Need advice with nap and BT for 15 month old

[NinNic]

Thanks for quick reply! 

Yesterday her day looked like this:
WU 5:54 tried to get her back to sleep didn't work
S 12:32-13:46 no point to get her back to sleep as going to swim class
BT put her to bed at 18:25 as she had short nap fell asleep 18:47

She woke this morning at 6:20 (still early but maybe because BT was earlier last night). She was playing and saying mummy and daddy all the time for nap time. She was still awake at 12:56 pm so I went in and pat her and she fell asleep at 13:00 woke again 13:36 got her back to sleep 13:40 woke 14:32. Guess I should just wait and see what happens for a few days, what do you think?

[creations]

Hmmm, sounds a bit OT but it could be as a result of her swim class and needing a day to catch up with her routine.

[NinNic]

Hi again and thanks for your reply! 

I'm kind of confused and fed up with my LO´s nap. For a long time as mentioned before she is not sleeping full nap and also taking long to settle. Now I can't even get her back to sleep when she normally wakes after 1.25 hrs. She just does not want to sleep. I do feel she is not gettting enough sleep. She is a bit grumpy and fussy but think mainly because of teething but might also be because OT but not sure. In all she is now usually under 13 hrs per 24 hrs.

This week she did sleep 1.5 hrs for 2 days, which hasn't happened for long time, but then back to shorter naps again. Nothing is consistent with her I just don't get it! She is also taking long to settle at BT, maybe because she is OT? I do put her to bed earlier for BT when she doesn't take full nap but still doesn't fall asleep earlier, which means she doens't really tack on with lost sleep during the day at night.

I feel when she wakes earlier than 7 am she goes down for nap easier, but like today when she actually woke around 7 am it takes too long for her to settle. Is she not tired enough for nap maybe so that it needs to be pushed? I know she is not consistent in waking early, but maybe she is sleeping a bit longer in morning as she hasn't slept her full nap instead of showing sign of waking earlier?

Today when she fell asleep 12:58 pm (6 hrs A) she slept full nap and woke at 14:30!

Do you still think I should leave her nap at 12:30 pm? She will only have 2 more swim lessons at 2:20 pm, last one in 10 days.

I have posted last days of EASY below.

Sun:
WU 6:40
S 12:22-13:41 tried get back to sleep didn’t work
BT 19:20 put to bed 18:35 as didn’t sleep full nap still took long to fall asleep

Mon:
WU around 6:30
S 12:44-14:14 (took 25 mins to fall asleep) first time in very long time slept for 1.5 hrs without waking!!
BT 19:25 put to bed 18:58
Woke 1:45 am crying a bit fell back asleep after about 10 mins

Tues:
WU 6:55
S 12:33-14:01 (took 14 mins to fall asleep)
BT 19:42 put to bed 18:57

Wed:
WU 6:05 tried to get back to sleep didn’t work
S 12:32-13:49 (tried to get back to sleep didn’t work)
BT 19:14 put to bed 18:29 as didn’t sleep full nap still took long to fall asleep

Thu:
Heard her 6:15 fell back to sleep
WU around 7
S 12:58-14:30 put to bed 12:21 was playing and talking etc finally went in 12:54 and got her to sleep

[creations]

How old is she now?

I think I would just move nap 10-15 mins later (so set at 12.45 rather than 12.30) and keep BT at a set time rather than changing it each night. I'd only bring BT forward a little if the nap is substantially shorter.

[NinNic]

Thanks for quick reply!

She is 17.5 months now.

Seems like she does good with 5 hr A after 1.5 hr nap. Not sure if I should aim for 7 or 7:30 pm BT. Maybe 7:15 pm if she has nap at 12:45 pm for 1.5 hrs?

Is 1.25 or 1.5 hr nap ok at her age? Just seems that so many do at least 2 hr naps.

[creations]

I tend to just expect LOs who have always done 1.5hr naps to continue with that and those who have done 2hr naps to continue with that.  Their sleep cycle length has changed by this age though. I am always amazed by LOs who can do a 3hr nap!

Maybe 7:15 pm if she has nap at 12:45 pm for 1.5 hrs?

Sounds like a good plan. I would just set it at 7.15 and see how it pans out over time. For LOs to settle into set naps or set BT they do need time to get used to it. if it turns out after time that WU is too early you could try to move the whole day on by 15-30 mins for example.

