Viscious cycle nap and bed

[Chloevalentine]

We got a nap today!! He didn't wake up until 8 this morning fells asleep late at 145 I woke him at 3 not sure what bedtime will look like but the break was nice

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Nice! I was going to ask - is his morning wake up a set time or not?  The trouble once on no nap is there is nowhere to tack on unless they can do ebt or sleep in if they need. We have a bit of flexibilty but our wake times are driven by my work schedule or school drop offs.

[Chloevalentine]

I have been letting him sleep in in the morning. He hasnt napped in days. And he's up today for 13 hours no nap won't go to bed keeps putting light on going into another room calling for us. It's been 1 hour since I put him to bed and he's still up.  Could this be ot? I can't handle a 13 hour day with no nap. It's way too long for a 2.5 year old!

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Depends on the 2.5 year old   We have had 13 hr days as the norm since before age 2!

Have you tried sitting right at the door and walking him straight back to bed when he goes for the light? Is he tall enough to reach it on his own? We actually emptied DD1's room of everything but her mattress, potty and a few stuffies at this age (and when DD3 goes to a BGB I can see doing the same thing!!)

[Chloevalentine]

He's as tall as a 4 year old ! lol. 13 hour days with no nap don't work here though. He's a zombie all afternoon and he has about 25 tantrums it's awful. The more days go by without a nap and less than 12 hours night sleep the worse his behavior is!

[Chloevalentine]

Now we are getting nws which we've never had before!! I'm assuming it's from dropping the nap and being ot.

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Yes it might be building up over a few days. Not a lot you can do other than keep offering the nap and hopefully every few days he will take a catch up nap! How is he settling during the nw's?

[Chloevalentine]

He does settle right back during the nws. I haven't even been offering the nap because bedtime was getting to be such a struggle (although he does give us a hard time lately without a nap too)  He does seem to get tired and ask for a nap around 2-3 but it's just too late.  Afternoons are rough though he's tired and having a lot of whining tantrums. He's also sleeping late in the morning (today 830)! because he's catching up. I'm just at a loss as what to do. He really needs a little nap I think but I just don't know how. I'm still going to try for 730 bedtime tonight.

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

What about a 10/15 min catnap when he is asking for a nap?

[Chloevalentine]

It's just too hard waking him he is miserable! I was aiming for a 12 hour day which he normally does fine but lately he's awful by 6!

[Chloevalentine]

I'm going to maybe try a later nap around 2 and maybe wake him after 45 mins? Not sure how that will go but I really don't think he's ready for no nap and it's really been affecting his eating and behavior.

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Worth a shot...might need to be a tad shorter to keep bedtime reasonable but sounds like a good starting point!

[Chloevalentine]

He just has no interest in a nap these days no matter what time. Maybe it will change back I hope. He's been waking around 8 and going to bed around 730. Although some nights it's constant getting out of bed putting his light on opening the door calling for us!! It's insane how a 2.5 year old can go from a 13 hour day with an 1.5 nap to sometimes a 13 hour day with no nap. I'm still not convinced the nap is through

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

We went from a 45 min nap to no nap so it is possible! He may just be in a sleep regression phase and go back to napping but tbh he sounds lower sleeps needs and may just gradually adjust to no nap (it will get better, eventually he will be able to cope!!)

[Chloevalentine]

One more thing is that ever since he dropped the nap we have a lot of nights where he wakes a few times during the night and it's getting to be more often. Last night he went to bed ok at 730 but was up pretty much every hour from 1 am until 630 am!! Either crying but not really awake or looking for his bunny then around 3 he was up talking and playing and had his light on then up two more times crying. Not sure why he's waking. He's never woken during the night until he stopped napping.