Viscious cycle nap and bed

[Kellyjs]

Fwiw mine only sleeps 11hrs in 24! Xx

[Chloevalentine]

Last night he did closer to 12 no nws. So we are getting there. But even will it stop effecting his behavior personality and eating?!

[Kellyjs]

Have you had the 2yo molars? Mine has a dramatic change in behaviour when teething xx

[Chloevalentine]

He's got them 😕

[jessmum46]

I know this is stressing you out hun but I can't say enough times how normal this all is for the nap-dropping phase.  In my experience kids do go through phases where they *need* more sleep than they are getting but just can't until things settle down.  You do unfortunately need to ride it out and accept things won't be fixed in a day, nor will the same 'input' (nap vs no nap vs length) equal the same 'output' (NWs/EWs/night length) every day.  It just doesn't work like that. 

Can I ask - you've been pretty resistant to the idea of trying a quick catnap and just wondering why?  It really did help here.  We didn't wake in the morning, did a set nap attempt in bed, gave it 45 mins to an hour and got her up if no nap.  Then did a quick car catnap around 3 ish for no more than 20 mins if needed.  BT was 6.30 if no nap and 7 if she napped.  At some point you need to hand it over to these LOs to regulate themselves yk? 

DD was nap dropping here and there from 22 months and all dropped by 29 months if it makes you feel better about his age.  And yes there were NWs but it goes with the territory

[Chloevalentine]

I was just concerned that any late nap might cause bedtime resistance which is why we dropped the nap in the first place. I not always able to go for a ride at 3 and the few times ive tried he stayed awake! I just feel bad that he's suffering. He's so tired and cranky at night that he hasn't even eaten a good dinner in weeks and he sometimes unravels by bedtime all upset crying delirious. It's just awful. I'd rather him just take a short nap at home but it's usually a lot of work and time trying to get him to fall asleep then to wake at 20 mins sounds crazy. I have some friends that do a 1-2 hr nap around 230 and still have bedtime at 830. Guess I would need to try it to see. But my lo just normally refuses and nap (that's the problem ) because he clearly can't handle it yet and afternoons are a mess!

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Why not move his dinner earlier for now? Or serve him his "dinner" type meal at lunch instead? Many kods go through this where they just are tired and cannot focus on eating (plus may have already eaten enough through the day that they are not truly hungry anyways).

I would really wonder how the children of your friends sleep overnight...and even if they say they sttn I woud not put a lot of stock in it. Sometimes people are not totally honest when it comes to those things or their idea of sttn is not the same as ours!

[Chloevalentine]

Lol you are right! Yes he's been eating a good breakfast and lunch and if he only eats yogurt abs fruit at dinner it's not a big deal. The meltdowns and tantrums are awful though. Yesterday he had a meltdown at 4 pm ( the witching hour lately he's exhausted by then) and it lasted for over 30 mins! Then we had to go out and he stayed awake the ride going and coming! Lol. I'm going to try this week for catnaps in the car again although I haven't had any luck or I'm going to put him to bed earlier. Last night he went down at 730 up today at 630 going to do bedtime at 7 and hope he sleeps later in the morning. Because his afternoon behavior is just awful.

[Chloevalentine]

How is he up for 13 hours straight non stop?! It's crazy !

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Lol you are preaching to the choir  Seems crazy though compared to other average/high sleep needs kids but not for lower sleep needs. I think either you will get the catnap and easier afternoons or in a couple months time he will adjust to no naps as be able to power through the whole day. As Tracy says in the books "this too shall pass" and in hindsight it is amazing how fast it seems once you are through it!

[Chloevalentine]

Thanks so much ! I've tried a catnap at all different times and he just won't fall asleep lol. Is a 12 hour day typical for this age with no nap? I've been trying to keep it around that but once in a while it's been 13+ hours and he's still messing around in his room.

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Yk I don't even know what typical is lol! I think most kids do a shorter day on no nap at first. I honestly don't remember what DD1 & DD2 did - I don't remember them ever doing ebt so probably a 12 day I think.

[Chloevalentine]

We haven't had a nap in over a month and for the most part stick to a 12 hour day. But ever since he stopped napping he started waking at night. Every night he wakes up usually at 11 3-4 hours after he falls asleep and sometimes again around 2am. It's getting so exhausting. And I'm not sure why he's waking. Last night he was crying so I went in everything I tried to leave room he would start crying again. Why do los at 2.5 who have never woken at night before start waking?

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

That is the age my two neurotypical kids developed fears - so being afraid of the dark, having bad dreams, realizing mommy was not there when they woke etc. Also prime time for a growth spurt (growing pains?) and other development leading to wake ups. Plus kids are just unpredictable at the best of times!