Support for Dropping the Nap age 2-3 Part 4!

[koe2moe]

Good luck Sabs!  Didnt realize you start wd two hours before bt!!! 

Kath, agree with pp.  Just want to add that sometimes something developmental can completely ruin or change sleep patterns, so he might be just at another growth spurt or developmental milestone and then sleep change back to more or less as before it or completely change!!  Do go by your instinct as you know your LO best but if all fails, try something new  that others have tried and you might be surprised.  Sorry that I haven't really said something concrete but that's just how it is. 

Mine had much less sleep than yours from 8.5 months and then suddenly from 23mo, he mostly STTN and had 2h nap plus 12h nights!  That was when he finally could manage with 1nap and certain A time (he switched to 1 nap at 12 mo!) 

Good luck with it and you can always ask. 

[scucci1979]

low sleep need baby normally drops earlier. DD2 is a lower sleep need baby and I am preparing myself that by 2 she may be fighting naps.

We started an earlier wd b/c I was jus so tired yesterday. LOL.  she has been so clingy lately. 

She woke up at 5am, couldn't find her favourite teddy. Gave it to her and she went back to sleep until 6:20am. Came into my room so I again waited with her until Mr. Sunshine came out on her clock. I need to work on her waiting by herself.
So that was another 10hr night. Overall with a 1.5hour nap, she did get more sleep.
How come when I cut her nap her nights don't lengthen and why are we stuck on 10hr nights?  I guess that is better then a few weeks ago when she was doing just over 9hrs.

[consmummy]

Another nap free day today, that's 2 in a row- he's never done that before! He is however very grouchy, not looking forward to the rest of the day. especially as DS1 has football training tonight so it's a later bedtime for them (8pmish).

I'm taking him to toddler group tomorrow where I'm hoping he'll run around like a crazy thing and tire himself out.

The one advantage of the lack of nap is he seems to be tagging it onto the night sleep- 7.45 am today, whereas before it was anytime from 6am onwards. Poor kid is going to have a shock tomorrow- back to school for DS2 so we need to be up early!

[scucci1979]

Great night.

it is now 12:45pm here and she doesn't want to nap. I set up her rest area on the sofa at 12:30pm and she doesn't look tired yet. She layer down for a few minutes, then got up and moved beside me.    I am thinking she will crash at 1:30pm, latest 2pm.  I want to try a no nap day, but that would mean a 6pm bt and I don't have any confidence that she will give me a nice 12hour+ night and I don't want to wake up at 5am tomorrow. Then again, consmummy, you have seen your los night lengthen with a no nap.  I am such a grumpy mommy when my day starts at that time.   Hmmm.....maybe if she doesn't fall asleep by 2pm, I will take her outside and keep her busy until  6pm when I will aim for her to sleep.

[Khalam's Mama]

My day started at 5am today sabs (with 4mo) so I feel your pain. I remember only too well doing it formonths with K doing 2-1 transition.i wish we had just cut to 1 nap sooner and I might have saved myself months of 5am wu while pg and working FT.

You might be surprised if you do one nap that she tacks on to her nights when she is that little bit more tired. she seems to be Ew anyway, short term pain for long term gain. I plan the EBT for when it is Dh's turn to get up with K (sneaky! - don't tell DH)

Sabs what do you do for Wd for 2hrs? Ours is about 30mins max (Pj's, teeth, books, potty, songs). I am thinking about starting to add in a bath too as it is taking me hrs to get all 3 of us ready in the mornings, but K used to get quite riled up by a bath so am not sure.

We ended up with a 35min nap in bed today and then had to wake him to go playgroup (I always want to add "where I volunteer" or it sounds ridiculous that i wake him for it). I just picked him up and put him in the buggy. He woke straight away but layed in the buggy a while then sat up perfectly happy. I might have to try this again as he is normally a bear to wake. We aimed for 7.30bt but it was 7.50 by the time he slept. He got up at 6.50am. We will see, I am hoping for a post 7am wu at least.

