Support for dropping the nap part 11

[PineapplePrincess]

That seemed to be the case with us because the first week I started no nap days we had some 11 hour days. After 3 weeks the days went down to 12. We are now on our second month of giving no naps and it's closer to 12.75/13 which matches up to the same total wake time as nap days. This was his pattern during the 2-1 and it took me a while to figure out how to get rid of the long happy night wakings. The remedy was a later bedtime which brought total wake time up. Oddly, mine sleeps better at night with more wake time than less.

Last night we got 8:45-7:15. I woke him up. That's good overnight sleep with a nap. He probably would have slept till 7:30/8 but I didn't want to do another no nap today. He still takes 45 min to fall asleep at night, but the extra snack is helping him knock out before 9 pm it seems and sleep in a bit later as well. We are averaging about 11.25 ts this week which is normal for him.

[jessmum46]

Hi ladies I'm still here with you, been reading along but not had much chance to post.  Hugs all round for the frustration!  DD is now on day 5 without a nap at all.  I think it's the longest she's done, and it didn't start well with a 5.30am wakeup with a wet bed she didn't resettle but has refused a nap again today (did an hours quiet time instead) and then even stayed awake on a 45 min car journey.  Blah.  Happy due date to me!  We're currently just sticking with trying for a nap/quiet time every day - into room between 1-1.30pm for an hour or so - and then 6.30pm BT.    Trying a quick catnap in the car every few days if she seems really tired but doesn't always work.  Hoping she'll sort it out herself eventually.  We're averaging just over 12h sleep in 24 x

[PineapplePrincess]

Jessmum46, 12 is really good at this age. We average 11/11.25 now, but mine has always needed less than the charts. If we put down too early, we get long happy NWs. I still put him down for naps each day except if we have somewhere to go like today. He did 8:45-7:30 last night so we skipped the nap today. I plan for an 8:15 bedtime. Tomorrow I will offer him a nap as he will be at school in the morning.

[rachsk8]

Aw Jessmum46, can't tell you how relieved I am to read your DD doesn't always nap even in the car! Thought I had 'broken' my kid as everyone else was saying how their kids crash out in the car straight away! LOL But commiserations as well, it's a bit annoying when you know they could really do with a catch up!

Our last few weeks have been made up of stretches of 8-9 NND's. Last week was NOT a great one, all the hallmark signs of major OT but still nap refusal, even late afternoon nap refusal!! Then it's progressively got better this week, even without a nap, so who knows how much is/was OT and how much just being a 2.5yr old stuff!!?

We are currently out and I'm writing this while DS snoozes in the car. I'm at a not of a loss to know when/if I should offer a nap now or not. He definitely needs some down time each day, but rarely goes to sleep. I just fear that awful, horrible OT kicking in again where you can't blink without it triggering a melt-down. DS is generally a pretty chilled out little guy so you know something is up when he is that crazy irritable.

Now all I need to work out is what time BT tonight should be......!!

[jessmum46]

Ha yes, DD has never just crashed out in the car.  Not since about 4-5 months old.  The only time she will is when she is totally exhausted and not over-stimulated, so for example she'd never crash after nursery even if shattered because she's too wound up and excited.

DD napped for an hour at nursery on day 6 after 5 NNDs - and we got a 10h45 night (very short for her) with a wakeup in the 5-somethings so then because she refused nap yesterday we ended up with an almost 13h day (too long for us on a short night and NND) and an OT early wake today.  Blah.  I can't *make* her nap though!  And to be honest it feels like the naps often mess us up unless they are a really short 15-20 min catnap. 

Ugh.  Give it time.....

[PineapplePrincess]

Mine hardly does car naps either, unless he is super tired. I wish he would nap in the car though, as we always have to get him home for nap.

Jessmum46, 10.75 ONS is really good at this age, especially if it was after a nap. I know your LO probably needs at least 12 hours total, but it could also be sleep needs dropping. Ours suddenly dropped around 28 months. He was giving me 12 hours, then it quickly reduced to 11.5 and now at almost 32 months, we're about 11-11.5, but mostly 11.25. He did a lot of 12-13 hours those three weeks I didn't give him a nap, but that quickly changed and now sleep is the same about with or without a nap, so either way he sleeps the same amount.

My Lo was wiped out after preschool. He did 10.75 ONS last night, so after his 45 min nap, we got 11.5 hours total today which is better than his average. He's eating his bedtime snack right now and I'm about to put him to bed. I hope everyone's LOs sleep better for them this weekend!

Rachsk8, sounds like your LO handles no nap pretty well. May just thrown in the occasional catch up nap to curve the OT. I wish mine would consistently sleep 11-11.25 without a nap, but sometimes he really cuts it short, so I know OT begins to kick in. If he was consistent, I would feel ok dropping his nap completely.

[rachsk8]

My poor poppit was in bed at 6.30 last night with a fever and feeling yucky. :-( Slept ok, considering, up at 7am. Just very quiet today, not himself. Currently been asleep for an hour. His sleep needs definitely go up when he's unwell so I will let him have what he needs and see how he is when he wakes...

