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Sleep

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Original poster

nearly 2 - is she trying to drop her nap?

18 replies

titferbrains · 09/08/2010 22:33

My dd still wakes at night. she takes ages to fall asleep in the evening, usually at least an hour.

She is starting to take longer to go to sleep for her one nap of the day which is usually after lunch. Quite often she isn't ready to go down straight after her lunch so I let her play for another 20 min or so and aim to get her down between 1.30 and 2. Today she chuntered till about 2.45... and then didn't wake till 4.15. I think she still needs the nap but I don't know what to do to help her fall asleep better at night and in the evening. She eats little and often so I often struggle to really fill her up so she isn't asking for milk at night.

If I shorten the nap, how short is effective? 45min? I don't think she'll cope (nor will I) if she doesn't nap but I'm so fed up of her taking ages to fall asleep, needing little extra milk top ups before going to sleep and waking in the night.

any advice?

OP posts:

JaynieB · 09/08/2010 22:35

It's hard when they get to this stage - I think we coped by not being too rigid about times, but that might not suit you. Bedtime got a bit later until the nap got dropped altogether.

Original poster

titferbrains · 09/08/2010 22:44

yes it is hard. today I didn't get time to take her to the park as she woke so late and was soon ravenous, and then I couldn't really keep her up later as my dad came over and I was knackered and wanted to do early supper... just hard to tire her out, fit in the things that need to be done, and make sure she eats well.

jaynie can you remember how long yr LOs napped for at this age? I don't really feel my DD gets enough sleep for her age (about 10 hrs at night plus 1.5hrs during day) - she is good about going down she just takes forever to fall asleep.

Anything I can do to make her sleepy and relaxed? she is permanently on unless she's off, IYKWIM!

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lifeinagoldfishbowl · 09/08/2010 22:45

Try putting her down to sleep earlier and wake her at 3 regardless of how short a rest period she actually has.

simpson · 09/08/2010 22:48

My DS dropped his nap at around this age.

What time does she go to bed?

For a bit I started offering a nap every other day and brought tea/bedtime forward when he did not sleep so he did not get so tired he would not eat iyswim.

Original poster

titferbrains · 09/08/2010 22:59

we aim for 730 bedtime but a couple of times a week it's 8pm.

god I really cannot face the thought of her being awake all day. She is very cute and funny but that's a lot of entertaining....

time to improve my parenting and get off my fat arse, methinks!

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JaynieB · 09/08/2010 23:00

Mine has always been a long napper - at least an hour, sometimes nearer 2 and I found waking her was not an option - she would be evil and cranky until bedtime, so I generally let her sleep and put her to bed a bit later.
I think DD slept about the same as yours titferbrains - maybe this is all she needs. DD can even now, spend quite a long time amusing herself once put to bed (shes 3.5 now).
I cheated a bit at this stage and quite often timed car journeys to co-incide with when I wanted DD to sleep and that worked pretty well.

JaynieB · 09/08/2010 23:01

It almost broke me when DD gave up naps - I recall lying on the settee with her poking me and chatting as I tried to keep my eyes mostly closed and stay awake at the same time! 4pm was hell. It did pass though and now I really enjoy her being awake and doing stuff.

Original poster

titferbrains · 09/08/2010 23:06

yes I guess I need to get over it eh. we're hoping to have another baby this year so I really am going to have to get used to being more entertaining!!

Do they sleep better at night when they drop the nap?

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simpson · 09/08/2010 23:13

My DD who gave her nap up at around 16mths and DS (now 5) was just under 2 both slept better and settled quicker.

You can always still put her in cot for "quiet time" with some books/toys etc for 45mins.

DD now goes to bed anytime between 6.15/7 depending on how tired she is.

I have found that I am not really able to eat evening meal with her atm as she is too tired and wants to eat 4.30/5ish which is too early for me so if that is what you do you may have to feed her earlier for a bit till she adapts iyswim

Original poster

titferbrains · 09/08/2010 23:21

ok will try 45 min rest time.

Was also thinking that I might take her out for errands/walk straight after lunch to try and get her to sleep and then hopefully she'll have at least a short nap to get her thru the afternoon.

She also is quite sensitive when if she wakes up from her nap late, like today, everything makes her cross and she doesn't know what she wants.

