10MO daytime routine gone completely pear shaped!

[tinybaba]

Up until about a month ago, DD was settled into a nice daytime routine. She was quite poorly and since then we have not been able to get into any routine at all. She has a bf at 6.30-7am (this is pretty consistent) but after that - who knows. Some mornings she wakes at 7.30am, others 9.30am. This then impacts on her morning nap which is about 2 hours after she wakes. Her morning nap is currently for about 2-2.5hours (but sometimes only an hour).

She really fights her afternoon nap, so I thought she was having enough sleep and tried to skip the afternoon nap. Big mistake as she was a nightmare by teatime - would't eat, rubbing face, crying, making a fuss, then completely wiped out at bedtime, fell asleep in my arms on the way to the cot.

I tried persisting with the afternoon nap but she then won't settle at bedtime (took 2 hours to settle her and she only slept for 30 mins this afternoon).

Has anyone got any ideas of things I can try?. What did your DCs do at this age?. Thanks

[IslandIsla]

Could she be sleeping too long on the morning nap? If you woke her after about 1.5 hours would she then take an afternoon nap more easily?

[purepurple]

Try waking her from her morning nap. This is the one that she will drop eventually. Try to keep the afternoon nap, as this is normally the last nap to be dropped. I am thinking of 2 and 3 year olds, they have a nap in the afternoon, not the morning.

[clairesparkle]

I think the morning nap is too long for to have an afternoon nap, so by the time she gets to bed time she is too tired to settle properly having been up all afternoon. I am trying to sort out DS's (11 months) daytime napping, as I reckon this is where we've been going wrong sleep wise.

He's now - more or less - getting up at 7am, napping for about half an hour at 9.30 (I'll wake him up gently if he sleeps longer than 45 mins) then he's still tired enough for a one or two hour nap at about 12.30, then bed by half six.

He has - FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!! - slept through til 7am for a few days now, so maybe it works!

Good luck x

[tinybaba]

Ok, going to try waking her after 1.5 hours for her morning nap tomorrow. Do you think if I wake her from the afternoon nap by 4pm she will be tired enough to go to bed at 7pm?.

clairesparkle - fingers crossed your DS keeps up the long nightime sleeps xx

Thanks!!

[snoozealot]

hi tinybaba. i've had v similar issues(v poorly) with my 11mo dd, but it sent her night time routine and sleep haywire, which impacted on the day as she was waking at different times, and sometimes had a really unsettled night so would be really tired and nap early and long in the am, then not so much in the afternoon. Sometimes no day naps at all nightmare! DD prefers a morning nap (about 1 hour) to afternoon (half hour,usually anyway.

re the waking by 4 and sleeping by 7, i use that as a guide but i've generally found it more important that she has a nap, even if it is a little late. my dd is governed by her tummy so tea time tends to be quite fixed.

also is your LO crawling/cruising now? i think that meant another "change" for my dd, so i think it also depends on if they've had enough/too much physical time and that makes them hungrier too. DD has a more substantial lunch now and let's me know when it's time for afternoon snack!

ooh and i know this is a really long post but what about teething? my dd seems to get a lot of niggly teething after a bad bout that made her ill, and that seems to make her fight sleep and be AWAKE, even when i know she's shattered. i find the nelsons powders take the edginess off it for her but generally go with the flow.
good luck tomorrow!