2 year old needs a routine change

[tathi-b]

Hello everyone,

I've been posting here since my daughter was a couple of months old when we started getting her on the EASY routine and so far it has been a success.  We are at a point where I think that her routine might need a little tweak though.  It currently looks a little like this -

6am - wake up
7am - breakfast followed by school
10:30 - snack

1pm lunch - home from school and lunch

2pm - nap (I pushed this to 2pm a few days ago.  Before she was going at 1:30)

3:15/30 - I have to wake her up and it takes AGES and I am left with a very grumpy girl

5:30/ 6pm - dinner

7pm - bath

7:30 - bed but she doesn't sleep until 8 ish and is generally happy to stay on her own

I feel that she isn't sleeping enough at night.  This 6am wake up call started about a month ago (she used to wake up around 7 before) and I thought it was a growth spurt, but it's not gone away and she seems to be waking up earlier and earlier... 

Help please???

[Lindsay27]

I have 2 thoughts on this and it really could go either way, but you know your LO best.  I would say my DD is on the higher end of sleep needs so that’s my preface to this comment, but my first thought is that she could be OT?  I wonder if you let her sleep a bit longer for nap if it would help? Would maybe end up pushing BT out though.  On the other hand it could be the total opposite and she could be dropping her nap even more.  It wouldn’t be uncommon.  Does she tend to be lower sleep needs?

[tathi-b]

She has always been a high sleep needs child and always on the clock.  It crossed my mind that she could be OT as well, but I worry that if I push her bed time any further it will completely mess the house schedule as well as her own. My 8 year old goes to bed at the same time and sleeps like a log!

Yesterday she didn't nap at all, we had to go out in the afternoon and she didn't drop off in the car.  By bed time she was really OT, had a little meltdown but quickly recovered and did bath and bed time routine like a star.  She slept well through the night and woke up well at 6am this morning.  It contradicts all my first instincts - given that she normally sleeps so well in the afternoon but I wonder if this is a preamble to dropping the nap? 

[Conniesmummy]

I won’t be any help but I’m going through the exact same with my LG. I am trying to reduce the nap to see if that helps but to be fair I don’t think anything I’m trying is working at the minute and we fluctuate from happy child to ot monster and back again 

[tathi-b]

My husband yesterday mentioned that he thinks that the last half hour is when it all collapses.  She slept from 1 - 3pm and woke up happy so I might try a slightly earlier bed time tonight and see how we get on.  I'll let you know if that works. 

[Conniesmummy]

Please do. We woke ours after 45 mins nap so going for a slightly earlier bedtime. I’m convinced we may be waking early due to having a wet pull up so she’s going back in nappy pants tonight. I do encourage her to use the potty but it’s not happening at the minute. We can do dry nights and have even been known to get up, use the potty and go back to sleep but it’s all a bit off right now. Not sure whether it could be to do with daddy coming home after 3 months away working x

[*Ali*]

 What made you push the nap later? How long was she sleeping at the earlier time?

[tathi-b]

I pushed the nap later to accommodate for a full school day which ends at 1 pm; this way she could stay for the play activity between 12:15 and 1 pm.  But that didn't really work for us so we are back to collecting her at 12:30 with a quick lunch and straight to bed and on the whole we have to wake her up at 2 hours.  Over the last week she has been sleeping 1 pm - 3 pm and then going to bed at 7 pm.  Most days she is asleep by 7:30  and the wake up in the morning is closer to 6am.  I still feel that she is very tired, especially in the afternoons and that 2 hours sleep in the afternoon is a pretty long nap (not that mummy is complaining about a sleeping toddler!)

I agree with Conniesmummy that the wetness could be waking her up and daddy coming back after a while is also going to have an impact on here.  Even the erratic wake ups could be due to the change no? 

What I am thinking of doing is a slow transition - reduce her nap time by 5 minutes every few days until hopefully we start seeing more morning sleep.  Does that make sense?

[*Ali*]

The trick to making her not so grumpy on wake up could be to find a time when she is not in a very deep sleep. Maybe changing by 5 minutes would help you do this. Also bear in mind that their sleep is in 45 minute cycles so 1.5hrs might be a good time.