Have to hope that nights will improve if the nap does stop... and am also giving in to the power of Cbeebies... at least after 4pm!

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Maria2007loveshersleep · 10/08/2010 12:18

God, I feel for you. We're going through a similar phase in that DS- age 24 months- has started napping at completely weird times eg 10.00 in buggy (!) or 3.15-4.00 pm in carseat or crashing on sofa, when even a month ago he had a completely bog standard 1.00 pm-2.30 pm naptime after lunch.

He now point blank refuses to go in cot. I've tried 'quiet time' (it seems a joke to call it that actually) on sofa with DVDs & me sitting there next to him trying not to scream. He loves doing that & it can go on for hours but then he's so very very cranky in late afternoon, ugh.

I have no idea if he actually is dropping nap or not, as he does 'crash' as I said on daily basis in carseat / buggy / sofa but not at regular times & not in cot. Like your DS my DS is super cranky after naps these days. To be honest am freaking out with the idea that this dropping nap business may last for months on end as I've read other MNetters say it can do. I loved loved loved naptime :(

Maria2007loveshersleep · 10/08/2010 12:20

oops, sorry just noticed you have daughter not son! Sorry about that.

bananastainsonallmytops · 10/08/2010 12:31

My DS has recently turned 2 as it a nightmare sometimes.

He usually wakes up at 6am, so he is usually tired around 11am so I try and get him to sleep by then, it can take upto a hour. So he normally sleeps about 12 wakes around 1pm then I give him lunch, not that he eats it.
Missing his nap is happening quite a lot, which is obviously hard for both of us.

I have found that if I take him for a walk/playground etc once in the morning even if it just for half an hour then again in the afternoon, maybe for a bit longer then he sleeps better at night.

It also takes me at least an hour to get him to sleep. I really feel for you.

Hopefully, it will pass :)

Maria2007loveshersleep · 10/08/2010 13:11

Banana, your whole description- makes two of us. My DS is almost exactly as you describe yours. Terrible twos are here for sure.

Orissiah · 14/08/2010 08:18

My DD, 2.2 years old, can now go a day without a nap. She certainly sleeps more deeply at night and for longer though she's always been an excellent sleeper.

This is what we do: Her usual nap time used to be 1.30 to 2.30/3pm after lunch so now I put on a DVD for her at this time for quiet time or else put her in the cot with ALL her cuddly toys who she plays with alone and contented for 30 mins. This quiet time seems to rejuvenate her. The key is to leave her alone chilling out. If we're out and about then she's fine so long as she's in her buggy.

Around 4/5pm she can get cranky (though now she is used to not napping she's less cranky) so this is when I distract her with interesting activity such as painting or washing dollies in tub of water or even a bit of CBeebies.

I put her to bed earlier now.

I actually love the fact she doesn't nap now as it makes our days more flexible and we can be out and about more. But then again she's good at playing alone so I don't feel overwhelmed - or else I tune her out.

Original poster

titferbrains · 16/08/2010 09:28

thanks for your post, orissiah, really helpful to hear. My dd is still getting pretty tired during the day so I've just shortened her nap and am being sure to make sure it's early in the day (she is always cranky if she falls asleep too late in the day). We will play it by ear and see what happened. Still amazed that she's dropping it, I napped till I was about 5 years old!!

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Maria2007loveshersleep · 28/08/2010 06:14

Am returning to this thread because my DS (age 2) has certainly dropped his nap in the last month. He refuses to stay in his cot: takes off his sleeping bag & is simply completely awake! Only naps if/when we put him in car (which obviously we can't do every day at nap time...)

The thing though is that he's overtired by bedtime in the evening & this affects his night sleep quite often, ie he wakes & cries & asks for milk etc. I've noticed that on days when he naps he sleeps better at night.

Any ideas about what to do? Surely I shouldn't be putting him to bed at 6 pm? .

Original poster

titferbrains · 07/09/2010 09:02

plenty of snacks and quiet time during the day,
he can even go in his cot with a couple of toys for quiet play. or else a bit of tv for an hour at his old nap time? Obv that only works if he wants to do it...

We shortened dd's nap to 1 hr and let her skip it if she doesn't seem tired. She often asks for tv later in the afternoon before dinner, and I wonder if she's using it as a bit of down time. Nothing wrong with it, sometimes we all need a bit of help winding down!

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