15 month old not sleeping her nap, taking up to 1 hr to settle at BT

[NinNic]

Hi

I really need advice regarding my 15 month old LO. She has been very inconsistent with her sleep for past few months and still going on. We started transitioning to 1 nap when she turned 1. Back then she would sleep her nap for around 1.5 hr or a bit more, nowadays I rarely get her to do a full 1.5 hr nap without helping her back to sleep by patting. Once back to sleep she will normally wake up after exactly 10 min so I have to sit and start patting again. Itīs just so tiring doing this every day. I know I did push her a bit too much when started transition and she got OT. Think we got past OT as I put her to bed early so she could catch up on sleep. She wakes anywhere after 30 min/45 min/1 hr/1hr 10 min/ 1hr 20 min from her nap. Today she only slept 50 min for nap and canīt get her back to sleep. Thinking of doing CN in pram later but that is also a struggle with her as she simply wonīt fall asleep!

What am I doing wrong here?? I simply can't figure her out and why she can't do a full nap anymore. She is not teething, at moment she has a cold with bit of runny nose. She wakes during night a few times and resettles now that she has the cold. Before her cold and also now she wakes early in morning, past few days between 5-6 am. I have tried different times of putting her to bed and figured out that she does best with 12 hr days and 12 hr nights. Anything slightly over and she sleeps too little if counting with her nap. Have to put her down for BT so early now and worried what will happen when we go on holiday in about a weeks time for first time and also when DST ends soon.

In the past it would take her about 20 min to settle for BT, that has also changed, it takes her up to 1 hr to settle. She is standing up or lying down talking and talking making noises. I have tried different A times after nap to put her to bed and figured 5.5 hr was what she needed after 1.5 hr nap. Now Iīm trying to put her to bed a bit earlier as otherwise with long time it takes her to fall asleep it will be over 12 hr day and she won't get the sleep she needs. Is it normal to put down 1 hr before BT? Don't know what else to do as it takes her so long to fall asleep.

As I thought we got over OT I started pushing her nap by 15 min this week as her usual nap time was around 11:15 am, but that led to earlier WU so had to change back to 11 am nap time. I just feel Iīm stuck!

Have posted this weeks EASY. On Wed she had a long nap, which led to her taking long time to fall asleep and then also waking early. Do I need to cap her nap to 1.5 hrs in order to get her to bed to have a 12 hr day, as it doesn't seem to work with longer days?? Usually I would say she is happy mood after nap of 1 hr 20 min or even now she seems ok after 50 min nap, but I feel itīs so hard to tell when she is tired nowadays.

Mon:
WU 6:06
S 11:25-12:48
BT 17:38 asleep 18:02

Tues:
WU 6:06
S 11:28 woke 12:32 got back to sleep 12:35-12:45 couldn't get her back to sleep
BT 17:36 crying reassured her became calm, asleep 18:17

Wed:
WU 5:27
S 11:01-12:49 this hasnīt happened for a long time!!
BT 17:39 fell asleep 18:39

Thu:
WU 5:15
S 11:07 woke 12:14 got back to sleep 12:19 waking again 12:19 got to sleep until 12:41
BT 17:14 cried a bit reassured her fell asleep 17:57
Woke few times at night fell back asleep after few min each time


Fri: has a cold
WU5:14
S 10:56 woke 11:30 fell asleep on her own 11:33 woke 12:11 got back to sleep 12:15 woke 12:32
BT 16:37 asleep 17:24 
Woke few times at night fell back asleep after few min each time

Sat: has cold but better
WU 5:27
S 11:12 took 20 min to fall asleep usually takes within 10 min, woke 12:01 couldn't get her back to sleep

[lauradj]

Hey there!  Sounds rough and you're obviously working really hard to read your daughter's signs.  Do be aware that some babies simply take quite a while to fall asleep.  If she's lying in her bed, chatting or quietly singing but not crying, just leave her to it.  Keep a consistent BT so she knows her routine and try not to stress about how long it takes her to fall asleep. 
I believe there can be an 18th month sleep regression, which she may have hit early but I need to check on that.  Is she outside quite a bit when she is awake?  Do you have her running about and exploring?  Does she cry when she wakes early, or just fuss?

[NinNic]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.

Today was bad. Might have been my fault as I put her to bed later so she fell asleep 11:23 am ( I pushed her nap last week to 11:25 am before she started waking earlier in morning, so thought it woud be ok as she woke 5:55 am this morning) she woke after 35 mins from her nap and couldn't get her back to sleep.Did a CN at 3:07 pm in pram, took her time to fall asleep though. She woke after 23 mins. BT took her long to fall asleep, she was very upset, could be that she dropped her favorite blanket on the floor, which I didn't see, she always sleeps with and probably OT from not enough sleep during the day. Took her 1 hr 15 mins to fall asleep, had to pat her to sleep as she was so upset.

Itīs just strange she usually took less than 30 mins to fall asleep at BT. I've noticed that after a while when she has stopped talking etc it takes her quite some time to fall asleep and I can hear her on baby monitor moving around a lot but not managing to fall asleep and then starts talking again and move around some again before she finally manages to fall asleep. Yes pls do check if it could be regression.

We usually go outside in morning and also in afternoon every day. We usually go to playground once a day sometimes twice. I do feel she feels more confident walking on flat surfaces still, so it's bit harder for her to walk in playground. She is very observing so she looks at other children and things a lot, so it takes her some time to engage. Yes I do think let I her explore.

For last few days she has been a bit fussy in morning but think it's due to her cold, otherwise she is ok. Now that it is darker in the morning I think she fusses because she wants the lights on, then she is usually fine for a while.

[lauradj]

Ooooooohhhh, did she just start walking?  That can really do a number on their sleep.  Her brain is firing all over the place and her muscles are stretching and growing.  That could be a major cause!  There is an 18 month sleep regression and it is the doozy!  Basically, you want to stay very consistent and continue to show her how things should go "Start as you mean to go on" and all that, regardless of the fact that she's totally refusing sleep at the moment.  Other than that, and buying yourself a nice big bag of chocolate chip cookies, there's not much you can do but power on through.  It's brutal, but it does pass.   

[NinNic]

It's over 2 weeks since she started walking, can it still be the walking causing sleep regression? Just feels it has beem going on forever. It started long before she started to walk.

Do all go through 18 month sleep regression?? So this is not what we are going through right now?

Do you still think I can push her nap gradually even though not sleeping well for her nap? Just dont want her to wake at 4-5 am when DST begins.

[lauradj]

I'm not sure how DST will shake down for you, our boys don't seem affected by it so far.  My inclination is to suggest you push her nap a bit but I'm basing that only of my own experience and the WU times you've provided.  My DS1 has his nap between 1-3 and he is 25 months old.  Lots of parents do find the 18 month regression goes on the longest.  My son was quite unsettled at that time and it went on for about a month or two and then it all righted itself.  It's pretty brutal in the moment but it's over so quickly.