25 month sleep please help!!!

[Ahickie]

My beautiful daughter is a nightmare with her sleep and i have never seemed to get in a good pattern. She wake between 5.30 and 6.30 super early for me (im sure its my neighbours that wake her as we can here every door opening and closing as they slam them and them running up the stair). She has a nap anytime between 12.30 and 1.30 up no later than 3. She then goes to bed at 7.30 but can take upto an hour to fall asleep!!! I cant read her tired signs all i know is that she gets very hyper if i miss them even though i swear she hasnt got any!!! I feel lost with knowing what to do!! I feel like im getting it wrong!!!

[jessmum46]

Hi there, and welcome to the boards.  I hope we can help you   Is this a new issue for her or is this how things have been for a while? 

A few questions - How does your little one fall asleep?  Is her nap usually closer to 2-2.5h or more like 1.5h?  It may be she needs a slightly shorter nap (and possibly later) but a bit more info about how and where she sleeps will help us.  How do you respond when she wakes early?

Thanks and will look out for your answer

[Ahickie]

Thank you for replying jessmum46.

She usually naps for 1.5 to 2 hours a day.
She sleeps in her cot with black out blinds and an ewan the sheep. She does have 2 dunmies and uses them as a comfort thing ie rubs her eye with one whilst sucking the other but usually falls asleep without it in. She is also on hr own when going to sleep. No fussing or crying just lots of rolling around. I cant get her to sleep anywhere other than her cot. Sometime the car if it is late enough and the car ride is long enough.
When she wakes I leave her to resettle but 9 times out of 10 she doesnt go back off!!! She is a very alert toddler and has never jus fallen asleep out of her cot even when she misses a nap.
This issue has been going on for about 4 months now maybe 5!!!

Thank you again for your response 

[jessmum46]

There are two options here - one is that you could well be putting her in bed too late and missing her sleep window, and an earlier bedtime may help.  5.30am-7.30pm is a very long day, and if she's not setting until closer to 8.30pm then she'd really quite low on overall sleep.  Have you ever tried a bedtime closer to 6.30/7pm?

The alternative is that she is very low sleep needs.  I would be hesitant to assume this as many people assume this is the case when in fact their child needs a lot more sleep, not less.  But if earlier bedtime makes things worse and/or you get a lot of resistance to it (more so than usual) then you could try cutting her nap to 1h30 consistently for a week or so, then shave off 15 mins per week until you see some effect on her nights (quicker settling or a later morning).

What do you do with her when she wakes at 5.30?  Does she have a gro clock or similar to teach her to stay in bed?