Need advice with nap and BT for 15 month old

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It sounds like she's coming down with a cold if coughing is waking her. do you think?

I would continue with the set times unless she appears to be really poorly and needs to sleep at a different time.
W2S is disturbing for some, you can try the other method of just slightly disturbing her earlier in the cycle which begins a new sleep cycle.  This is also covered in the same link above.

[NinNic]

Hi again and thanks for advice,

She did have a cold, coughing is better.

She has turned 18 months and it is taking her long to settle specially for nap. She is talking ssaying mummy and daddy a lot and just being wild in bed I have been doing W2S as you suggested.

I've had to wake her for nap twice so BT won't be too late. If she wakes past 2:30 pm she won't fall asleep for 7:15 pm.

Do you think I should keep nap at 12:45 pm and BT 7:15 pm for now even though taking her long to settle? Also do I wake her from nap even though she falls asleep so late to keep BT 7:15 pm?

Feel she is developing a lot so maybe SR?

Fri:
WU 5:28 (think woke from nightmare) tried getting her back to sleep didn’t work
S put to bed 12:16 as woke early fell asleep 12:33-13:54 tried get back to sleep didn’t work
BT put to bed 18:48 fell asleep 19:12

Sat:
WU around 6:55
S put to bed 12:23 bit earlier as swim lesson fell asleep 13:04-15:05 woke her as otherwise BT too late
BT put to bed 18:53 fell asleep 19:44

Sun:
WU 6:43
S put to bed 12:30 had to pat her as crying a lot fell asleep 13:14-14:28
BT put to bed 18:45 fell asleep 19:17

Mon:
WU around 7
S put to bed 12:30 fell asleep 13:01 woke 13:56 got back to sleep 14:01 woke her 14:41 otherwise BT too late
BT put to bed 18:45 fell asleep 19:41

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Looks like you're getting a bit of nap resistance there. Is that how you feel?
How about putting down for nap later, maybe for S at 1.00 - 2.30/3.00 and then later BT, say 7.30/7.45 or even 8pm?  This cuts into her night a little but it looks like she's doing that anyway.
The alternative is to cap her nap by moving it later but still waking her at 2.30 if you think she can cope with a shorter nap - some LOs can, some can't. Mine needed a 2hr nap and a shorter night all the way up to dropping his nap at 2.5yo whilst other LOs will do well with a capped nap (getting shorter and shorter as they get older) and longer night. Really it is down to how she is best rested.

I remember a big language leap at 18 and 21 months.  It does throw sleep off but at the end of it really nice to hear those words, especially mummy and daddy

[NinNic]

Thanks for quick response! 

I dunno so hard to know if she is really tired by time I put her down and she is just going through a period. If I put her down for 1 pm and she still resists nap, what do I do then?

Would really like to keep BT no later than 7:30 pm if possible. She seems ok with nap for 1.5 hr. In that case 1-2:30 pm nap would be ideal.

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I'd try the slightly later nap at 1pm, either she'll still resist and you will know that you have to start wind down much much earlier and let her take her time or she will resist less and be more ready for the nap making the process feel less of a struggle.
You might also try some additional exercise in the morning, some need that to feel tired enough.

If the later nap doesn't work out you can just return to how it was before.

If her nap does need to move later you might need to cap it and as she gets older cap it shorter and shorter (this can be done by putting her down later and waking at the same time) to maintain BT. As I said before some are fine with this, some not so.  Honestly I didn't want DS's BT to be 8pm but the reality of it was much better than a crabby kid all afternoon.  We got into a nice routine where we didn't even notice the later BT until we had to move it early due to nap drop, then it seemed like the evening went too fast!  Everyone does this slightly differently so it's about looking at others experience but also looking at your own LO and family and finding what's right for you

[NinNic]

Thanks for all advice.

Today put her to bed later and she still took long to fall asleep at 13:10. I know she was tired after running around a lot in playground when got home around 12, but still wanted to try put her to bed later as you suggested. She was still talking a lot when put to bed.

Do I just keep nap at 12:45 as this seems to be developmental or even earlier if taking her so long to fall asleep?

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I would do nap at 1pm.

[NinNic]

Just worried she won't be getting enough overall sleep as will be less than 13 hrs, which I don't think is enough for her. Only will she get 13 hrs if she does fall asleep at 1-2:30 pm and at 7:30 pm- 7 am.

Today she ended up sleeping for 1 hr 10 mins so decided to put to bed bit earlier as she seemed tired after short nap, but still fell asleep 7:24 pm.

Should I just stop worrying about her getting less sleep than she needs and taking long to settle?

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After dropping to one nap around 12 months mine briefly did a longer night, say 12 hr, even 13 a few nights but once he settled he was back to his regular 10.5/11hr nights with a 2hr nap so I suppose I don't consider 13hrs sleep in 24 to be too low.

If she resists nap and BT there really isn't a way to make her sleep more.
She's 18 months now which is a time when most experience sleep difficulties, the 18 month regression can be very hard on some.

[NinNic]

Thanks for your advice!

Does this mean that 12.5 hrs sleep in 24 hrs is normally enough?

You mentioned earlier that if nap 1 pm doesn't work I should go back to how was before, how do I know if it's not working?

Thanks for all your help, I really appreciate it!!!

Merry Christmas!!

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how do I know if it's not working?

I think it will be obvious, no?

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

At 18 months we were at roughly 12 hours in 24 with DD3, now down to 11/11.5 so it is entirely possible that is all she needs. Tbh I would just set nap and bed time (and only shift them if something seriously goes off rails - illness, really bad night etc). We can only set the stage for good sleep habits, it is up to the lo whether to sleep or not.

[Haribo2012]

Hi there, i think at this age we were getting an 1.5 hr nap and 13 hour days, so for us day was WU 6/6.30am nap 12.45/1pm and BT 7/7.30pm if it was me it stick to nap a bit later at 1pm and then she might just go straight to sleep and not mess about, then up by 2.30pm and BT 13 hours from WU.

It is a pain age for sleep and we had bad sleep from 16-21 months really with SR, language explosions etc. Just try and stick to a routine as best you can and maybe go with the flow a little as sometimes I think we as mum obssess more than we need to and kids will be ok if sleep is a little short here and there 

[NinNic]

Thank you so much for all you advice! It really does make me a calmer first time mum to know that it is ok and to not obsess about her sleep so much and that it may be a looong period of developments and SR!

I will stick with nap at 1 pm and BT 7:30 pm and see how it goes.

Merry Christmas to you all!!

[Haribo2012]

Merry Christmas to you too, things always go a bit haywire over Xmas too so just try and enjoy it and not worry too much about sleep.
My DS is 3.5 and this morning (my first day off) decides he's full of beans at 5.40am