Why do they talk to themselves for so long???

[Carmela's Mom]

Ok Carmela has always been one to talk to herself for a few minutes before going to sleep...10 minutes was typical.  But now with all this not sleeping, I would think she'd be so exhausted and just go to sleep...but nope she talks MORE now.  She talks for an average of 45 mins before going to sleep!

Also, when picking a bedtime should I keep in mind the talking?  Or set it despite the talking?  Right now she is waking at 5:30 a.m.  I am going on a strict routine of nap at 12 and bedtime at 7...or should I make it 6:30 because of the talking she does?

Carmela is 16 months old if that helps.

[GraceKellysmom]

Uuuugggg, Grace does this too and it drives me bonkers because she wakes up her brother.  :shock:  :roll:

I would try to allow for 11-12 hours of sleep per night, and try to get her to nap for 1-2 hours during the day. At 16 months, my dd woke at 8 am, napped from 1-3, and went to bed at 8.

Does she just wake at 5:30 and want to be up for the day, or is this what your schedule requires? That is SO early! My kids are up at 6:30 these days (because the cows are out to pasture and they MOOOOOO every darn morning at 6:30) and that is too early! Could you slowly work that bed time later and she would wake later?

PS We had horrible night wakings around 14-16 months because of teething. But she did sleep again, there is hope!

[JBD]

I don't have experience in this area... what I have heard or read is don't change the bedtime...  you child just needs that time to settle herself/himself.   Or if you do change the timeframe... I would start with 5 minutes and getting pushing it back.  a 1/2 might screw things up or to dramatic at first.... start small and see if it makes a difference.

[sacmommy]

I also have this problem... my dd is talking, etc. for up to 2 hrs, and often (maybe 2 x per week) won't take her nap. She's only 19 months so I hate to have her miss, but at the same time I don't want to go in and force her to sleep... really afraid of starting any bad sleep habits (other than the talking one that's already there!)

I also would appreciate any advice out there.

[clonien]

My son is the same way, he talks and laughs and does everything but sleep. He wakes between 6:30 -7:30, naps from 12-2 (give or take depending on the morning) and is in bed BY 7pm...no exceptions. Somedays he just talks through naps or even for an hour or two after we put him to bed, even when he is very tired. We have found out, after spying on him, that he is laying down the whole time he chit chats and so we let him. He always falls asleep and somehow manages to get enough sleep. It's just bothersome when you know your child is tired...we're going to transition him to a big boy bed soon since he can climb out of his crib...so we'll see how this talking thing goes then...I may not be so laid back about it anymore. :lol:  And if anyone has any tips on how to keep a kid in bed once there are no walls, please let me know.

[sacmommy]

To Chrissy: I would absolutely recommend staying with the crib, having gone through this before. I would buy a crib tent (goes over the crib, then you zipper them in once you put them down). Eventually your ds will figure out how to unzipper it, but it'll take awhile I think.

Once we transitioned my son to a regular bed at 2 1/2 he pretty much failed at naps and bedtime for a long time, and never went back to regular naps. We now have "sleep rules" for him (now 4), we he gets rewarded for staying in bed, but he still gets up sometimes (this is only at night, naps are a distant memory). In the worst times, he got up something like 84 times before going to sleep!!!

So if your son is talking and not sleeping, he may be heading down that path, and I wouldn't encourage it by giving him the freedom of a big bed.

Last thought - if you're determined to transition to bed, put gates at his door, so he can't get out of his room, but can still communicate with the world outside of his room.

LOL