15 Month Old Suddenly Not Accepting Normal Bedtime Routin

[Sadiebird]

My DS is 15 months old and about two weeks ago he began giving us difficulty with going to bed for naps and bedtime.  Normally, we would have our wind down time and then I would take him into his room and rock him for a couple of minutes.  At naptime, I would put him in his crib just after he'd start to close his eyes to sleep.  At bedtime, I would rock him for 10 minutes and put him in his crib awake and he would drift off to sleep on his own.  Starting about 2 weeks ago, he began struggling when I would sit down in the rocking chair and would only fall asleep if we walked him around the room (definitely not a road I want to go down).  I thought it was because we had visitors staying with us for Christmas, but then I thought it might be teething.  I gave him infant tylenol drops and teething tablets and that seemed to fix the problem, but only temporarily.  The guests left, the tooth popped through, and he was still giving us trouble.  So then I thought it might be time to switch to one nap.  We did that yesterday, and I only had a little bit of difficulty with getting him to sleep for the nap, but my DH had to step in at bedtime to help out.  It seemed my DS was overtired, so now I wonder if the one nap isn't enough for him or if I should just be putting him to bed earlier.  He slept through the night last night, but woke up at 4:30.  My DH couldn't get him back to sleep.  Every time he put him in his crib he would cry.  And I couldn't get him back to sleep, because I'm not able to carry around a 22.5 lb. baby to get him to fall asleep!

With so many variables, I'm completely lost about what to do and it's becoming very stressful.  So how do I know if it's teething, overtiredness, a need to switch from 2 naps to 1, or developmental changes??!!  Our method of putting him to sleep for naps and bedtime has worked so well, I'm reluctant to switch to another method, because I don't believe that's the problem.  I did pu/pd for several months when he was younger and didn't have much success.  It wasn't until I started rocking him for 10 minutes at bedtime and then placing him in his crib drowsy, but awake, that he started sleeping through the night.

I hope someone can help us out, because this is putting quite a strain on things in my home!!

If this helps, here's his 2 nap routine...
6:30 - Wake up and have bottle
8:00 - breakfast
9:30 - nap 1
11:00 - snack
1:30 - lunch
2:30 - nap 2
4:00 - snack
5:30 - dinner
7:30 - bedtime

This is the 1 nap routine we did yesterday...
6:30 - Wake up and have bottle
8:00 - breakfast
11:00 - snack
11:30 - nap
2:00 - lunch
5:30 - dinner
6:30 - bedtime

[mari]

How long did the 1 nap last?  I find that if I put Alex down too early for her nap then she doesn't sleep long enough and gets overtired.  Perhaps you could try to gradually do a later nap and if you can get 2-2.5 hour nap from 12-12.30pm then he should be ready for bed at 7-7.30pm.

I would say to stick with what works at bedtime, it's probably the routine that need tweaking as he gets older.

[georgesmummy]

Hi
I know what you mean about trying to work out what it is, christmas and new year were busy for us and we have had sleeping issues too when we have been very lucky before. I think if you have had a hectic time over the holidays that might be what it is. We were also a bit all over the place when we moved from 2 to one nap. Somedays he would do 2 naps somedays only one for a while, also was quite overtired at first having only one nap and still can be if he doesn't nap long enough but we can usually get through it now I would also stick to the bedtime routine as that seems to be working. It may just take a while to move to one nap. Our DS is 17 months and has been on one nap for a couple of months now so from our side timing to move to one nap is about the same, it might just take a bit of both 1 and 2 naps for a while to get you through those very overtired afternoon days. It will get better I am sure.

[Sadiebird]

How long did the 1 nap last?  I find that if I put Alex down too early for her nap then she doesn't sleep long enough and gets overtired.  Perhaps you could try to gradually do a later nap and if you can get 2-2.5 hour nap from 12-12.30pm then he should be ready for bed at 7-7.30pm.

I would say to stick with what works at bedtime, it's probably the routine that need tweaking as he gets older.

The one nap lasted 2 1/2 hours.  But he was totally overtired by bedtime at 7:30, so I probably should have put him to bed earlier that night.

[Sadiebird]

Hi
I know what you mean about trying to work out what it is, christmas and new year were busy for us and we have had sleeping issues too when we have been very lucky before. I think if you have had a hectic time over the holidays that might be what it is. We were also a bit all over the place when we moved from 2 to one nap. Somedays he would do 2 naps somedays only one for a while, also was quite overtired at first having only one nap and still can be if he doesn't nap long enough but we can usually get through it now I would also stick to the bedtime routine as that seems to be working. It may just take a while to move to one nap. Our DS is 17 months and has been on one nap for a couple of months now so from our side timing to move to one nap is about the same, it might just take a bit of both 1 and 2 naps for a while to get you through those very overtired afternoon days. It will get better I am sure.

We had house guests during Christmas and they were just so loud!  Which is funny, because they have a 1 year old, so you would think they would be aware of it, but they do things so differently from us.  It was so difficult.  Even when I would tell them I was putting DS to sleep, they were still loud.  It just turned the little guy's routine totally upside down.  It's almost as though their visit was a catalyst for all of these changes he's going through.

