what is up with 16 month old?

[Missy Lou]

i'm lost now.

this is 16 month old routine ( )

6:15 - wake
10:45 - nap
12 - wake
6:30 or 7 - bed hopefully

she naps 1.25 hours and sometimes 1.5 hours.  then she's up about 6 or so hours before bed.  sleeps about 11 or 11.5 at night.  that's on a good day though- sometimes 10 or 10.5 at night.  that doesn't seem like enough.  plus she won't sleep later than 6:15 or 6:30.  so if bedtime isn't until 7:30 or so, then she still gets up by 6:30 at latest.

biggest problem is she takes at least an hour to go to sleep at naptime and longer at bedtime.  that is the biggest reason why she goes to bed so late and doesn't sleep enough at night. 

i don't know why she is taking so long to go to sleep.  i've tried several different times in case she's overtired or not tired enough but without success.  i've tried AP without success really.  now to get her to sleep, i lay on the floor of her room.  she yells and fusses.  throws out her paci and toys.  i put them back.  eventually she settles down.  then starts again.  she "settles" down several times and finally falls asleep about the fourth time she settles. 

there are NW once or twice a night once every week or so where she actually needs me to go in.  usually i just have to lay her back down and shush. 

any thoughts?

[Layla]

Hey there .

I think the problem here is the timing of the nap. The av is 5.5hrs before bedtime and naptime... so I would shift her nap to around 12pm and then bedtime 5.5hrs later. At the moment her A time before bedtime is long and she's probably getting overtired so taking a long time to fall asleep at night.

So aim for something like this:
6ish - wake
12pm - nap (1.5-2hrs)
1.30/2pm - nap ends
7pm - bedtime

The early start could be her natural biorhythms. Isabella is an early riser and its never been past 6.30am (in fact 6.30am is a sleep in for her, lol... its more like 6am).

Try that and see if it helps the overall situation
Layla

[Missy Lou]

ok.  i just keep her morning A time shorter because she seems so tired.  i swear - sometimes i just don't think of the obvious. 

i'll try pushing back naptime.  Thanks.

[UNCMomma]

Melissa, try getting her outside to play or doing something busy when she starts looking/acting tired in the AM to push that nap later.  Or feed her!  When are you doing lunch now?  If you aim for a 12PM nap, you could do lunch at 11 or 11:15, instead of a nap.  Or small snack at 9:30, lunch at 11.  Feeding my kids seems to help them, even when they're tired! 

Let us know how she does...

  

[Missy Lou]

sounds good hagan.  i'll re-do her routine for MIL and have snack, then early lunch. 

thanks girl. 

[Missy Lou]

UGH!!!

today has been very stinky.

woke at 6:15
MIL put her down for nap at 10:30 but no nap until 11
woke at 11:45
put in bed at 5:30

it's now almost 7 and she's still awake

what in the world? 

[Layla]

Sounds like OT to me. Why did MIL put down so early? Its ok. See how tonight goes. Do you have a fairly relaxing windown before bedtime?

[Missy Lou]

i got your suggestion for later nap too late to do it this morning.

i'm going to ask her to do 5 hours tomorrow.

she's spirited so winddown has always been difficult.  if i try to read to her, she wiggles off.  so winddown is pretty fast - a few minutes in rocker with a book and maybe walking with her for another few minutes.  otherwise, she'll struggle to get down and want to play. 

[Layla]

Lol, she sounds like Isabella. As soon as I put her in the cot, she's jumping up and down and getting all hyped up.

But anyways, see how she does tomorrow with the longer A time.

[UNCMomma]

Was that today, the stinky day, Melissa??  Or yesterday??

At least there's the early bedtime... you can always fall back on that with a short nap. 

I know I've asked you this before but did you try the ultra-short AM nap and then a long PM nap?  Seems like you did and she STILL refused the PM nap but remind me...

I'm sorry sweetie, hopefully keeping her up a little longer will help.  Hang in there!!     

[Missy Lou]

Hagan and Layla: 

yesterday was even WORSE!!!!  She was up 5.25 hours and napped 30 minutes!  Super cranky.  wouldn't eat.  put her in bed at 5 and took 45 minutes to fall asleep. 

but she did sleep until 7 this morning.  i haven't talked to MIL to see how today went.   

I swear - poor angel is exhausted. 

and yeah - she'll only take one nap a day regardless how tired she is or how short first nap was. 

thanks y'all.

[UNCMomma]

Hmmmmm, poor girl.  And poor momma!  Do you get to see her at all when she goes to bed at 5:30?? 

So I guess she's definetly OT and that's why the nap is short.  Maybe, to let her catch up on sleep for a few days, move the nap back to a time when she'll take a long one, and STILL go with an early bedtime?  Then maybe you can try pushing it back again.   

I dunno Melissa, I'm so sorry.  I am SO glad she slept well last night though, that's gotta help some, right?!?!?

Hang in there!   

[Missy Lou]

I saw her about 15 minutes yesterday.   

the good night's sleep was great for both of us.  i know we'll figure it out one day. 

love you.

[Layla]

Melissa, it must be so tough  . Try adding to her A time in increments to avoid overtireness. So maybe ask MIL to stretch her in 15-20mins every 3-4 days & keep the early bedtime until she gets to noon.

Hang in there. Soon she'll be back to her normal bedtime

[Missy Lou]

thanks layla.  i feel so bad for her too.