I'd read Lucy and Becky's advice as asleep at 12:30 pm.  If she woke up a bit before 7, that will be about 30 min more A time than usual and the nap length should hopefully give you a clue if she's not been quite tired enough. 

[LucySol]

yep,asleep for 12.30 id try.Tho im probably too late now and naps probably over!
How did she do?

[*Jo*]

we had this exact same issue at this age, we did a 12.30 set nap time and got much better results, still most days only got a 1.5 hour nap but some days got a 1 hour 45min or even up to  2.5 hour nap

[Brischit]

Hi again, thanks so much for all your advice, really need it at the moment!
I put her down at 12.30 for the last two days and she actually fell asleep at 1pm, slept then until 2.15pm both days. So that's 1.15hrs which is much better than the previous 40 min. She seems tired around 11 but I think it might also be an energy low before lunch, so having lunch at 11.30 helps her to get through until her nap. She seems much better rested and I have the feeling that the shorter afternoon is also good for her.
Do you reckon the nap time will extend over time or does she only have a low sleep need for her nap?
xx

[LucySol]

id keep with it for now and see how she goes.can you get her down for 12.15 so she is asleep for 12.30? you dont want her getting OT and that first A is very long for her age if she isnt sleeping till 1pm xx

[katie80]

can you get her down for 12.15 so she is asleep for 12.30?

I'd give this a try.  What I've found with my DD is if the nap is too early, it's short, but if it's a little too late, it's also short.  When I get that right time in the middle, that's when it does lengthen. 

[*Becky*]

same here x

[lpperry]

I have a home daycare and between my child and the daycare children I have 5 of them that are in between 16-21 months.  (they don't all come on the same day!). 

My own and the 21 month old are super active and they are ready for a nap at 12:15/12:30. Then they both sleep for 2.5+ hours.

The 17 month old is not super active, but needs a nap at 12:30. He also sleeps for about 2.5 hours.

The other two are less active and do not nap as long--usually 1.5-2 hours.  I do not put these two down at 12:30 because then they take a very short nap. I let them stay up until 1:00 or 1:15 and then put them down for a nap. Then they will usually take at least a 1.5 hour nap.

You say she acts tired at 11:00, but it might be low energy, so you have to do lunch at 11:30.  Do you do a snack? Try a healthy snack at 10:30 and a 12:00 or 12:15 lunch. This is what I do with all of my daycare kids. They really need the 10:30 snack. Then you can try putting her down at 12:45 to try to get a 1:00 naptime to see if she will sleep until at least 2:30...

My two daycare nappers that sleep 1.5-2 hours have been habitually poor sleepers. They were the ones that never napped as infants, slept for 30 minutes, etc.  When they are at my house they slept better as young babies because I stuck with the baby whisperer. However, since they were part-time, it was never perfect. I actually wonder if they would sleep longer, but don't know how to go back to sleep if they wake up.  My long sleepers usually make noise about halfway through the nap but go back to sleep. 

What was your 16 month old like as a baby?  Was she always a short napper?

I think if you can move the nap back and get at least 1.5 hours, that would be really good.

[Brischit]

I'll try a few different timings and see how she goes. If I do that, I assume that it's best to stick to one nap time for a minimum of three days to figure out if it works? Or would you say change the nap time right on the next day when it doesn't give her a longer sleep?

She has been a really good sleeper when she was a baby and also during the two sleeps per day period. Always slept for 1.5 hrs at least for both sleeps. I was really persistent in the early months (4-6) with shush-pad and that worked brilliantly for her. I still use it when she is unsettled or occasionally when she wakes up with teething pain and it works like a treat.
 
And yes, she usually has a light healthy snack (jogurt, fruit, sultanas...) at around 10.30am. If I give her a substantial snack around this time, I had the experience that she won't eat her lunch because she is too tired and not enough hungry.

I would also say that she is quite active, running around and also being outside in the garden....

So, what I'll try is a slightly earlier nap, say 12.15 and see how that goes and maybe if that doesn't work out, I'll try the later nap and see if that extends her current one. Otherwise I might just be happy with 1.15hrs as long as she is okay with it.

Thanks for all the answers, they really guide me through the whole process when you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Will keep you posted on how we go!

xx

[janecharlotte]

My DD is 17 months and after a rough 5 or so weeks where her sleeps were all over the place I have found that a longer morning makes her tired enough to have a decent nap. I put her down at 1pm and most days have to wake her at 3 and she is ready for bed at 7pm. We tried a lot of different times to find what works as I found she short napped if I put her down too early.

Good luck, its tricky trying to get that A time sorted at this age

[Brischit]

  This is all so confusing. I still couldn't get her to sleep any longer so far. But what worries me is that she seems to be really really tired by 9.30/10am and then she kind of drags on until lunch time... So I am a bit worried to keep her awake for too long in the morning. She sleeps a solid 12hrs from 7pm to 7am and I can't quite understand why she is so tired only 3 hrs later? Has anybody had some experience with that? I am debating if I should give her another morning nap maybe, but also anxious that this will mess up her whole routine and then bedtime at the end....