18 mos old--10 hrs night sleep enough?

[imsmum]

We just finished having a rough transition from 2 to 1 naps.  DD now goes down around 8 pm and up around  6pm.  she usually naps well (at least for the nanny ) for 2 hours from 12:30 to 2:30.  Usually only 1.5 hours for me on the w/e. Is this enough sleep?  She's fairly restless at night, crying out on 2 to 3 occasions but can resettle herself about 60% of the time.  I have a bear of a time getting her down for both naps and bedtime and she is very clingy to me especially in the evenings.  Is this tiredness or separation anxiety?  She goes down easily for the nanny for her nap but on the couple of occasions that the nanny has had to put her to bed at night she's had a hard time too.  when whe was transitioning to one nap we would have to go in to help her settle or she would be awake for hours.  Have we created a dependency?

[imsmum]

Oops--I meant to say that dd goes down around 8 pm and up at 6 am

[maritamar]

Well Marianne had a phase like that not much time ago.. and at nigth it was a combination of hunger, cold and tiredness... I change her daily menu, change her pyjamas and put her to nap the moment I saw her tired, if I didn't see her signs and passed them, then later it was impossible to get her to sleep her naps. Sometimes she gets 1 or 2 naps but it depends on how long her first nap is.. and know shes sleeping again from 7:30p.m.  to 7:00 a.m. and like 2 hours of napping through the day...so good luck.
Hope I can help. any questions write me any time you want!

[Jess-J&E]

Hi Imsmum,
   I am pretty sure here that the American Association of Pediatrics say that 12-14 hours of sleep per day are normal and healthy for kids this age.  So it seems like she averages about 12 hours a day.  My son does the exact same as your little one.  He goes down at 7:30-and he is up between 5:30 and 6am.  His nap ranges from 1.5-2.5 hours.  I really think you have to go by your child and how they are acting.  You have to remember that anyone who gives you the "right" amount of sleep is giving you an estimate.  Some kids need more than average and some less than average.  If your daughter is happy during the day, is eating well, is growing normally and isn't doing sleepy sign things (sucking thumb, pointing to crib, always falling asleep in the car etc...) then she is probably getting the sleep she needs.  When she fights naps for your it might be a bit if separation anxiety because she is excited to have you around since she is with the nanny during the week.  At 18months they learn so much and make huge leaps and bounds in their perception of the world and their role in it.  She is smart enough to know now that she can protest sleep times...why wouldn't she...there are so many fun things to do!!  Stick with it and I am sure that if you are providing her adequate time to sleep that she will get what she needs.

I hope that helps!

[imsmum]

Thanks so much !  I just wasn't sure if I should go with the flow or if I should be trying to work to increase her sleep.  It's so hard when you're not there all day and have to try to assess how she is based on a short time after you get home and she is clingy for probably a whole bunch of reasons! The good news is she napped for 2.5 hours yesterday and the nanny actually had to wake her up to pick up my older dd from school, so maybe she's going to be a long napper, short night sleeper..
Maritimar, I've thought about the hunger/cold thing too.  We're in Canada and going through a bit of a cold spell right now..She's already in a blanket sleeper and has a thick blanket but maybe I'll try another.  Just curious what you did to up the calories.  DD has  3 meals 2 snacks and 2 bf's (am and pm) but when she is full there is no getting even one more bite into her so I haven't figured out how to increase the food intake.   Is there a growth spurt at 18 months? 

[sacmommy]

She's probably getting decent sleep, but could use more. In addition to making sure she's warm enough (my dd has had the same problem this winter), you might be putting her to bed too late. Try moving up her bedtime 15-20 minutes for a few nights and see if she sleeps til the same time or later in the a.m. This sometimes actually helps kids sleep later into the morning. If you look at most toddler sleep schedules, most (not all though!) seem to go to bed a bit earlier than your dd.

[imsmum]

Sorry I should have said that I start her winddown at 6:15 at the latest.  Some nights she'll be asleep around 7 or 7:30, but most nights closer to 8.  W/u is always around 6 and a nap close to 12:30.  Sometimes she'll start drifting off around 7:15 and jolt herself awake and I used to be able to settle her but not anymore.  I'm pretty sure I've got a separation anxiety/dependency thing happening which I'm going to post about separately to see if anyone has some ideas.  Thanks for all your help.

[maritamar]

To increase calories...mmm, solids, or semisolids, sometimes when Marianne doesn't eats lunch properly I give her a banana(or any fruit) -yogurt mix, or cheese or a little sandwich for a snack. Is your baby a Touchy one? because maybe you are missing the tiredness cues and you are putting her down when shes already too tired and overexited...it happens to me too often!! and I thing maybe they are just entering a new phase in development and they´re just not enough tired also, and only need one nap a day... I'm a little bit confused myself.. so at least we are together....misery calls company!

[Samuel's Mom]

I have always worred that my little guy was not sleeping enough....but he sleeps very similar hours than your little one and I finally decided to stop worrying and go with it.  To extend their sleep time at this age would be quite challenging.  I know Samuel is usually clingly around supper time...so I try really hard as soon as we get home (I work FT) to take 10 or 15 min of play time before I start supper.  I find this really helps with clingyness while I am making supper and even afterwards.  He has always gone to bed around 7:30 or 8 for quite  a few months and will sleep until 5:30 or 6 am.   I have found lately if I leave him when he wakes up at that time in the morning, he sometimes will go back to sleep on his own.  (to my amazement!!).  This has only happened the past few weeks....he used to even wake up earlier when he was 12 mos.  I do need to add he still wakes up at night    and I would love a full nights sleep.

I have tried increasing calories, especially before bedtime (banana, yogurt, cheese) but didn't really make a difference in his overall sleep (he still woke up too somewhere between 11 and 2 am ).

I do think growth spurts happen around now too...my guy is eating quite a lot lately.  He also has started dreaming so I think this gets him up earlier (5 am a few times).  This is the only time that if I don't go in, he goes back to sleep. 

Hope this helps
Nicole

[imsmum]

I've found timing is important with my lo as far as the eating goes.  she'll eat like crazy in the am, but seems to not eat so much after her nap.  So I guess I'll just try loading up those calories then and hope it works...

I think my lo has short nights b/c she has trouble letting go of me at night so she falls asleep too late then wakes early..not sure how to solve it either b/c it's like she needs me to be with her to soothe her to a certain point  and then she's ok.