DD dropping lunchtine nap but waking in the night.....any advice?

[ick1efeet]

My dd is 2.6mths and since xmas has been dropping her lunchtime nap, but has now started to wake in the night and it takes me upto 2.5 hours to settle her back to sleep.

She will often fall asleep in the buggy if we are out but this is usually in the late afternoon and this messes up the bedtime routine because she's then not tired at bedtime.

If she does'nt have a nap she settles at bedtime but wakes every 45 mins crying for the first few hours but settles back on her own only to wake at about 4am and it's a nightmare to get her off to sleep again. I have to sit in her room (without talking etc) until she's asleep again.

I know she's due to drop her nap which is fine but I'm 8 months pg and desperately need some sleep!

Anyone experienced this before and any advice would be gratfully received.

Hi there, sorry to hear you're having some disturbed nights esp. when you need the rest!

You're right - it is probably about time for her to drop her nap, but maybe she needs to drop it more slowly than she is doing? The waking shortly after going to bed is a classic sign of overtiredness. When she wakes at 4am is she happy or irritable? If the latter, this is also being OT.

I'd suggest trying to get her to take a nap earlier in the day so it doesn't affect her ability to settle at bedtime - you may need to create the right environment artificially such as taking her out in the buggy at lunchtime or in the car?

I reckon it won't be long before her body adjusts to the change and she's back to sleeping through.

Thanks for your advice, I think she is OT but she is happy and ready to play at 4am. I never thought about trying to bring her nap forward and who can resist the lull of the car, and its warmer in there! Any suggestions on how long I should give her for her nap? Should I cut it back to half an hour or so?

Really appreicate your help, the night waking is killing me!! Although I guess I better get used to it!

What time is her nap? DS keeps showing signs of dropping his then gets exhausted so we've kept it going. He naps at 1 for anywhere between 1 and 2 hours.

I'd give her an hour and early bedtime too because she'll need more sleep at night. Try for a week and see how she goes.

She used to nap between 1 - 1.30pm for about 1.5hours but trying to get her to go down is now near on impossible. today I took her into my bed with me,gave her some warm milk and tried to cuddle her to sleep, just because I needed it more than her, but she was not having none of it!!

I'll try bringing it forward and taking her for a drive in the car, see if that helps.

Thank you for your pearls of wisdom.

I would aim to have her awake by 2pm at the latest and probably just let her have an hour, if she's previously been having 1.5hours. There's no magic formula, you have to play around with what works or doesn't work!

My daughter dropped all her DTS at 2 and was only have 45 mins for the three months prior to that. It was a huge shock!! However, since then, she's slept really well, never wakes normally before 8am and goes to bed at 7pm every night. I lost my break in the day, but now I get a mini lie-in (although not for long, second baby due in July!)

:)