What do you do with a toddler that wants 1 hour nap but needs 2 hours?

[CharCharBaGOOOOOOORE]

I know this should be in sleep but I culdn't farking find it DD is refusing to sleep longer than 1 hour around midday and won't have another nap either. She is then overtired and is up and down all night.

She naps on my knee after a bf. Not ideal I know but she won't sleep anywhere else, not even in the sling anymore. Can't do cc as I don't like it and when I left her in the cot for 5 mins the other day to get a break she was so angry that the cot legs were lifting off the floor

I know I've posted about this before and it's boring but I need my evenings back! As it is I'm not getting a break from her at all. How can I get her to sleep longer? She's 14 months btw.

put her to bed as early as possible - 6.30 pm if you can

Will she nap longer if you take her out in the pushchair.
I know it is not nice in the rain and all, btu I went through phases of that with ds and it was worth it for the quieter afternoon / evening.

Maybe try making her wait longer for the nap so she is tireder, so when she does nap it may be for longer.
mY DD2, dropped her daytime sleep altogether at around 18months, but took 2-3months to adjust into it. Unusual i guess, but suited her and me!

I get her in bed as early as I can, tonight tried from 6 to get her to sleep and she gave up at 7.15. Have pushed nap forward from 11 to 12 which made a difference for a few days but she's back to waking up again now. I tried the pushchair the other day but she hates it and just screamed the whole way round. I can see she's tired, she knows she's tired, but she just doesn't give up. Aaaaaarrrrgggghh! This is good for a rant as well as advice She's just so frustrating at the moment. Thankyou.

can you feed her to sleep late afternoon for a catnap???

Did that this afternoon. Eyes rolling back in her head but she still fought it and just wouldn't sleep. I don't know where I'm going wrong here. I'm trying my hardest and am now virtually obsessive about sleep and she still won't.

Will she sleep at 10 then again at 2?

DS is 15 months and also hell when he's tired, but he still really needs 2 naps a day. Most mornings if you watch him he's rubbing his eyes after 1hr 45 mins - if you miss it he'll go on for another hour but be harder to get to sleep. He then has just over an hour and usually the same again later in the day.

If all else fails, it will pass

over tired baby - it is a vicious circle (the more tired the harder it is for them to nap)

can you try a feed in a quiet/dark room to relax her more

No Cry Sleep Solution is a v good book if you don#t already have it

Does she nap at all in the morning? What time is she waking up?

My DS is 14 months. As long as he wakes up before 7am he still goes down for half and hour around 9 or 9.30. I don't put him down again until after lunch, around 12.30 or 1pm. He's then do between 1.5 and 2 hrs and then happy to go to bed at 7pm. Give or take mad days when he's teething badly or the men are digging up the road (grrr).

It might be that she's so over tired by the time she goes for her nap at lunchtime that she's to irritable to go back to sleep once she comes to the shallow bit of her REM cycle.

Does she use a dummy at all? Would you consider one? DS has one at night if he wakes - if we get in quick enough on early waking on naps or in the night time, he goes back to sleep instantly.

Any of the above any good? Poor you - nothing worse than a grumpy 14 month old. Bet your back is killing you all the picking up you have to do when they are so whingey!

I think we might have to try doing 2 naps again. She dropped one of her own accord but I don't think she was really ready. Will try tomorrow. Agree with overtired Ruby. I'll take her up to the bedroom tomorrow as well and see if it helps. Was thinking about buying ncss so I'll do that when I can. Thanks all.

She wakes at about 7.30 but with the unbroken sleep she's having wants to sleep later. She used to need a nap 3 hours after waking up but after dropping the nap I got confused about it. Will try to get her down for 10.30 tomorrow I think as I do think overtiredness plays a big part. Shame she doesn't put as much effort into sleeping as she does into fighting it or I'd have no problems! I would have consider a dummy but she's not interested at all, boobs only. Thanks for your help

She is teething pretty badly atm, so that's prob not helping.

My ds did this at around that age- I thought, 'oh no, he's starting to drop his nap.' Anyway I persisted and the length of his nap extended again to 2-3 hours. Then it dropped down to 1 hour when he was about 2yrs. He is now 3.7yrs and has only just stopped having a nap every day but he still has one every few days!

Just thinking that both my toddlers still had 2 naps a day at that age too!

Yes, I think it's probably worth a try going back to the morning nap. About 5 weeks ago we were convinced DS was dropping his, as he missed about 4 in the row (I was GUTTED, as we get a lot done when he does this quick morning nap). But low and behold, he has embraced it again, so I think it was just teething.

I know it's hard, but if you can face it, I would make sure she sleeps no later than 7.30am then get her back to bed earlier - like 9.30am - 2 hours of being active crawling or toddling around should be enough to make her sleepy, even if it doesn't seem that she is.

If she's awake again by 10 or 10.30am you have then got a nice big gap for her to get properly tired by 1/1.30am.

Anyway, it works (most of the time!) for us. Am not BFing any longer though, so don't have that to think about. Maybe what would be good is for your to BF her in her room just before you put her down, if you can make it work in terms of when she likes to feed? At least just a little nurse until she gets back in a habit of napping?

I'm quite a fan of routine, though my DS didn't take to it quite the same as my DD did, so I relaxed things with him, but I still find it helpful sticking to these rough timings. As he gets older, he becomes more flexible - able to stay up longer if we're out doing something, but I like having it as the default.

Good luck

Hopefully it'll go that way here too tnmm. I might try adjusting her, got to get in quick though or she's ready to go! I tried putting her in the cot yesterday for her nap after she'd fallen asleep but she didn't sleep any longer. Was nice to have a short break though. I wish she'd nap in the sling because I wouldn't mind a short walk twice a day, it's all the screeching and back-arching and fighting that does my head in. She's due to wake up in a sec, been nearly 45 minutes.

I'll try 9.30 tomorrow then, st. Her usual bfs are morning, before nap(s) and bed anyway so they fit in well. Think bedroom's the way to go, although last time I tried to feed her to sleep in there in the day she wouldn't go off. Worth a try though! I've never been into routine but dd picked her own at 10 months and was quite strict about it. Just this nap business that's messed it up. Thanks for the good luck, I'm going to need it

DD can't stand DP atm, fine for cuddles or playing but when she needs to sleep only I will do. She screams the house down if she's with him. Wish she wouldn't it would be so much easier to be able to share the load.

My only solution was to drive around in the car (pref cobbled road!) or walk in buggy (had to walk dog anyway)

Typical, I post this and she hasn't woken up yet. 2 1/2 hours and counting. Doesn't sound like much but it's a big deal here.