10hr nights - is it our routine that's off?

[Mama2C]

I'd love some feedback on our routine... DS is 16 months and every now and then he goes to 10hr nights and that is usually a sign that we need to tweak his A times...

This is what he is doing lately...

6:15 wake
12:30-2:30 nap
7:30 in bed, restless and I need to rub his back until he gets relaxed. He falls asleep around 8:15 most nights.

So I am thinking his afternoon A time isn't long enough. Two nights ago we had a busy evening and I put him to bed at 8 and he fell asleep quickly, without needing a back rub. He still woke up a little after 6 the next morning...

I tink 10hr nights are too short... should I start to cut back on his nap? Or shorten his morning A time? He goes over 6 hrs...

(btw, he used to go to sleep right away when I put him down at 7:15 or 7:30... and sleep until 6:30! No imminent teeth or illness or milestone that I can think of so I think this is a case of tweaking A times...)

[Mama2C]

So I put him down after 5.5hr of morning A time...he looked ready and I have really been pushing for longer A times so we'll see if this makes any difference...what are your LOs doing in terms of A times???

[Tweakster]

Hi there, I was going to suggest a later nap.  How long has he been doing a 2 hr nap and when did this 10 hr night business start?

[Mama2C]

He has been taking LONG naps ever since he switched from 2-1 about 2 + months ago. He would probably do 3+hr naps but I never let him go over 2hrs or else he is UT at BT and has lots of NWs and EWs (like 5am!).

As for the 10hr nights. He does this every now and then. Usually it means we need to tweak our A times... he did this about 3 months ago and we realized he was ready for the 2-1. That transition took about a month or so. Now he has been doing these 10hr nights for about 4 days. He takes longer to go to bed at night too... I worry that if I push his nap later he will be OT (it's a fine line between UT and OT for him!) and that if he does manage a good 2hr nap that he won't be tired at BT (I don't want him in bed much later than 8...)...

DD easily transitioned to 1 nap at 13 months and stuck to the exact same routine until she cut it out at 3!!!!! So this adjustment to A times is very odd for me!

[Tweakster]

Then I think you have two options 1) hold the line with him now and see if he is just self-regulating a bit or 2) cut the nap a tad.  Could you try 1 hr 45 mins?

My kid was the same, we made the switch to 1 nap at 12 mths and he would do upwards of 3 hr naps but only ever did 10/10.5 at night.  We tried a nap cut several times up until he turned 2 but he wasn't ready - our nights did not get longer and we had a super cranky kid.  He's only just ready for a nap cut now at 2.25. 

So some kids respond by tacking on to their nights with a nap cut...and some don't.  For some the balance of a long day sleep and shorter night works for them...until it doesn't.

If your LO is NW and EW and bedtime resistance too then I suspect you need a nap cut.

Or it's teeth causing chaos :-)

[Mama2C]

Teeth ALWAYS mess up DS's sleep. I don't see the eye teeth but a week ago he was crying out a lot day/night and his gums were swollen. But they are normal now so I guess it was just a pre-cut push that was going on. I will keep an eye on teeth being the culprit.

So far DS does respond to nap cuts by extending nights. I will see how today goes. He has been sleeping for 2hr 15 mins and I will wake him now (I let him sleep longer so I could work and entertain DD who is on holiday...).

I will try for BT at 7:30 (so 5.5hr A...). What do you think?