dd taking an age to settle to sleep, 2.7yo - help

[titferbrains]

I think I know what the problem is - we need to be more consistent with bed time.

BUT I'm also not sure whether she needs a nap. Once they drop a nap, do you still let them have one once or twice a week to ensure they are getting enough?

We have just had a week of visiting relatives and she has slept in a big bed on her own when she's normally in a cot. She was getting up, taking off clothes etc.

Her big bed is coming soon and I need to get her sleep habits a bit more consistent and I read yesterday that she should be falling asleep in about 30 min.

She never seems to wind down! After a bath she is particularly energetic and loves to jump on the bed and run around naked.... stories and milk don't particularly seem to calm her. Any suggestions to relax her a bit more??

Last night she was up singing and taking her nappy off etc until about 9 or 9.30. We go in periodically and tell her it's time to go to sleep, but it is very annoying!

So need to work out a consistent bedtime - should it be a bit later during the summer? I think 7pm would be ok if she wasn't napping but 7 30 if she's had a nap.

Also planning to do rapid return once bed arrives so am not going to worry about getting out of bed till then. She's in a cot right now.

[isthismadness]

I would say drop the nap. Most children I know have stopped at that age and that's why she's difficult to settle. It'll be a tough couple of weeks transitioning but worth it

[dycey]

Def drop the nap. Just did with my 2.3 ds and he settles much quicker and seems tired again in the evenings!

[titferbrains]

eeek. guess this is really it then. Am pg so am have been clinging onto nap like grim death because I really need a bit of quiet time in the day!

Think I will replace nap with a bit of telly time and see how that goes.

[titferbrains]

long scoot and then a good hr at playground, plus more playground time this aft, and NO NAP (toy story instead) and DD went to sleep in minutes tonight!

She was definitely being a bit irrational after supper, but this was easy to ignore as I knew she was tired. Am just going to play it by ear from now on re: naps.

[Doitnicelyplease]

Just another point of view, but we went through about 2 months of DD (2.8) taking ages to settle for her naps and for bedtime, she just got in the habit of chattering/messing around for a good 30/40 mins first. But we kept to the routine, and now she is back to napping for 90 mins (awake by 3ish) and bedtime around 7.30pm (awake at 7ish) - with no messing around first.

A couple of times recently she has asked to go for her nap (!), which shocked me (growth spurt maybe), so I think some kids still need a nap at this age.

We have only just turned her cot into a bed and that has gone really well and not affected naps or bedtime which really surprised me, I was sure she would never nap once she could get out of bed herself

Instead of just dropping the nap, maybe switch to quiet time in her room for and hour each day, then she can still nap if she needs it?

[titferbrains]

have got her in front of telly for quiet time atm, not sure I can trust her in her room out of her cot to play quietly partic. as we don't really use her room as a playroom except in the morning when I'm having a shower. As I say, I will continue to put her down for quiet time/nap if she seems to need it but as we're on half term I am not so concerned that she is going to meltdown. I think I will reorganise toys and have a nice "upstairs" selection when her new bed comes and then she can play on her bed during quiet time with toys or lie down if she wants to. Am aware that telly is not ideal in terms of "low stimulation" for a rest period but she tends to make a terrible mess if left alone, she really enjoys scattering whatever she can get her hands on across the floor, which then involves a load of bending and encouraging and timewasting while I try to persuade her to pick it all up and tidy it away...pg is making me a bit short tempered, can you tell?

[titferbrains]

also am dropping nap because even after a 35 minute nap on a busy day she took an age to go to sleep and I am now pretty convinced it's down to the nap giving her a "second wind". She rarely "oversleeps" more than an hour when she is up late in the evening so she is not catching up on her sleep sufficiently to make it 12 hours.

She is generally very well behaved and pleasant to be around and I don't want her to turn into one of those permanently overtired and oversensitive kids so am going to try to monitor her total sleep hours as best I can to make sure she's ok.