Back again...still not a great sleeper, is this normal?

[newmom101]

Hi everyone!

My LO is 20 months and has never been a great sleeper and I have posted in the past but still no changes. This is her current sleep schedule:

Wake up anywhere from 6:30 to 7 AM.

Nap - down at 1PM and 95% of the time she only naps 1 hr 5 mins.  So she is up by 2:15 on a typical day. (Though I typically leave her in her crib when she wakes for 30 mins just to let her have quiet time, she is very content, never cries etc.)

Bedtime btwn 7 and 7:30, usually in bed by 730 after some milk/bath/books etc. However she is never asleep before 8PM, it seems that no matter what time we put her down, she doesn't fall asleep until 8PM.

So her nights are typically 10.5 - 11 hours and her naps are typically 1 hr long.

She isn't fussy/unhappy etc. She seems fine with the amount of sleep she gets, but it stresses me out b/c I know it isn't typical for a LO her age to only get the sleep she is getting.

Am I wrong? Any changes you can suggest?

Thanks so much! 

[cath~]

Hi!

If she's happy, esp if she wakes happy and goes to sleep happy, then I wouldn't stress about it.  She is getting 11.5-12 hours sleep/day and yes, whilst that is lower than average, it is definitely not that low and is/was what my LO gets/got per day. 

Has she always been below average on sleep needs or is this a recent thing?

With L, who has always  been LSN, we found that we could increase her total sleep/day (or keep it as high as possible) by capping her nap.  That way she would nod off earlier at BT and give us a much longer night overall so her total sleep/day was longer.

At 20 months I think we capped at around 45 mins.  At 24 months she was down to around 20-25 mins, and now at 28 months (if she naps) it is around 15 mins.  Often she doesn't nap.

If you are worried you could try capping her nap slightly to see if that gives you a longer night.  However, I know some LOs get upset if you wake them from their nap.

I also know that others have had success with routine tweaking, eg by going for a later nap, it is longer, but also doesn't seem to reduce night sleep so total sleep is increased.

Nap-capping is what worked for us so that's why I mentioned it.  However, if the lower amount of sleep is a recent thing (ie she hasn't always been LSN) then perhaps a routine tweak (later nap) rather than nap capping would be better to try first.

HTH

[anna*]

I have to agree with Catherine, if she's going to sleep OK and happy during awake time, she's probably just on the lower end of sleep needs. You could try bringing her nap a bit earlier and see if she would nap a little longer, but it sounds like she's doing fine on the sleep she's getting. My nephew is the same age and has the same routine.

[newmom101]

Thanks so much for your responses! She has always been like this in terms Of sleep. Maybe a few weeks when we started her on EASY she slept better, but that was before her crazy number of ear infections etc. since then this is the norm.

It does stress me out, but she seems fine with it! (sometimes I just need a little me time, ya know!) so total opposite of my son, so I guess that is what I compare it to!

Thanks again, I will try a few things that you suggested and see how she does!