Routines for 15 months

[Cupcakemummy85]

Hi all I was wondering if everyone could be so kind and share their routines with me as I'm at a bit of a cross roads with my dd routine. My dd is 15 months and has a great morning nap only cries for about ten mins and goes to sleep til about half twelve. However, in the afternoon she is shattered and extremley grumpy. I can't get her to nap in the afternoon no matter how tired she is! The afternoon is when we have always tended to do things so she has never really napped then and has always just been a bit of a grump in the afternoons (not so fun for her friends lol). Our routine at the moment is as follows:
7am wake
7.15am breakfast
10.30/11.30am milk then nap
1.00pm lunch
3/4pm snack
5.30pm dinner
7pm bedtime routine ie bath milk bed

I had thought of keeping her up til after lunch but right now it's 11 and he is so unbelievably tired! She is constantly whinging! Am I going worn somewhere?

[ZuleikaD]

Lunchtime for most toddlers is 11.30 to 12. I would be more inclined to:
7.15 breakfast
9am snack
11.30 lunch
12-2 (or thereabouts) nap
3.30 snack
5.30 supper.

So not much of a change but definitely definitely more food in the morning - 7.15am to 1pm is far too long between meals!

[GoldPlatedNineDoors]

Id serve lunch at 11.30. Offer a snack of fruit or toast at ten to tide them over, and milk after lunch if needed, then down to sleep as soon as lunch is done.

1pm is rather late for lunch.for a baby.

[Cupcakemummy85]

It's only one because she wakes up at half twelve or just after. I like to give her time to wake up first. But perhaps tomorrow I will try half eleven lunch. It just seems so unnatural to have lunch so early but I will give it a go. Today she just couldn't stay awake any longer past 11. She gets super grumpy! I'm just worried she will b over tired and she won't eat lunch. She does have a little piece if fruit after breakfast and then her milk before nap. It seems I either have a grumpy baby in the morning or a grumpy baby in the afternoon lol

[ZuleikaD]

It's not unnatural for toddlers - they need to eat something about every 2-2.5 hours. She may be partly grumpy because she's just running out of steam - she's got no energy left.

[Cupcakemummy85]

Ok well I will try it out tomorrow and see what she thinks. I'm open to try anything to make her happier! She loves playing with her friends so its really sad when I see her get grumpy after few moments of playing. So lunch at 11.30?! Got it! Thanks for ur help and advise. Just hope it goes down well :s

[wanderingalbatross]

DD is 16mo, but her routine has been the same for a couple of months now.

7:30 wake and breakfast
9:30-10:30 nap
10:30 snack
12:00 lunch
14:00-15:00 nap
15:00 snack
17:00 dinner
18:30 bath
19:30 asleep (sometimes!)

She doesn't show any signs of dropping to 1 nap, and definitely likes 2 snacks a day. We're quite flexible too so this is just an average :)

[Niceupthedance]

You could also try slightly earlier bedtime, say 6.30pm?

[Cupcakemummy85]

For example today she started to yawn and rub her eyes at around three o'clock so anyone would think "that child is tired!" However, I took her for a walk and she did not fall asleep. When I put her in her cot same thing, not even a thought of going to sleep went through her head lol. She is fine going to sleep in the car or in the morning when I put he to bed I only have ashore amount of time when she cries. Guess she doesn't like it when I leave the room :( because I have never given her lunch so early it's tough gettin my head around it. She has plenty of food an snacks throughout the morning to keep her going and she is so so tired by eleven and ready to go to bed but we can't carry on like this her being so grumpy and tired in the afternoon! Being a mum is harder than rocket science! Lol

[PPL]

My DS is going through a similar phase - he isn't quite ready for just one nap but resists having too. I too am having trouble keeping him up past 11. People keep telling me that soon he'll get used to it and be able to stay up a little later each week or so.

So, with that in mind as a target, for the time being I am giving him 2 lunches! He gets a good, hearty snack at 11 before his nap (oatcakes, or sandwich, or bit of toast. Or today he had cheese and ham croissant) then after his long nap at 1pm he has another lunch! eg omlette. Neither of them are particularly big meals but he needs a full-ish stomach to sleep well and then is hungry again when he wakes!

SO he wakes at 630, has milk
breakfast 8am
1st lunch 11am
2nd lunch 1pm
fruit snack 3pm
dinner 5pm
bed 7pm

Hope that helps! By no means a perfect routine but it works for the time being!

[Cupcakemummy85]

That sounds like it could work. So what time does ur ds take his nap?ur routine is not much different to mine to be honest. My dd sleeps from about 11 to about 12.30. It seems crazy that she won't nap in the afternoon if she is tired. It's the crying and crying and crying I can't bare when I put her down for the afternoon nap. :

[PPL]

He sleeps from about 11-11.30 for 1.5-2 hours. If he wakes early (say, before 1pm) I put him to bed really early, at 6-630. It doesn't seem to affect wake up time in the morning. To be honest, he does seem extremely tired in the afternoons and he can be really hard work, but I think that this can be quite normal during the 2-1 nap transition (or so I keep reading on here!)

