sleeping not shouting

[meplusone]

Hiya , wondering if any of you who have adopted children around age 1 know what i am talking about when i say our DD sleeps................ a lot ! she wakes at 7am , naps for up to an hour from 9am while being pushed back from dropping older child at school , then i give her lunch about 11.30 because she starts to look tired at about 12.30 , then naps in her bed from 12.30 to 3.00 when i wake her to fetch older child from school , she then goes to bed at 6.30 and sleeps through until 7am , only occasionally waking in night because cant find dummy but straight off to sleep once dummy given .
I feel i hardly see her ?

I have tried to wake her earlier in afternoon but she is not happy being woken at all and often upset initially on afternoon school run when i have to get her up.

Also when she does wake up , morning or afternoon, she doesnt shout or let me know she is wake and will just play until someone goes in to her , i tested this last week when i heard her wake up and playing and after an hour i went in to her where she gave a big smile and reached up to be picked up.

I may be overthinking , She appears very happy , laughs and smiles a lot and communicates well with us so not concerned about development, just seems to sleep a lot and enjoys being on her own , although also likes being with us too. Is this something anyone else has experienced, my first child was not at all like that .

And i know i shouldnt complain ,,, but just wondering what others think

thankyou

My 1 year old (not adopted) wakes at 7 then would nap at 9 for 30 minutes (would wake her up) then 2 hours 1-3 before bed at 7. We have recently stopped the morning nap so she now has lunch at 11.45 and naps 12.30-2.30

www.isisonline.org.uk

This is a really good place to look for no nonsense sleep advice - hopefully it can reassure you.

How long has she been with you?

Living with total strangers is exhausting!

I certainly wouldn't be leaving her on her own for an hour awake without me there - I know you said it was a test but I don't see the point of that. If you isn't calling for you because she isn't well attached to you yet then you want to be doing everything you can to promote it not leaving her to her own devices (even occasionally).

I assume you have a baby monitor? Go in and pick her up when you hear she's awake every time.

I don't think you can do anything about the amount of sleep she needs at the moment.

My adopted DD is three and I still use a baby monitor and go almost as soon as I hear her start chattering, and definitely quickly if she calls for me. It's scary to wake up and wonder if everyone is still there - and exhausting to have everything completely new all around you.

I'm sure the sleep will start to regulate itself, particularly as your LO starts to feel the familiarity of people, place and routine.

It can take a long time for our kids to believe they can trust people to come when they need someone, and this apparent "self-sufficiency" of not calling out is probably masking them quietly wishing someone would come but not yet daring to ask. In a weird way, it will be brilliant when they yell for us to come running, and we wonder what their last slave died of

Hi thanks everyone , she has been with us 5 weeks now and when awake she is very attached , lovely babbling and coming for cuddles , sharing smiles, bringing things to me , tucking her head into my neck when strangers talk to her ,checking with me when others are around i,e singing groups.

The sw came this week, she said she had never seen a young child attach so quickly in placement. and her joy at seeing Daddy when he comes in from work is WOW !!

She does call out in the night if she wakes and needs her dummy, and on the occasions she has woken with teething we have of course stayed with her and slept on the floor in her room so she knows we are there for her.

kewcumber I chose the wrong word when I said test, this does give the impression i am messy about , i suppose what i should have said was tried an alternative as the day before I did go in as she had woken and she became very upset then fell asleep again , i do think she is a slow waker and i wonder if she plays as she wakes up and then gets involved , i also wonder if she doesnt want us until she sees us if you know what i mean ? , i think i have to judge when she has truly finished her sleep , thats part of getting to know her right ?
When downstairs and awake with me she rumbles around and is not demanding , so i do intrude and join her play by talking to her etc so we get plenty of interaction
Yes i use a baby monitor which is how i know when she is awake

Dear girl , that was very helpful thanks , my older daughter slept well at night but not asleep in the day at 1. i am getting to know a 1 year old from scratch.

As i said i am not concerned just wondered if this was others experiences, cant wait for her to start calling for us x its the most normal thing isnt it

Oh blimey - 5 weeks! No I wouldn't worry about the amount she's sleeping at all - all children are different but it really is exhausting to be living with strangers.

And I'm glad she is beginning to be attached to you and certainly it does tend to happen more quickly the younger they are but really 5 weeks is no time at all.