[Lola]

its hard over the holidays isn't it
I keep having to wake my lo up from her naps ..we are going to work on teh 2-1 transition this week or next..

do you think the am nap was too long??

[Sadiebird]

its hard over the holidays isn't it
I keep having to wake my lo up from her naps ..we are going to work on teh 2-1 transition this week or next..

do you think the am nap was too long??

It has definitely been too long.  I probably should have been shortening it ages ago, but sometimes it's just so hard to wake them up. Especially in the morning, because that's when I have tons of energy and like to get things done, so I keep putting off waking him up.  A long afternoon nap is nice, but I'm so tired by that time that I have no energy left to do anything during that nap.  My favorite was when he would take two naps at 1 1/2 hours each, but I guess those days are gone!       Oh well.

[Lola]

i'm dreading the transition nap..
M is still having two 1 1/2 hour naps and it works for both of us but the daycare won't allow it so I guess she'll have to switch.

Still, I suppose if we can get her onto one long nap it'll be better. (I'd have time to maybe do some cooking on the weekends!)

It just sounds to me like your lo is having too long an am nap. I was told by my bw ladies that long am naps can lead ot early wakings etc. Maybe back off on the am nap and extend the pm nap ..but perhaps back up the bedtime by 1/2 hour and give a total of about 2.5 hours of nap time? would that work?

[mari]

When the switch to 1 nap has been made I try to make it wake up for 5 hours, nap for however they need, then wake for 5 hours then bedtime.  Certainly not longer than 5 and a half hours.  So for instance if they wake at 7am, nap 12-12.30pm, hopefully until 2-2.30pm then bedtime 7-7.30pm. 
In an ideal world, unfortunately Alex has a different world to me, but it works a treat for the baby I am a childminder for (the one who doesn't keep me awake in the night!  )  But honestly, Alex is doing really well now most of the time.

[Sadiebird]

i'm dreading the transition nap..
M is still having two 1 1/2 hour naps and it works for both of us but the daycare won't allow it so I guess she'll have to switch.

Still, I suppose if we can get her onto one long nap it'll be better. (I'd have time to maybe do some cooking on the weekends!)

It just sounds to me like your lo is having too long an am nap. I was told by my bw ladies that long am naps can lead ot early wakings etc. Maybe back off on the am nap and extend the pm nap ..but perhaps back up the bedtime by 1/2 hour and give a total of about 2.5 hours of nap time? would that work?

Wow, that's amazing that your daycare won't allow two naps.  That would drive me crazy. 

My lo skipped his morning nap yesterday.  I tried, but he just wouldn't take one.  Then he fell asleep in the car on the way home from running errands.  It was 12:00 and he hadn't eaten anything since 10:00, so I gave him a bottle thinking that he would just fall back asleep and take a nice long nap.  Of course he didn't and then I had to put him back to sleep after lunch around 1:30.  It took him 45 minutes to settle down and then he woke up after 1 1/2 hours because he made a big #2 in his diaper!  Last night was rough to say the least.  Looking at in retrospect, I shouldn't have given him the bottle.  I should have just popped him into his crib and let him sleep.  Oh well.  Lesson learned.

Today he skipped his morning nap alltogether.  I didn't even try.  He just didn't seem tired.  Now he's sleepy but in his crib and not yet settling down. Wish me luck!

[Sadiebird]

When the switch to 1 nap has been made I try to make it wake up for 5 hours, nap for however they need, then wake for 5 hours then bedtime.  Certainly not longer than 5 and a half hours.  So for instance if they wake at 7am, nap 12-12.30pm, hopefully until 2-2.30pm then bedtime 7-7.30pm. 
In an ideal world, unfortunately Alex has a different world to me, but it works a treat for the baby I am a childminder for (the one who doesn't keep me awake in the night!  )  But honestly, Alex is doing really well now most of the time.

He seemed so sleepy today after 4 hours awake that I put him down for his nap, but he's still awake in his crib now.  It's only been 15 minutes though, and he's not crying in there, so I think I'll just let him be.

[Lola]

you know its so hard. our 2 naps really work well. i seem to have a lo that really needs two naps. Over Xmas when we are out shopping etc, its easy for her to be up till noon but she HAS to be busy kwim? otherwise all cranky and temper tantrumy. her nap time is 2pm and its 2:01 and I haven't heard a peep ...i hate messing with good things but I suppose really that one long nap is a good thing. I think her little brain is programed only for 1.5 hours max tho which is why i get concerned she'll be waking herself up at that 1.5 hour mark. then I'll end up with a VERY tired baby on my hands and no sleep for either of us. I'm quite sure wi/wo won't work for something like that.

Mari-thanks for the guidelines about the 5 hours each side thing. M wakes between 6:30 and 7am so 12-12:30 is a good target for going to sleep. I hope she has at least 21/2 hours..she really needs at least that much nap time. Love to have a lo that doesn't need that much time, tho i do like the quiet. It's incredible how TORN i feel about this transition. I suppose just one more landmark in teh growing up stages..ugh..i want my baby back LOL