My 2yr old twins wake up MISERABLE every afternoon - advice needed!

[LittleMissTwins]

I have 2.1 year old twin girls who are a joy in the mornings - we go to toddler groups and have a lovely time together. I put them down for a nap at 1:30 and when they wake up they are like different children, whingey, moany and upset at the slightest thing. This often goes on all afternoon and it is becoming a real issue, I can't work out what the problem is.

I let them sleep for an hour and a half - any longer and it has a knock-on effect making them wake earlier the next morning. They are fantastic sleepers at night, generally doing 7:30-7:30. I have to wake them up but try to do this very gently, opening the blinds and letting them wake slowly. If I let them sleep they go on forever, would sleep past 4pm.

Does anyone have any suggestions? It is becoming a nightmare and I dread getting them up every afternoon. We are unable to have friends over or enjoy an afternoon out as they are so grumpy! Any help really appreciated.

[CarGirl]

you could try cutting it even shorter 45 mins, I used to wake my grumpy guts up by giving her a bottle of milk straight away.

My only other suggestion is cutting out naps altogether and putting them to bed at 6.30pm instead.

[Anna8888]

It's a phase. There have been other threads on this.

My daughter also went through that phase of being really miserable after her nap.

They'll grow out of it...

[frankie3]

My DS did this and I just dropped the nap and put him to bed earlier.

But, if they do need the nap, when they wake up try to really distract them, eg as they wake up say "look at this great picture on the cbeebies website" or "look out the window at this funny bird" etc. This sometimes works - good luck.

[LittleMissTwins]

Yikes, I didn't mean to post this twice - bl**dy slow computer!

Thanks for the advice, I might try reducing the sleep time to one 45 min cycle and see if there is an improvement. It's so difficult to give up this time though, as a SAHM this hour is so precious. How will I ever clean the bathroom!!??

[SCL]

That v precious hour - don't shorten it if possible. I find food is the answer. Even if DS1 has had a good lunch after his nap he can be really crotchety until he has a snack.

Good luck.

[frumpygrumpy]

Sounds like the length of nap time is working though so I'd be hesitant to shorten it until you find they are not needing it at all.

To me, it sounds like you have a great routine going and that they are enjoying that sleep very much. If I nap in the day its takes me forever to feel ok again. My body settles into a deep sleep and when I try to get out of that I feel shaky and sick and just awful.

I think just a very gently wake up is all you can do. That, and possibly from bed straight to telly on the couch with you, maybe with a biscuit to nibble.

Also, think about temperature. Could they be waking up very hot (do they have clothes on under a blanket?) and therefore very uncomfortable?

As the day goes on all children get tired and grumpy so maybe afternoon activites need to be put on the back burner for a while. My twins are 3.5 and I still try to make their activities morning ones.

HTH.

[Weegle]

I agree with the food suggestions - when I wake DS from naps (23 months) I always make sure the first thing he has is a drink and a snack else the grumps set in and it's unbearable. Will also sit with him on my lap for 10 min or so in silence just letting him wake up slowly.