low sleep need toddlers

[scucci1979]

Wondering if I can get some comfort from those los are lo sleep needs.
DD1 was a very high sleep need baby and toddler and would always give me 3hour naps. To this day if I let her sleep, she would still nap for three hours. DD2 on the other hand, does give me decent nights with the odd nw here and there but her naps are just blah! When she transitioned to one nap at 12.5months she would give me delicious 2.5hour naps and now they are down to 1.5-2hrs. She is a pretty happy girl and can go all day without a nap-until she passes out. She is spirited when it comes to sleep and I could be missing her window when it comes to bt.  Normally, when I put her down for bed or nap, she goes down like a breeze, but lately for bed she is chatting a while. I don't mind the chatting b/c she does fall asleep independently. Anyhow, I am just wondering is a 1.5hour nap enough for a one nap, especially for a 13month old? this is all new to me and am frazzled by it b/c DD1 never gave me these short naps. Also, I would say I still have to extend her nap 4 times out of the week. 

here is how the last few days have gone:

Tues
wu 6:45pm
nap 12-2pm
bed 7:30pm but didn't fall asleep until 7:45pm

Wed
wu 6:40am
nap 12:10-2:10pm
bed 7:30pm didn't fall asleep until 7:50pm
nw 4:30pm for a cuddle. didn't want pain meds.. kept spitting them out.

Today wu 6:50am
nap 12:05pm-1:45pm didn't want to go back down
aiming for a 7pm bt b/c I don't think she will have a cn.

[babyrose]

my lo is almost 16 months and been on one nap a day since 13 months. at first it took us awhile to get into some nice long naps but now im lucky if he sleeps 1.5 hrs!!! he looks so tired but just wont sleep any longer than this. i dont think he needs a huge amount of day sleep say 2 or 2.5. A has always been like this.

HTH

[Tweakster]

Which one of the naps up there did you extend?

I can only speak from a Finn perspective, he needed a longer A time for a longer nap.  Now at this age it seems to be the opposite!  If she's not in pain at the NW they could be UT NW.  Just a thought

[RothE]

Hi! I have a low sleep needs toddler too.  If she sleeps more than 1 hr. 45 min. she will barely give me a 10 hour night!! From the very first day she transitioned to one nap her usual nap is 1.5 or even 1 hr 20 minutes and she's good to go. I drove myself crazy trying to extend naps or nights but once I let her do her own thing, she settled on these 1.5hr naps and 10.5/11 hr nights. We are both much happier just letting it be.  Also, she seems to now every other week extend her night a bit to make up for any OT - I guess sort of self-regulating?

Anyway, hope that brings you a little comfort...at least the knowledge that you aren't the only one getting 1.5 hour naps!

(My LO is now 18 months, but has been doing these 1.5 hr naps since 13 mths. AND if I'm being perfectly honest, we've been more like 1 hr 20/1 hr 15 for the last 2 weeks...)

[babyrose]

sorry i posted earlier but im meant to ask when your lo's dont take a long nap did you try early b/times? my lo has been up half the night and wondered if its b/cos ive put him to his bed early and really needs his usual 5.5hrs A time.

[IzzyD's mom]

DD went to 1 nap at around 11 months. Her MAX is 1.5hrs..(usually 1 hour)  any more and we get NWs. She has been on the same naps since then. She is full of beans, so smart and happy as can be most of the day. She asks for a nap early if she wakes early and usually has 11 hour nights.

[Kay Dee]

Sabs, both my kids are low sleep needs. At least that meant I was more prepared for it with DD, with DS I kept trying to get him to sleep more and it just didn't work! I'm more on top of it this time round...

Anyway, DD is 14months now and went to 1 nap at 10months, probably should have been earlier as her naps were awful up to that point. After she transitioned we were getting 1hr40mins naps for a couple of months until she started cutting back again. Our routine is now like this:

WU: 7/7.15am
Nap: 1-1.45pm
Bed: 7.15pm

Until this week we were doing a 1hr nap and but wake-ups were creeping earlier again so I capped a little more and now she's back sleeping to 7am. She was also shouting out between sleep cycles in her nap so I knew a tweak was needed.

She's always done short naps and any time I've tried extending them it just eats into her night. I wonder if your NW's could be UT from extending her naps?

x

ETA: Just thinking that I was constantly chopping DS's nap from 10-15months and then he stayed with roughly the same nap length (1hr-1hr15mins) until he dropped it a year later. Really hope the same happens with DD or she'll have no nap at all soon! But I'd rather a short nap than a short night...

[Tweakster]

At that age F was:
Awake 5:30/6
Nap 12-2:30/3
Bedtime asleep by 7

Pretty much only got 10.5 at night, sometimes 10.  It was tough going there for a loooong time.

On weekends we'd move his nap back to 11:30 and he'd usually do 3 hrs.

[twogirlsmommy]

right now we are like this:

Awake: any time between 6-7 am
Nap: 1-2,2:30,3 (she could wake @ any of these time and be super happy)
Bed: 7:15/7:30

Today she went down at 12 oclock for nap b.c she desperately wanted to.  She even climbed into the crib by herself! So I will see what thats gonna bring me lol

[scucci1979]

TBH I don't know if the nws are UT or OT or just wanting a cuddle. After yesterday's nap,I gave her her usual 5.5hour A and she gave me a 12hour night.  
She can easily do 5.5hours in the am, but lately by the 5hr and 10min mark, she starts to fuss telling me she wants to go to sleep.   She has never given me a 3 hour nap. the most it has been was 2.5hours and that was the beginning of the transition. I was thinking of pushing her nap out a little but is is already at 12/12:15pm and I don't want to do a bt after 8pm.  
As for which days I had to extend, it was Tues and WEd. Spoke to soon. Have to go extend her nap right now. She was asleep by 12:15pm and woke up at 1:30pm.

I too would rather have short naps then nws but I am just trying to figure out her nws as she is having at least 2 nws a week.

[Kay Dee]

I think maybe her nap is a little early and that's why you're having to extend. If you push it out just a bit to 12.30 you should be able to keep a 7.30 bedtime. Would that work?

[scucci1979]

That would work but if it is at 12:30pm, I would have to cap it to 2hours to keep bt the same.  I am a little hesitant to push out that nap right now as she fusses right around the 5.5hr A mark in the am.   

[Kay Dee]

How is she doing now? The fussing could be more that her body clock is used to napping at that time rather than she really needs it at that time. It might be that you'd get a better nap if you pushed her on a little. It's hard to know.

I agree that you'd need to cap it at two hours to keep a decent bedtime, maybe even less if she continues to chat at bedtime and NW.

Hope things are going well! x

[scucci1979]

I am so confused b/c I don't know if I am entering that nap cutting territory.
No nws this week but two days so far she has woke up at 6:15am. One of those days she had a cold so I won't count that one.
She is chatting more at bt where before she would go down so easily. I put her down and she stands right back up wanting to play.
here is yesterday:
wake 6:50am
nap 12-2:10pm (unusual for her)
bed 7:30pm but didn't fall asleep until 7:45pm. She was laughing in her crib.
woke up at 6:15am this am wanting out of her room.
today I plan to keep nap time the same. I am expecting an OT nap.

[Kay Dee]

That does sound like UT at bedtime last night after that good nap. Personally, once I figured out both mine were low sleep needs I never let them nap longer than 2hrs, otherwise we'd get bedtime antics and EW (and NW with DS). But honestly, from what you're posting it really looks like she needs even less than that if you want later wake-ups.

Best of luck for today!

K