19 month old/should I push nap time back?

[trishr]

For the last year my daughter has had various reasons for sleep disturbance including periods of chronic ear infections. Over time I believe she has gotten very comfortable with us coming in to help her settle. We only have to put blanket on her and sometimes offer ps if her but it can be as many as 19 times a night. We are currently in one of those phases. She wakes between 7:30-8:00 and nap time is at noon, bed time st 7:15. My hope is if she is tired enough to sleep through the night several nights in a row that we can break the habit. Is there a recommendation to either move nap back or later in day to help with that? She is waking within the first hour or two of falling asleep. She goes down easy for nap and sleeps well. 1.5 hours st daycare st 2+ at home. Also goes down for night easy.  The only thing problem we have is that whenever she wakes up in the night, and for whatever reason, teething, sick, etc., she’s in a habit of wanting our help. She is a mix of touchy and spirited child as well so I think that is adding to the challenge.  Any advice is super welcome.


TIA!!

[*Ali*]

Hi,

Wow, 19 wakings, that is a lot. When you say she needs your help, what do you mean exactly? Are you feeding her back to sleep? rocking etc. or what do you mean by PS? Where does she sleep? In her own bed/room or in with you?

Does she have any allergies or reflux? Is she definitely clear of ear infection now and do you know what the cause of her recurrent infections is?

You seem to have a pretty set routine. Do you go by the clock or are you watching LO for sleepy cues? Does she seem tired at BT? Does she fall asleep independently at bedtime or does she need you there? She seems to be doing both a very long night and long nap so my first thought would be that she is UT but is that because she spends a lot of the time awake at night do you think? Does she wake rested in the morning or grizzly and OT?

Sorry, for all the questions, just trying to get a better picture of what is going on.

[trishr]

Hi there,

No problem I just appreciate you responding. First let me start by saying that should’ve said 10 times a night – LOL. I am really sorry the 9 and 0 are next to each other and I was typing this in between one of the wakings and was obviously pretty loopy myself. PS also was an accidental auto correcet and should have said pacifier. Ok with that confession out-of-the-way, 10 times still probably a lot so let me see if I can give a little more info. She is definitely out of the sick phase. I only try to work on her routine when she is definitely not sick. We’ve been to the doctor several times the last week for various suspicions and nothing has been wrong so I’m feeling really confident she is clear of any illness. She sleeps in her own room in her own bed. She stopped breast-feeding on her own about 3 1/2 weeks ago. She hasn’t wanted me to breast-feed  at night for a really long time. When she wants us to come in and help her all she’s really wanting us to do is come in and tuck her back in. It’s a habit she has gotten used to. Not positive that she can pull her own blanket back up but she doesn’t try either. When she wakes for whatever reason it mostly because she wants us to come in and tuck her back in and tell her night night again. She’s definitely tired when she goes to sleep at night. I almost suspect sometimes overtired. She falls asleep right away but generally wakes up about 40 to 60 minutes into her sleep. She has no reflux and no allergies. In the morning she wakes up happy and ready to see us all. It is very peculiar since she has not really slept well all night. That’s what is making me think maybe I should push her nap time later into the day. Or cut it shorter? She has no reflux and no allergies. In the morning she wakes up happy and ready to see us all. It is very peculiar since she has not really slept all night. That’s what is making me think maybe I should push her nap time later into the day. It seems like she wouldn’t be waking up as much at night if she was tired enough to sleep all the way through the night without letting things disturb her and wake her. But I also know sometimes it can work the complete opposite way and they actually need more sleep to correct that. I just can’t see outside my own situation to see which way I should go.  We do stick to the schedule but also watch her cues. Generally she is tired at the scheduled time. But if she is tired earlier in the day and I am home with her I definitely put her down. Daycare unfortunately sticks strictly to the scheduled nap time since They have so many kids. Conversely if I’m home with her and she has slept extra late or seems not tired for some reason I will allow a small 15 or so window and put her down a tiny bit later. I hope that answered everything and can provide you a bit more information. I am definitely ready to see her sleep through the night😊
😊😊

[*Ali*]

Ah ok. My DS2 went through a little phase of waking for help with the quilt.  What worked for us was working on him learning to cover himself up during the daytime. You could try the same thing with the blanket and the paci. Do you think losing the paci might be what's waking her so often? Perhaps consider weaning it If encouraging her to replug herself doesn't work.

If she's at nursery in the day then the numerous night wakings could be a chance for her to reconnect with you and make up for the lost time  a bit like when babies reverse cycle. Do you get to spend much quality time together in the evenings on work days? Maybe extending the time you spend winding down and just sitting or lying together right before bedtime would help fill her cup.