[scucci1979]

I hate those wu times. Hugs. I brought her in my bed at 1:40pm, cuddled with her and she fell asleep in seconds. Woke her up one hour later but was an absolute mess. Crying spells, tantrums for a good 30mins.  I wonder if I should just lay with her for naps now. I don't know. Anyhow, in bed and asleep by 8pm. I hope that wasn't too late!

As for wd, we normally start 1.5hours before bed. That includes, bath, snacks, some t.v, story time, chat on mommy and daddy's bed, sing songs in her bed. 

Are you ladies aiming for a 13hour day with a very short nap?

[Khalam's Mama]

If we nap we do 13hr day. Do you want to nap with her? Is dh around for a or is she sleeping? We got a 13hr night so Will do no nap and bt 7pm. Shame i was up 6.25 with 4mo so couldn't sleep in until 8.40. I nearly went in to check he was ok at 7.30 since he did nap yesterday too. Only 35min though.

[scucci1979]

Wow. Great night!
I don't want to nap with her as Alyssa is napping from 12-2pm.  DH is around but he naps at this time too b/c he works early mornings. Sigh.   
She woke briefly at 5am. I brought her back to her room and didn't hear a peep from her until 6:30am.  Alyssa was crying, so I am sure this woke her up, in combination with her groclock changing to mr. sunshine.  I was in A's room and she comes in her room as I was trying to rock A.  I kept whispering for her to go to my room but she didn't want to.  After 10mins, she decided to open A's blinds and further wake her up.  I could of killed her.

Don't know what to aim for today! Any thoughts?

[consmummy]

Sabs I'm useless at this stuff, what do you think she could handle napwise?

I am PRAYING for a nap from D today, he's shattered. We've been to toddler group this morning so he's had a good run round and he's watching Toy Story 3 on the sofa right now with his lunch, looks like he could flake out any minute!

The other thing is he wont get a nap tomorrow (playgroup starts) and I think 4 days straight with no nap might be too much for him.

[Tweakster]

We've gone back to a longer nap as he wasn't tacking and getting seriously sleep deprived.  Sleep totals still on the cusp of being decent but mood has greatly improved with longer nap.  Yesterday we were out for the day and he actually passed out in his stroller for 30 mins about 10 hrs after waking.  But we couldn't do an early bedtime and he did not tack.  Sleep total in a 24 hr period was 9.5 hrs.  Ouch.

[consmummy]

Ouch indeed, Wendy!

Well, my prayers went unheard, no nap again! I did leave him in bed tho for a good 40-50mins just in case (and I had my exercise dvd to do!) but he just chattered, sang, yelled, etc. He's lying on the sofa now and looks so tired. But I have a feeling he's just going to go cold turkey and the nap is gone. he wont get one tomorrow because of playgroup so that will be 4 days in a row without one. Luckily he is tacking it on to his night sleep a bit so where we used to get 11-11.5hr nights we're now getting 12-13hrs.

What would you do, ladies? Keep offering a nap for a while yet? Or just forget it?

[scucci1979]

Oh Wendy! Hugs.

This is a living nightmare isn't it?

Almost 1pm here and she is is putting cream on her legs.  i guess it will be another one hour nap day.

Madi used to always work best with a 13hour day but since everything has gone haywire, her days are 13-14hours long.
On a no nap day, is 11.5-12hour day a normal length?

I would keep offering a nap/quiet time for now b/c he may still crash, especially after a playgroup.

[Tweakster]

lol sorry what is the cream for?  That made me laugh a bit.  It is indeed a nightmare...I want to wake up from it...and preferably not at 5:30 a.m.!

[scucci1979]

She was bored, so decided to put lotion on her legs.
2:30pm and she is still going strong. trying my best to keep her busy.  If she crashes how long to I let her sleep for? 30min? If it is 4pm and she doses off, 20min?

[koe2moe]

Nightmare club??  Sigh... 

We had a 10h sleep in 24h period yesterday!  No nap at daycare yesterday, that is just happening more and more often!! 

What do u think ladies, perhaps this isn't about dropping nap but developmental.  I and the carer also say that DS is developing so much daily that it might just be too hard to unwind to fall asleep!