Toddler EASY confusion (15month old) Any advice?

[mishayl]

Hello Babywhisperers! I can't seem to get my 15 month old's EASY on track and I have a feeling she needs to switch to one nap but the few times we've done that she'll have an early bedtime and will constantly wake up. The current situation isnt getting any better though so any advice is appreciated:

6:30/7 AM: Wake up,  milk feed
8:30 AM: Brekkie
play play play
10:30-12:00- Nap 1 (1.5 hours)
Play play play with snack
2:00: Lunch
3:30/4- Nap 2 (1;1.5 hours)
play play play snack
8:00- dinner
9:00: bedtime routine
9:30: Bedtime

NINE THIRTY! Guys between all the playing and the late bedtime im one ZOMBIEMAMA! If you see a collapsed woman on the street with a toddler girl poking/jumping on her and trying to feed her various toys.. then yes that is me! If I try and put her to sleep earlier she just plays in the dark room and it takes even LONGER! If i decrease her evening nap shes cranky and tired and very difficult Shes my little queen and right now she's a tyrant shes also underweight and I wonder if the sleep and eat are connected

Help ME BWhisperers!

[Buttonbobs]

Hi, it does sound absolutely like she's ready for one nap, but you may need to do it in stages rather than dropping immediately to one. What temperament is your toddler?

Seeing as your first nap is the longer of the two it sounds to me like you'd be best off keeping that full length and pushing it later while at the same time shortening the afternoon nap to one sleep cycle or less (no more than 45 mins) so that BT can stay the same. After a few days if the day is still just as long oh might consider pushing the naps later again and shortening the CN further to 30/20 minutes only.

Alternatively, as your day is already so long you could decide to have a go at cold turkey (this is only likely to work f your LO is textbook or angel temperament) going to one nap. If you did this I would suggest that you need to hold off on that nap until at least 11.30am, but possibly even until 12. Then go for a nap and hope she sleeps for two hours or more. The first few days she may take shorter naps and get a bit OT but you need to keep going with this for at least a week to see if it will work. I would say you could then do BT at 7pm or perhaps 7.30 if you get a long long nap.

What do you fancy trying?

[jessmum46]

Just moving you over to Toddler Sleep

[mishayl]

Thanks! I wasn't sure where to post (easy?toddlersleep? etc)
When I take the quiz DD is textbook and is quite easy going but has always been an awful sleeper and still wakes up a 2-3 times a night for a cuddle. I dont know which approach would be better but I can try slowly shortening the evening nap to 45 mins and putting her to bed later and later everyday for a week and see how it goes. If she adjusts quickly then great if not then I'll do cold turkey thank you!

[Buttonbobs]

if you take the slowly adjusting route you will want to make a change and then hold on that pattern for a few days to allow your LO to adjust to the new times before moving again, but otherwise that sounds like a good plan. Keep us posted

[mishayl]

thanks! will do