17 months - short naps

[christieCA]

Hi,

I was very lucky to find the Baby Whisperer around the time my DD was 8 months.  We stuck to it and got her sleeping through the night and falling asleep on her own.  She is still a great night sleeper going to bed around 7:30 PM and waking around 7:30 AM.

Naps are another issue though.  She has been on one nap for three months now.  At first she did very well with it.  She was sleeping between 1.5 - 2.5 hours.  In the last two weeks, it has gotten much shorter.  She goes down at 12:30 and now sleeps between 45 minutes and 1.5 hours.  She is ALWAYS still tired when she wakes up, but will not go back to sleep.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Christie

[TDR'smom]

Could you post your daily routine?  Maybe you are putting her down a little too early, or too late.  She might be ready for longer A time??

Post and we'll see if one of the wonderful ladies can help!

[christieCA]

Here is our routine:

7:30 Wake Up
8:00 Breakfast
12:00 Lunch
12:30 Nap
Anywhere from 1:15 to 2:30: Wakeup & Snack
6:00 Dinner
6:30 Bath
7:30 Bed

[MamaC]

What sort of activities does she do?  Is she really tired when she goes down to nap? 

Or....my ds will sometimes make noise like he's awake about an hour into his nap but will settle himself down to sleep if I don't go in.  I learned that one day when I didn't get my shower during his nap time so I hurriedly showered and by the time I got out, he was back asleep for another hour!!! 

Hugs!

[Katet]

When you add up her total sleep it is getting close to the average 13.5 hours needed for 18mo if she has 1.5 hour sleep... so if she is a low end of the sleep need scale it maybe she needs less night sleep to get a better nap. I'd try cutting her night sleep to 11.5 hours & see if that helps the nap

[christieCA]

Thanks for the feedback.  We had another 45 minute nap today.   And she is in a miserable mood. 

As for activities, we are in a playgroup where we go to the park daily and she has a babysitter for three hours a day.  They color, read, do bubbles, and go run around out on the grass. 

She does have her "I will go back to sleep" cry and we don't rush in when it is that one.  Then there is the "OMG, someone is trying to kill me" scream which is how she wakes up from every nap and in the morning.  She won't calm down until she sees me.

Her night sleep is really anywhere from 11-13 hours.  It doesn't seem to matter which end of the spectrum, her naps are unaffected.

[Katet]

I'd say the longer (13h) night sleep is robbing from the day & even if it doesn't happen all the time, it is enough... I'd honestly try limiting it to 11.5 max for a week & see how things go
Also if you feed her the snack on waking, that may be a trigger too, try offering it at the time you would "LIKE" her to wake.
Oh & another things with my 19mo if he hasn't had enough fluids he tends to wake up early, try offering more to drink in the am... worth a try.

Incidently how does she fall asleep for naps/bedtime, does she settle calmly?

[TDR'smom]

I would also hold off on giving dd a snack right when she wakes from her nap.  Also, make sure she gets a nice, "full" lunch before her nap.

DS sleeps MUCH better when he has a full tummy.  Even if you give her an AM snack, a few hours BEFORE lunch?  Like around 10-10:30AM. 

Have you tried pushing her nap a tiny bit later?  Maybe she's not real tired?

Sorry to throw out so many things, just trying to think of what helped my ds.

Good luck!! Hang in there.  I know how frustrating short naps can be!!