3yo: are NW a sign of needing to drop nap?

[lilamom2]

DD turned 3 last month and her nighttime sleep has gone completely downhill since then.  We were traveling for 2 weeks and she had NW's of anywhere from 10-60 minutes most nights.  We finally got the heat turned up in her room, and that seemed to help (of course I felt terrible!) but it has continued since we returned.  Here is our schedule

7:30am: wake (the last two weeks I've been waking 90% of the time)

1:15-3:15pm: nap (usually falls asleep about 1:45/50 and I've been waking about 80% of the time)

8pm: bed (asleep between 8:30/45)

Do I need to be waking her earlier in the mornings if I want to preserve the nap?

She's also been fussing a little at bedtime (limit testing) so we're working on that, too, but seeing improvement.

This is all just a HUGE change because she used to go down super easily and STTN all the time without issues.

HELP please!!

[Buttonbobs]

Hi there, it wouldn't be unusual for a 1-0 to happen around now, if not before, but there is also often a sleep regression around birthdays. So, if you find that this goes on for more than a couple of weeks then it probably is the start of the 1-0, but you could choose to see if it passes in time if you like first.

Why not have a read of this very helpful link:

The 1-0 transition...Advice and Tips to help you through.

As you do go into the 1-0 you do need to reduce sleep from somewhere in order to prevent resistance and NWs. How you do that does depend on how your LO copes (and it is a slow and long process for some). My DD preferred to shorten nights a keep a full length nap that got later and later over time, eventually ending up with nights of approx 10 hours only. Around this time we then dropped the nap and her night sleep went straight back up to 12 hours each night and she was really ready for sleep by that point.

You might find as mentioned in the link that she manages better with an earlier morning, or a capped nap.

What do you feel might suit her best?

N x

[lilamom2]

Thanks so much, Buttonbobs!  I visited a few weeks ago and you were so sweet and I had a chance to read the 1-0 tips.

I think I'm going to give it another week or so, then see about cutting sleep somewhere... probably PD later for nap???

Thanks!

[Buttonbobs]

So sorry I hadn't remembered if it has already been going on a little while it does make the 1-0 slightly more likely.

That sounds like a plan. You could try PD later for the nap first and then if you get BT resistance you can try shifting BT a little later too. Let me know how you get on.

[lilamom2]

Sounds good- thanks!

It seems that her nap length doesn't really affect how long it takes her to fall asleep at night, but it might affect NW.  LAst night she fell asleep about 8:40 and slept through tiil 7:15. I really shouldn't complain.

[Buttonbobs]

That sounds good.