[Cupcakemummy85]

Well tried to give her an early lunch and put her down for a nap at around 1. No crying but she was still really tired in the afternoon and she looked like she really needed to nap. So, tomorrows plan is put her down for a nap at ten and try and put her down at two or three. She clearly needs a nap I think she is resisting sleep. I'm still learning :) hopefully when my next baby comes I will b a dab hand at this nap stuff lol

[Cupcakemummy85]

I think wanderingalbatross I will b doing a very similar routine to yours. It feels more natural doing it this way! If all else fails I will drive her round for an hour in the car for the afternoon nap ha ha

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Personally I wouldn't be putting her sown for a nap at 3, if she sleeps for an hour that takes you very close to bedtime. Agree with what others have said on your other thread, if she is tired in the afternoon offer a drink and a snack and a quiet activity, once you've done that and had a play outside it should be getting close to tea time.

[Cupcakemummy85]

The problem with the snack and quiet activity in the afternoon is my dd is a very headstrong little girl and when she is tired nothing will do! No snacks or activities will satisfy her but st the same time putting her in her cot is just evil in her eyes lol. I think I will have to just go with what I think is best on the day. Some days we are out and it just so happens we can't nap in the afternoon and some days we can. Early lunches just don't fit in with our pattern unless we are out doing an activity or something. I've never had a problem getting her to bed even if she sleeps til four so luckily that's not too much of a problem. I think she only dropped a nap because we started doing play dates in the afternoon. If my dd wants to drop a nap it's fine but she is still very tired in the afternoon so I have to try something

[forevergreek]

Wake 7am
Breakfast 8am
Am nap at 9.30am for 30 mins
Lunch around 12.30
Afternoon nap 1-3pm
Dinner 5.30pm
Bed 7pm

[SoulTrain]

My DS is 16 months and we have this routine:

6am wake
Milk
7:30 Breakfast
9:30ish sleep
10:30ish snack and water
12:00 Lunch
1:30ish sleep
15:00 snack
17:30 Dinner
18:30 Bath, Milk, Bed.

He doesn't seem to want to drop to one sleep at the moment and can still only go about three to four hours between sleeps. We never let him sleep past 4pm but to be honest, if he's overtired and has missed a pm sleep he gets overtired and won't settle for bed. I'd try and earlier bedtime too.

[forevergreek]

And yes we have tried just one nap at 1pm but he won't last and falls asleep at 11. If he sleeps 11-1 he can't stay awake 1-7pm either and is half asleep at 5, hence why we still have the 9.30am nap. He doesn't show he's tired then but I pop in buggy and he's asleep in a min or so

[wanderingalbatross]

If you're going to try for two naps, maybe move the first one earlier? My DD wakes around the same time as yours but has her first nap around 9:30-10 on a good day. Then I can have her afternoon nap around 1:30-2 and she's sleepy again for bedtime. Obviously doesn't always work, and if she sleeps late in the afternoon then I just move bedtime a bit later.

I think at this age it's hard to know whether they need one or two naps, and it gets harder to fit in two as they can stay awake for longer between them!

[ZuleikaD]

15 months is the average for dropping to one nap, but plenty are still doing two naps at this point. In which case the routine looks like:
7 am breakfast
9-9.45 nap
10 am snack
12 lunch
1-2.30 nap
3pm snack
5pm supper
6pm bed

[Cupcakemummy85]

That's the thing forevergreek my daughter is the same and I don't think every child over the age of twelve months should only have one sleep. I think I might try and nap her a bit earlier today and then early after lunch. She has a cold too which has lasted a week and a half so that doesn't help matters

[forevergreek]

Yes the 9.30am nap works nicely. He has in buggy so pop him in and we can go off to do what we need to ( elder siblings). Afternoon naps in cot as older sibling naps also

We tend to have playdates 10-12 if we go anywhere/ invite people over. Or after 4 if meeting people in parks etc

[capecath]

DS just turned 2 so realise a bit older but we've been in this approximate routine since about 18 months:
7:30 wake/breakfast
10am snack
12pm lunch
12:30-2 nap
3pm snack
5pm dinner
7pm bed

I remember the transition to one nap being quite difficult, but I'd put him down for an early nap anyway, even if he didn't nap, then for an afternoon nap for which he always slept.

Would definitely suggest trying to get your lunch time a bit earlier once they transition to 1 nap- it works well for having roughly equal awake periods. We do usually arrange activities in morning around 10am or 3pm onwards. Sometimes if he has a big snack we'd skip lunch and have a bigger snack after his nap. I tend to pack him a lunch anyway if I know we'll be out near lunch time. It may seem unnatural to have lunch at 12/12:30 but this really does seem to work for many toddlers. Once he has dropped his last nap this will probably all change again (long may it last....)!