Dropping the nap

[Han12345]

Hi ladies,

Can anyone send me any info on dropping the day time nap?

We are having real ups and downs at the moment. I’m 25 weeks pregnant and starting to lose my patience. We are having a lot of BT resistance. My Lo is 2.5 years old.

The couple of times she has not napped in the day she then slept well at night but when I did it a few days in a row her BT’s were just as bad. I have since realised she must have been over tired.

We are now confused about what to do. Bed time is harrrrrd work!!!! She’s resisting so bad and I’m losing all patience. She now has terrible bags under her eyes and hasn’t been a very nice child this weekend. What do I do? What’s the best way to handle this?

Our routine is this:

WU: 6/15-6.45
Nap: 1pm (is when I aim for but can be 2 by the time she stops messing around) used to let her have 2 hours, now we are starting just 30 mins in the car or 45 mins in bed.
Bed: 7pm - most nights it’s becoming 8pm/8.30 by the time she finally goes to sleep.

She is a spirited toddler - always knows what she wants and what buttons to press. She would go for days and days if I didn’t work out how she should be sleeping properly.

Please help this hot, stressed, worn out pregnant mama!!

Thank you.

[Haribo2012]

Hi Hun
The nap drops are stressful I know and must be hard being pregnant too in this heat.

Have you tried a super early BT, lots of little ones when nap dropping need a short day 11.5/12 hours max? It might be worth trying a EBT for a couple of nighgvto see if she’s just got herself past it by BT.

Also they have developmental leaps every bday and half bday so you might have some of that thrown in there.

My DS2 is 2.5 and has been nap free for a couple of months and he does WU around 6.30/6.45 BT 6.45/7pm if he has any nap I restrict to 20 mins max of it affects the night.
If he seems really tired after his 3 days in school I often let him have 30 mins and it makes no difference to BT.
Some need no nap for 3/4 days then a quick nap for a day etc.

It’s a tricky transition but I’ve found once you get there the night sleep is better x

[Han12345]

Thanks so much for your reply. You have said what I maybe presumed and that her BT needs to be much earlier. For some reason I just thought she would sleep longer but no that doesn’t work!

I think this is obviously where we have been going wrong and she’s been OT so even harder work for bed.

That’s so interesting about the development leaps too. Thank you. I never knew when they had more leaps after turning 1.

After reading your reply today I asked nursery not to let her sleep or if she needed one then just for 30 mins. She didn’t have a sleep. I’ve managed to get her in bed for 6.45 so she’s had a 12 hour day today and I can’t believe it but she’s fallen asleep in 10 minutes!! 😳. After the night I had with her last night I can’t quite believe it! Praying for a good sleep tonight and we will try another nap free day tomorrow.

Thanks so much for your reply xx

[Haribo2012]

awhh fab update hope she has a good night, hope you have your feet up relaxing xx

[Han12345]

Hi there,

Unfortunately we have now started with EW so she isn’t getting enough sleep? She still seems very tired but is better in herself for having the early BT and no nap. Any ideas?

Last night she was asleep by 6.30 - 5 mins after putting her into bed but she’s been awake since 5.15 (10hrs 45)

The night before she has been up since 5am so I let her nap for 30 mins in the car, got her to bed for 7 but she didn’t sleep till 8.15. Then was up at 6.30 (9hrs 45 - I think?!)

She’s always needed a lot of sleep and if we are in the car in the day she asks if she can have a sleep so she’s really tired.

Any suggestions?

Thanks you x

[Haribo2012]

Hi it’s so tough isn’t it, this transition can take a good while to settle, I’d try 6pm BT if you can just for a night see is she can tack on sleep.
x