Author Topic: Trying to get a 15 month-old back on track  (Read 2000 times)

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Offline Pigeon

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Trying to get a 15 month-old back on track
« on: August 06, 2005, 12:35:36 pm »
Hi,
Our 15 month old daughter has had the same daytime napping routine for months now. She wakes between 6.30 and 7, then goes back to bed somewhere between 9 am and 9.30 for half an hour. After lunch she has her long nap from either 12.30 or 1 for anything between one hour and two hours. That's it for the day then, so more often than not she's awake from 2.30 or 3 until between 6.45 and 7 pm, when she goes to bed for the night.  She settles fantastically well and sleeps really well all night long ( :lol: ), I know!
HOWEVER, over the last month or so, it has become much more of a struggle to settle her for her daytime naps. If I put her down at 9.30 its much more like 10 before she sleeps (for half an hour). I then try and put her down at 1.30 ish, but again, its more like 1.45 or 2 before she goes to sleep and ONLY FOR HALF AN HOUR.  :evil:
So that's a total of only one hour's sleep a day......
 :idea: I thought - she must be ready to drop her morning nap, so to test this theory out we decided to keep her up this morning and put her down to sleep at 12.15 (she was dropping with tiredness). I'm writing this now because she only had 50 mins sleep, woke at 1.05, screaming, and has been unable to settle herself back.  So now we are left with a little girl who a) has only had 50 mins sleep today and b) has to go the longest she's ever been without a nap until bedtime (1.05 -7).  How will this affect her night's sleep?
I feel so silly, because we've been so good with her routine for most of her life, and now it feels like its falling apart. Any idea's about how I can get her back on track?  My happy-go-lucky little baby is turning into a grumpy, tired little girl...... :(
Laura
ps: When she goes to her childminder's two days a week, she will sleep after lunch for 2 hours, without fail (+ a morning nap) - just to rub salt into the wounds....
Laura, studying SAHM of
Megan Isabelle - April 2004
William Harvey (Billy) - March 2007

Offline Neal

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Trying to get a 15 month-old back on track
« Reply #1 on: August 07, 2005, 00:14:55 am »
What's going on at her babysitter's that's letting her sleep there more than at your house?  Maybe you could see what happens there and try to copy that at your house.  Did that make sense?   :lol:

I know the problem you're having.  My 13 month old son is now down to one nap a day...sigh....He started pitching a fit during his afternoon nap and never again has he napped after 3pm.

He wakes up between 7 and 8 and I try to hold him off his nap until as late as possible.  I'll give him a snack about 20 mintues before putting him to bed.  Yogurt, most of the time.  Usually he goes down between 11 and 12 and sleeps for a good 2 hours, since he's not hungry during prime lunch time, and feed him lunch right after he wakes up.

Then comes the long haul...I found out that if I feed him dinner at 6 and get him in the tub between 7 and 7:15, it gives us the perfect timing for an easy bedtime between 7:45 and 8.

I have no clue if this will help, but that's my schedule with my son.  Don't try and get rid of the nap.  They need a nap for a few years!

See if you can adjust her wake up time, if you can.  The later they sleep in the morning, the better time for nap without making them exhausted and a total emotional mess towards dinner time.

Good Luck with everything!

Offline Pigeon

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« Reply #2 on: August 07, 2005, 08:11:22 am »
Ok, so last night was as I feared, a totally overtired little girl went straight to sleep, woke and cried at 9, midnight, 4 (although put herself back to sleep) and then woke at 6 and wouldn't go back to sleep.  So we've had to put her to bed this morning at 9 - talk about viscious circle! 
I don't know what's happening at the childminder's, although I guess maybe there is more happening than at home (other children etc). Plus, there is no baby monitor on downstairs, so the childminder presumes M is asleep unless there is screaming, I guess...(whereas I hear every thumb-suck on our monitor!)
Maybe someone is telling me to ditch the thing!
I have thought about the 11am-1 nap idea, but to be honest, it really wouldn't fit in with our daily life (or that of the childminder)...
I would LOVE to get her to sleep later in the morning, but we've been trying for about 6 months and no joy.  Unfortunately, 7 is the time my husband has to get up on a weekday (and us too, when she goes to the childminder).....
Laura, studying SAHM of
Megan Isabelle - April 2004
William Harvey (Billy) - March 2007

Offline Carmela's Mom

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« Reply #3 on: August 07, 2005, 11:01:37 am »
I am so sorry if I'm repeating someone else, but I haven't read the replies yet.  We JUST went through this with our DD....She is almost 16 months old as well and she just transitioned to one nap in early July.  Instead of just pushing her nap to 12, we had to gradually move it.  We started at 10 since that's when her first nap was going.  She would only sleep for an hour.  So then I'd put her in her crib at 3:30 and sometimes she'd sleep, sometimes she didn't, but I kept her in there for 1/2 hour if no sleep and 1 hour if she was sleeping.  Then I woke her at 4:30 each day if she slept and put her to bed again at 7:30 that night. If she didn't sleep at the second nap, then she went to bed at 6:30!   We did that for a few days and then I pushed it back to 10:30....that only lasted I think two days and then we went to 11:00...now when she finally got to 11, she slept 2 hours and I stopped trying for the afternoon nap as she wouldn't get as cranky at night.  We then did 11:30 and now we're at 12:15.....I'm aiming for 12:30....and her naps are anywhere from 1.5 hours to 2.5 hours long....but the 1.5 hour naps are not enough for her and she wakes up tired :(



Offline Carmela's Mom

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« Reply #4 on: August 07, 2005, 11:04:02 am »
I just wanted to add also that it is quite common when transitioning for one day them to need one nap and the next two.  It's a very frustrating time but in the end its perfect when you get them where you want them :)



Offline Pigeon

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« Reply #5 on: August 08, 2005, 08:08:32 am »
Thanks Carmela's Mom, that's really reassuring to hear!   :lol: That's what IS so frustrating, because it feels like she's not in a routine at all at the moment - two days running she'll have a 9 am nap, then it might be 10 and half an hour mid-afternoon..
Am hoping this "transition" phase won't last too much longer..Is it just me or is anyone else just in desperate need of that hour (at least) of "sit-down-in-peace-and-eat-your-lunch" time in the middle of day.....?! :?
Laura, studying SAHM of
Megan Isabelle - April 2004
William Harvey (Billy) - March 2007

Offline SandyGal

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« Reply #6 on: August 09, 2005, 00:50:23 am »
Just to let you know... she will settle into a routine again. The transition just takes a little while. With dd it took about three weeks. Trust yourself and follow her cues. Dd would do two days with one nap and would then need a two nap day to recover. Her afternoon nap gradually increased to about 1.5 hours and then to about an 1:45. She still has phases though, teething seems to shorten her naps. She wakes up crying instead of happy, but I just stick to the routine and eventually it rights itself when she is feeling better. She usually will have some two hour naps while recovering from those phases. Anything less than 1.5 is what I consider short for her because her mood is so different. Hang in there... you will settle in again  :D
Sandy-Mom to Kyra (1-7-04) and Kylan (9-20-05)


Offline Pigeon

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« Reply #7 on: August 16, 2005, 13:19:43 pm »
Hi again
Well, I've decided to stop trying to "force" the one nap a day thing, she is back in her old routine of half an hour in the am and an hour or so after lunch. :lol:   I think actually me messing around with her routine was one of the problems! (She's a TEXTBOOK toddler if ever there was one!)  :oops: Whoops!
Laura, studying SAHM of
Megan Isabelle - April 2004
William Harvey (Billy) - March 2007