Help!!

[ktmum]

Hi all

For ages DD who is 19 months was sleeping great going down at about half 7 and not waking til at least 7. All of a sudden shes been unsettled in the night and has started to wake at 6am at the latest earliest is 5am
She tends to settle herself in the night if i leave her to whine ( not cry out for me )
She naps for usually 1.5 hour in the morning about 10am ish if she naps in the afternoon shes a nightmare to go to bed so i try and make sure she always gets a sleep in the am
If shes had a bad night she will nap for 2+ hours should i let her do that or wake her up???
Shes been a bit fussy with food at the moment so im not sure if thats got anything to do with it??
Sorry to babble on
Thanks
Karenxx

[mcruari]

Hi Karen,
could it be teeth coming through? the fact that she is fussy with food makes me wonder.
Would you consider trying to give her an early lunch (around 11.00am) and then get her to sleep after that, so that she wakes early afternoon (say about 1.30-2pm) so shouldn't have trouble getting to sleep in the evening? I think one nap at 19mths is acceptable but I'm not the expert and I'm sure Sarah (Jessica&Emily's mum) will be able to help you on this.
Just a thought. You have to see what is right/what fits your day.

Good luck.

Sinead

[jessica and emilys mummy]

Hi Karen,
Does sound like molars.Emily's are taking forever to come through
I would probably try to get her to bed 15 mins earlier,this may help with the early wakings.
I will say that it works well for some and not for others,so give it a good week or so.
I would leave her to sleep if she's napping a bit longer,but I would suggest what
Sinead said and try to make it early afternoon.
I think because she's not screaming out to you at night it may just be a blip,so just
keep an eye on her temperature and check out her gums.

The only other thing it could be is a growth spurt,some children eat and sleep constantly
whereas some children are completely out of sorts,have her shoes checked,if her feet
have grown and if they have then she's having a spurt.

[imsmum]

I'm a bit confused.  does she only take one nap a day and that's from 10 until 11:30?

[ktmum]

Yes she usually naps around 10am ish depending on what time she wakes up in the am ie if she gets up at 6am she naps at 10am if she sleeps on til 7am she usually goes down about 10.45.
I have always found that an afternoon nap causes more grief than it solves.If shje ever drops off in the day after 3pm ive had it and shes up until about 9pm

[elfin]

I would maybe try and push that one nap a bit later, even 11 or so.  The long stretch before bed may be making her overtired and causing the problems.  My ds was always the best with his morning nap, and when we went to the one nap the transition was rough to have it later, but so well worth it in the end.

Just a thought!

[imsmum]

I agree.  If there's just one nap and you're aiming for a 7pm -7am nighttime, Tracy's book suggests the nap should be around 12 or 1.