[NinNic]

Thanks for your advice!

How do their sleep cycle change by this age?

Does it take much more than a month to settle in to set nap and BT? She has had set nap at 12:30 for over a month now, but still wakes early from nap.

Wouuld nap under 1 hr be considered short nap?

[creations]

Usually 1 hr would not be enough at this age, but there are always exceptions!
Setting BT may help with both the nap length and night length. The key is for LO to learn when sleeps come so she can start to self regulate how long she sleeps for.

How much over night sleep is she getting now?

How do their sleep cycle change by this age?

Babies have a cycle of (usually) 40 mins but by about 12 months the cycle length has lengthened to that similar to an adult.  If you often see her wake at 1hr she may now have a 1 hr sleep cycle and not transitioning for some reason...could be a little UT.

[NinNic]

Usually overnight 11.25-11.5 hrs sllep.

Normally she wakes after 1.25 hrs for nap. Can this be OT as well?

[creations]

That's a pretty good night length, longer than mine did.
It could well be that the night plus 1.25 nap is enough for her - does she seem happy on it?
I mean it's quite low for total sleep but some LOs are just like that and IME it's better to accept if they are doing well on it or you'll drive yourself nuts trying to find extra sleep for her that she doesn't want or need.

Of course if you feel she is not doing well on it then that different.

Normally she wakes after 1.25 hrs for nap. Can this be OT as well?

Well, I can't say for sure but I would have though more likely UT than OT.  The set BT may help.

[NinNic]

What is usual sleep per 24 hours for her age?

I think 1.25 hrs is def on the low side, I would say 1.5 hrs is minimum for her, but I just don't understand why she can't sleep 1.5 hrs or more without waking up!? Specially now that we have been doing set nap and BT for a while.

She has been waking at night lately again, can be teething or SR don't know anymore, maybe I should just stop investigating as it's draining as it is! She is def moody this morning. Slept 1 hr 10 mins yesterday for nap and didn't have time to resettle as we needed to get to swim class. Slept at 7 pm but woke shortly around 11 pm, but resettled then woke around 5 am I had to resettle, which took a while so in all not enough sleep.

Shall I keep trying to resettle when she wakes early from nap as I don't think nap is long enough?

[creations]

BT doesn't look like a set time. In your EASY it seems to range from 6.30 ish to 7 ish to 7.30 ish. On a set BT you would put to bed at the same time every day.
You might find that the routine settles more after the swim classes have finished, having one day per week where nap/routine is different doesn't bother some LOs but for others it give enough inconsistency for them to be unable to get into a steady routine.
If she needs a slightly later nap time to help her transition into another cycle and get a longer nap then this creates more inconsistency when it comes to swim day.

Rather than trying to resettle from the broken nap I'd try a W2S to catch her before she fully wakes, and a slightly later nap time.

[NinNic]

Thanks for quick reply!

Do you suggest nap at 12:45 pm and BT 7:15 pm for now as you suggested even with 1.25 hr nap?

How do I do W2S?

[creations]

Do you suggest nap at 12:45 pm and BT 7:15 pm for now as you suggested even with 1.25 hr nap?

Yes, you'd just start somewhere and stick with it until she settles into it.  If it turns out not to be suitable you would tweak the set times. This means moving them but then sticking with them again, set times do and can change over time but not daily or weekly the way A times change.  It's very hard to judge where a tweak is needed until you've been on set times for a decent length of time.

How do I address habitual wakings? (wake-to-sleep and other methods)
if you need more help with W2S let me know.  The time you go in can be adapted to your LOs usual WU time, I'd suggest the option 1 on naps first and maybe at around the 1hr mark or just before to catch her before she fully wakes.

[NinNic]

Thanks for advice!

So yesterday it took her long to settle for nap, fell asleep 12:56 then woke after 30 mins so couldn't do W2S. Today I did W2S patting her after about 1 hr but she woke after 1 hr 8 mins and when finally got her back to sleep she woke after 3 mins when she started coughing then no luck getting back to sleep. She has started coughing a lot today.

Do I continue with W2S or might it be disturbing her waking her instead?

Broken naps have been going on for over 6 months now, since around June. I'm really wondering why.