Is 1.5 hrs enough for a nap?

[ladymugg]

Hi there

My LO (16 mo) has been on one sleep a day for about 3 months now... her sleeps usually are about 1.5 hours (sometimes more, but more frequently around the 1.5hour mark).

Is this enough?  She sleeps usually 7pm-6am at night, so is getting around 12.5hrs a day. 

Some days she seems tired but then I'm not sure how to extend her out any longer, she is too old for a lot of resettling techniques IMO.  She won't take a catnap later in the afternoon either.

A lot of this I suspect is teething and such.  But then I hear sometimes from other friends that their 2 year olds are having 2-3 hours in the afternoon.  Maybe a different stage but it makes me question things anyway.

Cheers!

[becj86]

What's your routine? It could be that it is enough, could be she needs her nap shifted a little later in the day. 1.5hr is a restorative nap and around the 18 months mark, sleep needs do tend to drop then jump back up again so you may just be there, yk?

[ladymugg]

Routine is basically 6am WU and 7pm BT, going down for her nap sometime between 11.30-12.00. She's generally tired and ready for a nap around noon.

[becj86]

Yeah, her A times are pretty even there - you could try to have the nap more towards 12 than 11:30 but if she's going to sleep fine at 7 and STTN, I'd be pretty happy with that. It normal to feel tired before sleep - adults do too, there's no getting around that but if its affecting her behaviour or capacity to sleep, then its worth shaking it up.

[ladymugg]

Thanks a lot for that.  To be honest it's usually more like 12 most days as she has lunch before bed and sometimes that takes a while! 

But I am happy to tweak it out if need be and see how she goes for say 12.30.  Will see how we go.

Thanks so much!

[becj86]

Generally the nap will go later before it drops or you need to cap it to preserve night sleep so yes, moving it a touch later could help lengthen it but its not necessarily that critical. All the toddlers I know that sleep 2-3hr consistently in the afternoon tend to have very short or disrupted nights and I know what I'd prefer

[ladymugg]

Good call!  I'm going to take a chill pill and just let her rock whatever sleep suits her lengthwise (within reason).

 

[becj86]

Sounds like a plan