Would you seek advice from gp or hv?

[Madallie]

I have posted about 2yo dd a number of times recently. She is just 2 and has started to take between 1 and 1.5hrs to go to sleep at night.

Her routine at the moment is:
Wake - 6.30-7.15am
Nap - 1.00-2.20/30pm,
Bedtime - 7.30pm but does not fall asleep Til 8.30-9pm

Dd does not cry or doesn't seem upset about going to bed/ being in bed she just seems frustrated that she can't get to sleep. She goes off in 10 ish mins usually for her nap it's just bedtime that is the problem. It really stresses me out but I also think it must be really annoying for her. I really think she just can't get to sleep not that she doesn't want to go to sleep.

Once she's asleep she generally does sleep through but can be a restless sleeper and always has been. I just can't help but think 8.30 and definitely 9pm are just too late for a 2 yo to go to sleep at night especially as she wakes around 6.30am. I'm wondering whether I should see a gp or hv about this issue as she never used to take this long to go off. It would usually be 10-15 mins. Do you think it's anything to be concerned about?

I'm finding it particularly difficult at the moment as I am 36 weeks ph with dc2.

Well I think the new baby on the way could be something to do with it but first of all it might be worth a few days of experimentation with the nap length. I know with my ds I had to cut it down to an hour because he started to get restless at bed time and that's all it was so it worked. If I let him he would have had a nap of 3 hours but once he got a bit older (between 2-3) it did affect his going to bed at night. x

My son has turned two in October, and simply doesn't need that longer nap in the afternoon. He can't yet go without and will often have a smaller nap for a few days then a slightly longer one.
Some of my friends littleones have simply dropped their naps once they turn 2/2.5. x

DD did this just as she was dropping her nap. As long as she lay in bed quietly, I didn't really mind. We used to put a story CD on in her room &, when that finished, would go in & swap it for a different one. She didn't seem to mind us going in to do this. She always had half a dozen cuddly toys in her cot with her and would chat to them. This was good training as, when she did drop her nap (and started going to sleep more quickly), I made her have 30 mins in her cot after lunch mainly so I could get a break
As she's not in discomfort or distressed, I really don't think your GP or HV could help. Yes, they may offer suggestions but I don't think they'd be able to do anything to "solve" it. Could you push your DD's bedtime back to 8pm for a few weeks? DD is now 4 and, over the years, her bedtime has moved between 7pm and 8pm depending on what is going on so, for a few months, she may be exhausted and in bed by 7pm every night but then that growth/developmental spurt is out of the way and she is leaping around still at 7.45.

Hey.....I'd say drop the nap and maybe it'll all fall into place x

Well today she only napped 45 mins in pushchair. Put her down at normal time of 7.30pm and she was asleep before 8pm. Thought that was great but now she has been awake moaning and banging about for an hour so she is obviously OT. She is never like this this early in the night. Maybe. Shorter nap isn't going to work. I just don't know. My head hurts thinking about what to do for the best though.

Dd was restless through the night but didn't wake Til 6.45am which is about 11 hrs it's just I don't think it was very restful sleep so don't know if it's just better for her to have a longer nap, be awake Til later at night but be less restless throughout the night.

DS2 currently has a nap when at nursery, but not at the weekend.
Over christmas, he had maybe 3 naps over 2 weeks.
It sounds to me like you need to look further into shortening / timing of the napping.
DS1 stopped napping at 2yrs 1 month. He has always slept less than the average times - average is just that, some sleep more, some sleep less.
Whatever you do, it will take some getting used to for both of you.

Thanks. I feel like I've played around with naps every which way and nothing seems to result in frequent restful sleep for a good number of hours. Not only is this disturbing dds sleep it also disturbs mine a lot as I'm a light sleeper and find it impossible to sleep through the loud banging and moaning. Last night one episode was on and off for about 2hrs just as I was going to bed. There were then other frequent but shorter episodes in the night. I find I'm so tired cos I'm waking all the time with the noise.

Have you tried stopping the daytime nap?
There will be a period of transition where she gets used to it, but you will probably find that she sleeps better if she doesn't have the afternoon nap.
Also, as children get older they sometimes start to have more vivid dreams as their imigination becomes more active.

I'd go for hv not one for gp.

Basically you have 2 choices I think, drop the nap for a sustained time (at least one week) to see if it helps or move bedtime back. Dd just turned 2 is in the process of dropping nap and it is a bit hit and miss sometimes.

As someone else said they have vivid dreams/ night terrors sometimes and sometimes start sleeping differently.

I really would try to relax about it.

Just one other thing the are some foods that are meant to be bad for funny dreams. Google it and maybe try avoiding at tea time. Cheese didn't seem to help dd1

I'd agree - try not to get too stressed about it.
Dd1 went through a tricky sleep period when I was heavily pregnant. She was starting to drop her lunchtime nap (age 2.4) and didn't adjust well initially to the baby thing. I'd cut nap down to 45 min consistently for a week then reassess. She's prob just not sleeping well at night as she's not tired enough too. Not sure how GP would help but maybe HV if you really need to see someone.

I agree it is all nap-related as everyone else has suggested.

I have 4 dcs, the youngest is 23 months, so I am currently going through this at the moment. With all my dcs they dropped their nap at around 2, dd3 was about 2.5 yrs. it's a frustrating time. I found shortening the nap not particularly useful as they still wanted that longer nap sleep cycle. Meant they were very cross when they were woken up.

I don't think there is any effective solution, you need to work through the next few months to find out what routine works for you and your dc. I understand the struggles of being pregnant as I had my 4 dds in 5.2 years.

Some things I would try is napping earlier (that helps for a short while), napping in the buggy to encourage shorter sleeps. I find that they usually sleep less 'soundly' when out and about and tend to not wake cranky. Waking up to a favourite tv programme (not a huge fan on tv, but I am a fan of happy babies). Transitioning is not instant and it takes a while to sort out what suits you.

My dds have all been very restless sleepers. Dd4 talks a lot in her sleep also. She is an earlier riser, but I am currently trying to get her back to sleep at 5:30am by breastfeeding so she will wake about 7 and then skip her nap and go to sleep quickly inthe evening. If she wakes earlier, I'll try to feed her or walk her i buggy around 11am so she has a shorter nap. There is no hard and fast solution.

Finally, as someone said above, being relaxed about it will really help. I wish I had known this, I've adapted to the crappy sleep I get. I see my oldest dcs as amazing sleepers now at 7 and 5yo and know they'll all sleep like that eventually. I know it is hard not to stress about it, ESP when pregnant, but their sleeping patterns to change. Perhaps really trying to wear her out during the day: scooters, soft play, park? May help.

Best thing is when she finally drops the nap, she will probably be falling asleep before her head touches the pillow!

Reduce nap to half hour max. Yes she will be grumpy when wakes up. Not a matter for the gp!