1 year old not getting enough sleep?

[meandwren]

I have a 15 month old and our usual routine looks like this:

6.30 wake
7.30 breakfast and go out somewhere
11.30 lunch
12.00 nap
3 wake and play
5 dinner
6 bath
7 bottle & bed

So has always been a nightmare for going to bed and I'm fed up. He's still wide awake at 9pm! Feels like we have tried absolutely everything in the book. He almost always ends up in our bed as we give up to be honest. And we get no evening to ourselves. Then he's up at 6 - 6.30 so he's only getting 9 hours in total at night time which apparently is not enough & to be honest he does still feel exhausted when he wakes. He's up two or three times during the night also so is not sleeping through. We've done controlled crying at 7 months which worked naps but not bed time. I'm considering paying for a sleep consultant or something similar as I'm now genuinely worried about him not getting what he needs. Does anyone have any advice or anyone I could contact please

[Pipandmum]

It might be enough for your child. W
Aking up so much during the night is going to leave both of you tired. Do you know why? Is it because they are hungry/need changing/are too hot or cold? My kids slept well so I do not have experience with this.
A three hour nap in the middle of the day seems very long - I'd wake him after two and see if that makes him more ready for bedtime. Maybe split the nap to mid morning and mid afternoon?

[Thatwentbadly]

This is the nhs guide for this age
www.nhs.uk/live-well/sleep-and-tiredness/how-much-sleep-do-kids-need/

3 hours is a very long nap and I think if you want him to go to sleep before 9 you will need to wake him from his nap much earlier. His first wake period is 6 1/2 hours but then you want him to go to sleep again for the evening when he has only worn awake for 4 hours.

[meandwren]

Ok what if I start putting him down 11.30 for his nap & then putting him to bed at 7.30 ish. That way it's a 5 hour gap each way. Thing is he is exhausted at 7 that's why I put him to bed, he just will not sleep! I don't know what wakes him at night he's always woke up a lot during the night x

[meandwren]

I've read 2-3 hours is normal when they drop their morning nap?

[meandwren]

@Thatwentbadly the guide you have linked is great but it says he should be getting 11 hours at night and 2.5 in the day. As he's only getting 9 at night it seems that's why he naps for so long during the day. Sometimes it is only 2.5 but occasionally 3 hours x

[ForTheLoveOfDoughtnuts]

My little one is 15 months.

Up at roughly 7am. Nap at 12-1. Bed at 6:45. Normally asleep by 7pm.

She'll normally nap 45-60 mins.

[plixy]

My girl is 16 months and has same amount of sleep as yours. She has 9 hours at night and 2:30-3 in the day. The only difference is she goes to sleep at 8 and wakes about 5. I would actually prefer she was up until 9 and slept until 6!
She then naps about 12:30-3/3:30. She will not sleep any longer than that and doesn't seem to need it so I've given up trying.
Sometimes if we go for a long drive in the morning she will have half hour nap in the car but will then sleep less in the afternoon so she obviously doesn't need more.

[20viona]

My daughter is 15 months.
6.30 wake
11.30 lunch
12-2 nap
Bed time 7pm

3 hours is too long to nap.

[Cakeandslippers]

My daughter was the same at 15 months, it was hell and didn't help I was 7 months pregnant. She was sleeping through by 17 months and bedtime had improved by 19 months.

I think 3 hours is a long nap but is hard to rectify if they aren't getting that sleep at night. What's going on at bedtime?

[Thatwentbadly]

I would reduce the day time nap. My older child would be like this but it was fine and it worked for us especially on days where I was at work but if you want your child to go to sleep earlier you need to limit the day time nap.

[FreeAcorns]

There's a saying "sleep begets sleep" that is often trotted out on here. But I can categorically say it does not apply to my children! Naps here are limited and the less daytime sleep, the better bedtime and nights. My 3yo only started sleeping through when she dropped her nap completely. Before that she was a nightmare - bedtime took ages, woke up regularly throughout the night - now she sleeps 12 hours and bedtime takes 10 minutes max. My mum actually told me she stopped my naps at 18mo for the same reason - it was the only way to get me to sleep through the night! So for all the websites and baby books etc, I think it's worth seeing if a shorter nap helps as perhaps your child is like mine.

[Brieminewine]

No advice but offering solidarity!
DD 15MO has just started fighting sleep on a night, taking up to two hours to settle! Our routine currently is wake up at 8am, nap 1-3pm then bedtime at 8pm. I’m going to try move the nap back and see if that helps!

[meandwren]

@Brieminewine yes mine is exactly the same! He is at nursery today and hardly sleeps there so let's see tonight if he goes down better for me

[Brieminewine]

I’m going to cut the nap out completely I’ve decided starting today..wish me luck

[Harrysmummy246]

The books largely made up these figures and at best they're an average

DS never napped for much longer than an hour by that age and if he had, wouldn't go to bed for ages

We didn't drop it til after two though @Brieminewine, he still needed a short day sleep. 15 mo is very young to stop napping (from mother of a sleep resisting DS, and I stopped napping by 10 mo apparently)

[Harrysmummy246]

@FreeAcorns I think sleep begets sleep only really applies to babies and not toddlers TBH