[haribo89]

Hi all, my 23 mo DD has started the 1-0 I was wondering if anyone could give me there experience of how things were at the start? The past 2 weeks we have had nights of 9hrs which seemed very short. We did a NND yesterday (she refused nap)  and did a 11hr day, she was good except for an hour where we had a few melt downs. Shes never slept more than 11hrs at night even on NNDs in the past but pulled 12hr 45min! We offered her a nap today but she was more interested in doing rolly pollys around the cot, so we had quiet time in my bed watching tv where shes fallen asleep, when she refuses naps she occasionally will doze watching tv. Im just wondering how to work NNDs and nap days. How long a nap should I give her wheb she dozes? Im not 100% she will tack on again like that, although im hoping its not a one off. What were your experiences. Id like some kind of routine if possible, the last 6 months have been all over the place.

[PineapplePrincess]

23 months is still pretty young for the 1-0. How long are her naps? That might be robbing night sleep. I'd say that starting to limit to 1.5 hours for nap might help.

Our signs were short night sleep even with a 1.5 nap. We started trimming it down to one hour and now about 45 min. We tried to drop the nap cold turkey but he got overtired. We tried alternating by only giving a nap every 2-3 days. We still got some overtiredness. We only do Nnd if we have somewhere to go all day. If we do two Nnd in a row, the second night we get early wakeups or night wakings. So pretty much every day we do a 45 min nap at 1:30-2:15 or 1:45-2:30. My lo will usually sleep about 8:45-7:15 with that. We were getting early wakes for a while, but it turned out that he was hungry so now we do a bedtime snack.

[haribo89]

We have tried capping naps but her days are still really long.
Shes a nightmare to get to sleep at naptime and often refuses  but once out she would sleep hours. We have kept note of nap/day legth/night sleep, she will go to sleep after 11hr day with no nap, 30min nap - 13hr day. 1hr nap - 13.5-14hr day.  And 1.5hr is just beyond lol shes refusing her nap more and more, this is something that has just slowly progressed.
Im open to any suggestions to try, I know she doesn't get much sleep and worry she needs more.

[jessmum46]

Haribo we also started 1-0 early, now at nearly 29 months seem to be almost done.  What has worked for us over past few months has been to offer nap every day.  Routine of WU whenever (but usually 6.30-7), try for nap into room between 1-1.30, if refused after 45 mins then get up and NND with BT 6.30.  If naps, then wake by 2.45/3pm and BT 7pm (often 15-30 mins chatter before sleep).  As naps have been refused more regularly we've started calling it 'quiet time' instead of nap/sleep time and J has a special 'quiet time bag' of activities she can do whilst sitting in bed.  We dim lights and shut curtains, she gets into bed and sits with her bag and some books.  Most times she will keep herself occupied for 45 mins to an hour, once in a while she will crash out for a bit (maybe once a week now).  We had quite a few weeks of frequent NWs but they seem to be lessening and now nights seem to lengthen instead of shorten after a few NNDs in a row. 

[haribo89]

Thanks jess, that sounds like what we have been doing, we let her WU when shes ready, offer nap up until 2pm, if she's still jumping around in cot then I will take her out into my bed and we will watch tv in bed for an hour to relax, sometimes she will fall asleep for half an hour, sometimes not. I do prefer the idea of her being in the cot because it means I can get things done.

[haribo89]

Jess if I read right your LO did 12-12.5hr day with or without nap? My DD had a 30min nap today and has been up 13.5hrs so far. She just will not sleep, surely thats extreme?

[rachsk8]

We started early also, (probably around 23m was the very beginning) and now at almost 32 months we are getting nearer to the end (I hope!!!)  We were averaging about a nap a week also, with 11.5hr nights on average.  DS was unwell on the weekend, and slept more like 13hrs a day, with a nap every other day.  I am guessing he's still in recovery because we have had uncharacteristically long nights since then... and (this is the most unbelievable part for me!!) he's pretty much been taking us into his room and wanting stories and bed at night!!  Trouble is, I don't know whether to go with it (I do want to, I think it's awesome that he's maybe learning when he feels tired!!!) or keep him up a little longer, as yesterday he slept 12hrs from 7.30pm and woke at 7.30am (that's a real sleep in for him!) then wanted to go to bed at 5.50pm!!  I strung it out a little bit, got PJ's on slowly and read extra stories, then he was in bed at 6.30pm and out to it in 10mins (this too is soooo rare - often takes him at least 30mins to get to sleep!!)  He woke at 6.45am today, so another 12hr night.

Previously my LO would do anything to avoid bedtime, so my jaw has dropped when he actually has WANTED to go to bed lately.  I'm figuring he's lulling me into a false sense of security and will go back to his sleep fighting ways again shortly.  :-P  Pessimistic?

[jessmum46]

Haribo I think it was generally more like 11.5-12h on a NND and closer to 13h days on nap days by the time she'd gone to sleep.  How many NNDs/naps etc has your LO been doing recently?  Is she an independent sleeper?  How are you handling nap/BT refusals eg WIWO etc?  Given her age and as she's near the beginning of transition I'd be thinking about things like 2y developmental leap and OT to begin with rather than assuming she's ready to drop the nap entirely.  Do you have a thread on the main board for more eyes on your routine?