Schedule help!

[Carmela's Mom]

I really need help....

Carmela wakes up between 5:45-7 each morning. When she wakes anywhere from 5:45-6:30 she is a CRANK. Her entire morning stinks and by the time 12 rolls around she's an overtired mess and then doesn't nap well and you get the picture  If I put her in at 11:00 on those days, it's the same...she talks and talks until I go in at noon and put her to sleep....(at 12 she will go in right away either way)..... If she sleeps until 6:30-7 a.m. she is a happy little girl and definitely goes in well at noon and sleeps about 2 hours....the problem is then bedtime if I continue 7:00 which is only 5 hours sleep time she will talk and talk until she becomes overtired and then the next morning wake at 5:30...KWIM? If I put her in at 7:30 see above...I've tried 8:00 too and see above.

How do I handle finding a nap time that works well with our bedtime?  Carmela is 17 months old and made the switch to one nap at 14 months old.

[elfin]

Sorry, but I don't have much advice for you!  Myles has never really had a consistent wake time from the get go.  He is 22 months today, and I have found that the last few months there have just been so many things going on with him, like molars, eyeteeth, separation anxiety, talking, illnesses, reaching new milestones, etc..  I have really learned to relax and just go with the flow more, and trust me it took a long time to get there!  I continue to maintain some structure, ensure that he continues to fall asleep independently, meet all his needs, and hope for the best.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, they are little human beings, and no matter how many books we read or how much advice we take, sometimes there just is no magic solution, and they are not robots that we can program.  They will have bad days and good days just like anyone.

Hang in there, we are all in the same boat!!!

[Khyan & Sahria's mum]

No real advice here either but I was just wondering - when does she actually start showing signs of being tired in the morning? have you tried putting her back down at say 7 or 8am? (does she still chat ?) my other question would be how does she wake in the morning ? you said that she is grumpy but is this first thing in the morning or after being awake a couple of hours ?

Khyan also starts the day early (especially when teething - like today ! yes we have started the day at 4.30am today  :shock: ) however normally its between 5.30 - 6.30am and I find that no matter what, he is tired 4.5 - 5 hours after waking in the morning and can usually go 5.5 - 6 hours in the evening before getting thoroughly overtired and then he will have night wakings and early, early wakings.

What I have found is that if I put him to bed for his nap early that he sleep longer than if I try to hold out for that later nap however saying all of this Khyan needs help to go to sleep so we don't have your talking and talking issue (which I'm sure is terribly frustrating)

I've rambled - sorry

I'm sure that there will be someone who has been in your position with help really soon, goodluck !

[Carmela's Mom]

When she wakes up before 6:30, she wakes up and doesn't appear cranky but she's rubbing her eyes already!  Then we get downstairs and she continues with the eye rubbing, etc.  Around 9 a.m. she will start with the whining, etc.  If I put her in then, she will just talk and talk and skip the nap so I gave up trying. 

Today I put her down at 11.  At 11:20 I went in there and got her to sleep (she was talking so I just walked in told her to go to bed and left).....she only slept 1.5 hours and by 6:30 tonight she was overtired   So I put her in and she fell asleep within 30 mins. 

Tomorrow I'm going to see if we can go back to the noon nap time and put her in at 7.  I won't let her talk for more than 15 minutes and see if that helps the situation a bit.