Are 45 min naps always UT?

[LovelyLilyandJack]

Just wondering if 45 min naps always mean UT as we're getting quite a lot of them on 1 nap. We've had to start cutting naps as anything more than an hour cuts into the night. Am pretty sure we're on track but just thought I'd check whether that nap length can ever indicate OT as although we're getting good nights, we have had more tantrums lately. I suspect thus is just terrible twos though! 

LO is 22 months btw.

[sianie]

Hi there..

Just to clarify, your LO is napping for a total of 45mins a day, is that right? If so that seems a very low amount of sleep for your LO's age, most LO's around that age (my DS is only a little younger) are still napping up to around 2hrs, so I would say this could well be OT rather than UT.

Can you post your LO's current routine so we can take a look?

[LovelyLilyandJack]

Yep, 45 minutes a day is all we're getting some days.  We were getting very early wakings and eventually fixed it by keeping a BT of 7.30 even after a short nap.  Previously we'd been doing an early BT with a short nap, and a normal BT of 7.30pm with a longer nap on the days we got them, but both resulted in antics at bed and nap time and a 5.30am WU.  It's all here -  http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=216320.msg2307596#msg2307596

Since then, I've been capping her nap to 1 hr when we need to but some days she only has 45 minutes anyway.  If I let her sleep more than an hour (even by 10 minutes), she shortens her night.  The days she wakes after 45 minutes she adds another half hour to her sleep at night.

Our current routine (on a 45 minute nap day) is:

WU: 7am
Nap: 1 - 1.45pm
BT: 7.30pm

On a 1 hr nap day it's the same but we usually get a 6.30am wake up the following day, and if we let her nap 1hr 10 we get a 6.15 wake up the next day it seems.  So she's getting just under 12 hours in a 24 hour period.

She has always been a bit low sleep needs and has dropped all her naps at least a month or two earlier than her friends so I'm not surprised she's a bit early to drop the amount of sleep she needs but I'm still paranoid she's not getting enough!  She seems very happy when she wakes up most days, but is getting tired by bedtime now, which is often when she can get touchy and demanding if she doesn't get her own way.  We're not getting full on tantrums but she's definitely touchy at that time now whereas before she just wanted to stay up!

[sianie]

45 mins is low, even for low sleep needs LO's!

Do you think she's UT or OT? If you think it may be UT then try pushing the nap back a bit later or keep the nap as is & try an earlier BT (does she tack onto her night sleep?)

[LovelyLilyandJack]

I could try an earlier bedtime and see what happens - she does tend to tack on at the start of the night if she's tired enough.  An early bedtime was resulting in an earlier start when we tried it before, but we were in a real OT / UT don't-know-where-we-are mess then so worth another go now she's back in a proper routine.

We did have 4 days of an earlier nap last week as nursery do naps at 12, and we had to get her down by 12.30 to get out early for a couple of days after that.  By the 4th day the nap resistance was starting to return and the 45 minute naps came back so I think she does need a longer A time before her nap than she used to.  She is definitely tired before bed on a 45 minute nap day so we'd possibly get away with an earlier BT on those days. 

She's at nursery today and they quite often let her sleep so today and tomorrow might not be the best days to change her routine.  Last week she slept 1hr 15ish at nursery and then only slept 10hrs 45 the following nights so if I do an early night on top of that it might be hard to tell whether a shorter night is related to an early, longer nap, or to an early BT.

Will keep you posted…. 

[Kay Dee]

Hiya, my DD is 14months and is on pretty much the same routine as yours. If your DD is low sleep needs mine is super-low!

Our day looks like this:
WU: 7/7.15am
Nap: 1-1.45
Bed: 7.15pm

I was capping at 1hr until recently and that was getting us wake-ups between 6.30-6.45am. Capping at 45mins for the last few days (although she often wakes herself anyway) gets us past 7am.

If she's doing good nights and is in good form then personally I think your routine looks great! She's probably not OT or UT, it really sounds to me like she just needs a short nap. My friends LO completely dropped her nap at 18months At the rate my DD is going I'll be glad if she's still napping at all at your DD's age. 

x

[LovelyLilyandJack]

Thanks for your reply KDee.  That's really interesting to hear about another LO on a similar routine.  It does seem like my LO is getting enough sleep based on her overall mood.  Looking back over the last few months we've only had good sleep when she's been ill or teething and in between her naps have been getting shorter and WU earlier until we started capping or she started doing 45 minute naps by herself.  The only difference i've noticed is that she's now tired at bedtime and can be a bit grouchy then - that's when she can get touchy and her mood can switch very quickly.

As it happens, she's come down with a cold since I last posted so we've let her sleep a little bit more in the day (1hr 15) and done slightly earlier nights (7 / 7.15pm).  An earlier bedtime has meant she's woken earlier, but she's still done her usual 11 hour night so that's been good.  I'll keep an eye on things but I suspect she'll be back to shortening naps / night times once she's better.

[Kay Dee]

Sorry to hear she's not feeling well Hope she's on the mend soon.

Both of my kids seem to be very low sleep needs. I'm very jealous of all the toddlers who take long naps and still sleep well at night. But I'd take a short nap over a bad night any day!

K x

[LovelyLilyandJack]

Yes, me too! That's why we started capping them, cos after a month of 5.30 wake ups (or earlier) I was ready to cut her naps!