LOVE the 3hr naps but could they cause problems? (15month old)

[Mackjack]

Hi,
My 15month old has had some wobbly sleep lately- mainly I think due to molars possibly coming causing an OT/UT loop (all worked out with the help of this forum - thank you!!).

She's got back on track the past few days and her day is back to normal and looks like this:

Wake - 6.40
Nap 11.45 for 2.5-3hrs
Bed 7.30

Two days in a row this week she's had to be woken from naps at 3hours. Following that, yesterday she only napped 2 hours and was v tired at bedtime and went down at 7.05. I checked on her before I went to bed and pulled her blanket back over her legs. This never normally bothers her but she woke and stayed awake from 10.45pm -1.20 am (2hrs 35!) !!!! Now, I do think she was teething a bit yesterday and when I went in to pull her blanket over her, her breathing sounded as though she wasn't in as deep a sleep as normal. During the NW she didn't cry an awful lot, just seemed awake and every time she tried to nod off, she kept suddenly waking again (so, yes, I think teeth).

So teething has probably been at the root of most of the sleep wobbles but to check I'm not making things more difficult for myself, my real question is this - is 3 hours too long for a nap at her age? Should I cut them back a little, even just to 2hr 45?  (She doesn't always sleep this long, sometimes just 2hr20) I'm hoping you say no as I do like my 3 hour break! I just don't want to be potentially causing UT build-ups. Anybody else's little one nap that long??

[Truly Blessed]

Hi Hon,

I am going through a similar thing with my 20 month old at the moment. His naps went wonky but I now think it's all down to his 2nd year molars. Last night he slept a whopping 12hrs 40 minutes straight through. IMHO I would say that the molar trouble has probably caused OT in your DD and the 3 hour naps are her way of catching up. I would also think the NW are teeth related too IIWM I would keep a log of her sleep for the next few days and see how much she's getting every day, then reassess. It's my best guess that her naps will even out around the 2 hour or 2.20 mark if that's her usuall. Do you give her Ibuprofen when she wakes in the night  I found this to help DS settle much quicker when he NW due to his teeth. If DD's nights are unsettled and you don't allow her to compensate during the day it may cause OT. Also she still has a good long A time to bed after her nap. I was recently advised that teething LO's tend to need their A time shortened. I didn't know that untill yesterday 

Anyway that advice is for the short term whilst her teething is in play. The time to think again IMHO is when she's over it. In the meantime enjoy you Y time! 

We'll see if the other ladies agree with this anyway I'm sure.

Hugs.x.

[Mackjack]

Thank you.  Your little one sounds v much like mine! Lovely when they sleep so long but you.don't always enjoy it as you know theres something like teething behind it!

Before all this sleep wonkiness she would quite often have 3 hour naps so ive always let her get on with it, I was just wondering if it was generally considered too long at her age.

[Truly Blessed]

It depends, would you say she was high sleep needs. DS is about average and he slept an 11 hour night and a 2 hour nap at that age. So if she sleeps 11 at night and sticks with the 3 hour nap I'd say that was above average.

(X)

[Mackjack]

She can be quite high sleep needs. But great, if that sounds average thats fine by me!!

[huntersmummyinoz]

clues that it's time to cut the nap are if you get any of the following happening consistently (3 or more times in a row)
a) bedtime resistance
b) loooooong NW
c) EW
otherwise enjoy

btw, my LO usually needs longer naps when teething too (usually wake him after 2hrs, but find he needs 2.5 when teething)

[scucci1979]

Agree with the PP.

DD1 is a high sleep girl and at that age she was doing 3hr naps and 11hr nights. Enjoy it! Really! DD2 is the opposite and I really miss that long break during the day.

[Mackjack]

Thank you, ladies - good advice!