More questions??

[Lilasmom]

Hi, I had posted a few weeks back about my DD waking early in the am and not napping real long in the afternoon.  Well we've made some progress (she's 19 months old).  She hasn't woken before 6am in quite awhile (was waking at 5am) and sometimes even wakes closer to 7.  However, just wondering if you guys consider the time she wakes in the am and the time we actually get her up as activity time???  She's resting in her room and it's dark and quiet.  I guess I'm just not sure when to put her down for her nap when she wakes at 6am.  I've been putting her down at 11:30am and she's been sleeping about 1.5 hours (would prefer at least 2hours).  She goes to sleep easily at that time, and wakes happy, so do you think this is ok??  But then we usually end up putting her to bed early (at like 6:30pm instead of 7pm because we're scard she'll get overtired from being awake from 1pm-7pm.  But maybe this is why she's waking at 6am??  Any suggestions?

[LeesMom]

I would probably try putting her down for her nap at 12 instead of 11:30 assuming she gets up at 6. IMO, I don't think that the time she's still in her room in the morning would count as "full" activity time. Of course, if you're seeing a lot of tired signs around 11:30 I wouldn't push it too much, maybe 5-10 min. a day so you can get her nap closer to noon. Hopefully, her nap will lengthen a bit or at the least she'll wake closer to 1:30 and you can do a 7:00 bedtime which might get you a little later wakeup time in the morning. Also, I would say that if she wakes happy from her nap then she's had enough sleep. My DD almost never naps more than 1.5 hrs. (she's 20 mos.) and is also almost always happy lately when she wakes. I think some kids just need less day sleep, and if they're sleeping well at night, then that's good enough for me!     HTH.

[Lilasmom]

Thanks for the reply!!  I think I'll try what you suggested and just watch DD very closely for signs of getting tired.  We've just gotten over a bout of overtiredness not long ago, and I really don't want to get back into that.  She goes to sleep easily for naps and bedtime, sleeps well at night, and is a very happy girl.  And sometimes she'll surprise me with a 2.5-3 hour nap, so maybe 1.5 hours is ok some of the time and when she needs more sleep she'll do it.  Thanks!! 

[Layla]

Hey, I totally agree with LeesMom - try pushing her to nap at 12 and bedtime 7pm so that she starts waking closer to 6am. I had to so with Isabella... she was stuck on a 5.30am wake up with an 11.30am nap and 6.30pm bedtime.

1.5hrs is ok for toddlers. The av nap is 1.5-2hrs and nighs about 11hrs (total 13hrs).

hth
Layla