Sleep advice welcome

[antsypants]

Hi all

My baby girl is sixteen months old and is at nursery full time weekdays... She sleeps for approximately an hour when she is there, i have a routine for her, however, for the last couple of weeks this has all flown out of the window and i could do with some advice on how to get things back on track.

Her routine is:

6.30 am up and breakfast
7.30 nursery
11.30 hour nap (on average)
16.30 pick up
17.30 tea
18.00 bath and pyjamas

At this point i would ideally like her to go to bed, and she was for a while, but the rest of her night is like this

21.00 bed
22.30 wake up crying, but straight back to sleep
23.30 wake up crying, not back to sleep
02.00 back to sleep

She doesn't have any added sugar to her diet, the TV is off an hour before she is due to settle, her tea is generally some milk and toast, but she has been hungry sometimes when she is waking up at 23.30.

Thing is, she has had cold after cold and two bouts of eye infections since joining nursery, so i think all of it has put her out of sorts...

I guess i am looking for some advice on getting her settled again, I don't let her cry if i can help it, and wouldn't really be comfortable doing that, but if anyone has any suggestions i would really appreciate it

(sorry about the essay)

Have you tried more food? Does she have milk at bed time? It's a loooong time from 5.30 to 6.30!

Ditto to her needing more food!

Milk and toast is not substantial - a bowl of porridge, a banana and some protein would be more filling

I have tried to get more food into her at teatime, she has a full dinner at nursery at 4pm though, so i think she is just too full at that point.

She doesn't have the best appetite, something that has driven me to distraction over the last year and a half... She is only still 18lbs although the HV reassures me that she is fine and just petite, i would prefer her to have another meal when she is home at teatime.

Seeker, She won't take milk just before bed, she is not on dairy at the moment on the advice of the GP (trying to get the stomach bug she has had out of her system) so she is on lacto-free, problem is she doesn't seem to keen on the taste.

I shall give porridge and a banana a go for definite thanks rubyslippers.

I was also thinking about maybe trying her with some food later, around seven, as it is she is up eating at midnight...

Can you give more food earlier in the day so she has more over the course of the day? Eg more snacks and things? I suspect after her colds she's more hungry as getting get appetite back (DS does this). I give DS quite big breakfasts and lunches, he has a lighter tea plus morning and pm snacks and milk inbetween.

Have you tried puching her evening later? And doing bath, playtime and everthing BEFORE supper? Maybe supper at 7.00, bed time at 7.30?

Yes if she has a big tea at 4 then no wonder she isn't hungry by 5.30. I would also go with tea at 7, maybe 15 minutes play and then bath and bed at 7.30.

When toddlers sleep for so long I think that the last meal of the day should be no longer than 2 hours before bedtime, so 4pm seems very early to me. DS has meals at the childminder when he is there but on the day I pick him up at 5, he has tea at home, as soon as we get in - he doesn't have his main meal there on that day.

I am up for trying anything, just want her to sleep, not so much for me as for her... I just struggle trying to pace things out, especially with the nursery insisting she have set meals.

I will have a juggle round of her routine as you suggested seeker, if i give her tea at 7pm after her bath and play it might just help her settle for the night.

In the nursery they have breakfast at 7.45, lunch at 11.30 and dinner at 4.00, I have spoken to them about her diet and the fact that she rarely eats a whole meal. I think part of it is that they don't know what to do with her, she is a bit too small for them to put in with the eighteen month olds, but she is not on purees and wants to feed herself, so she often gets fed and won't take it. They serve a lot of food she doesn't normally eat... Just an adjustment period really i guess.

Thanks for all the advice though, really appreciate it, i am flying blind here!

Do they give snacks?

They give two snacks a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, either breadsticks or a yogurt. She does have the snacks no problem, have fed her at 6.45 today and she is already down, so fingers crossed she stays that way!

Good luck! Hope it works out ok.