Fighting sleep at night

[Cloudmummy]

Hi, my lo is 10.5 months and great with her daytime naps, normally 9-10.15 and 2-3.15. She goes down easily and wakes on her own. Nighttime was the same but recently she has really struggled to get to sleep at night. We have crying, standing in cot etc for an hour before she falls asleep. Her bedtime is 7/7.15. I don't know whether she is overtired because she's so active now, so I should bring bedtime earlier, or whether she's not tired enough and I should shorten the morning nap and bring forward the afternoon nap. Or maybe shes just gone off bedtime! Any advice?

Hi

I would shorten the naps! Well at least the afternoon one & see how u go...my lb (now 16 months) was the same & this worked for me then by the time he turned 1 he was ready for 1 nap a day after lunch
I would keep the bedtime around 7-7
What time does she wake?
My lb routine at that age was sleep 7-7
Nap at 11am-12.15
Then nap from 3-3.30
You will work it out just swings & roundabouts/trial & error
So annoying getting a good routine all the time then a few months later it all changes again! lol ;-)

Thanks mumtolilh. She wakes at about 6.30am most days. I really hate to wake her when she's sound asleep but sounds like I need to do this for her own benefit. Ok, tomorrow we'll make a start as we're home all day.

Hi

When I shortened the naps I wouldn't wake my lb I would just make noise like turn tv up & potter around & he would usually wake on his own saves u feeling bad lol

When mine were younger, we shortened the morning nap first but left the afternoon nap. I wouldn't cut it too much though as 10.5 months is still young and will get tired easily. It might be worth bringing the afternoon nap forward to just after lunchtime, say 1pm. Even after we finally cut the morning nap altogether my two would still have a couple of hours in the afternoon to recharge their batteries. Have you tried the controlled crying method at bedtime and do you have a pre bedtime routine eg. dinner, bath, bed at the same time. We were very strict with routines like this and both were excellent at going to bed. The only time we had a problem with my daughter was after she had been very poorly for about a month and it upset her routine. It took us a couple of weeks to get her back in the routine and there were plenty of tears (and that was just me), lol. Hope she settles down soon.

Thanks mummydude. We do have a good bedtime routine, which has been the same for at least 6 months, so I don't think its that. I've used spaced soothing, which is similar to controlled crying back when we first got her into a route, many months ago, so I'm open to trying that again if I have to. She does seem to get herself off by 8pm though, so I'm wondering if she's really just not tired enough at 7. I didn't try changing naps at the weekend in the end but will have to do it this week. Watch this space...