Is it time to drop the daytime nap?

[bettyspaghetti33]

My DD is 20 months and for the last 6 months or so has been very happily taking an hour daytime nap in the afternoon each day while also going to bed and sleeping 11-12 hours at night. Lately she has been still taking her daytime nap but will stay awake in her cot for 1-2 hours after bedtime just singing or talking to herself, does not seem tired enough for bed. So my question is do you think I need to drop her daytime nap? It seems a little early to do this as she is only 20 months old; or should I extend her going to bed time so that she is properly tired enough to go to sleep straight away?

can you post her daytime routine? (wakeup time, nap time and bedtime)

It does sound like she's not tired enough to fall asleep at bedtime, so it may be that you need to shift her bedtime a wee bit later. 1hr nap is quite a short nap at this age though - would you say she is low sleep needs? Does she wake happy from nap & seem well rested?

One thing I've found with my DS (who has also had phases where he took a long time to settle) is that if his nap is early in the day eg 11am then he will take forever to settle at bedtime, but if he naps later on eg 1pm then he will settle much better. It may be that if your DD is napping early in the day, you could first of all try gradually pushing her nap a little later, before you extend her bedtime.

I'll let you know my thoughts when I see your routine.

p.s. meant to add while some kids do drop the daytime nap at this age, the majority still nap until between 2-3yrs old.

My DS is low-average sleep needs & I thought similar when he took forever to settle but a 1hr daytime nap (capped) made him hugely overtired & he still took ages to settle. I have recently reinstated a longer nap of 2-2.5hrs (whatever he needs) & he sleeps around 10-10.5hrs at night (he is 23months)

Thanks for your reply :)

Ok routine is something like this: wake anytime between 6-7 am, nap usually starts between 1-2 and lasts for one hour (she probably could have more but I've been waking her up after one hour for fear that she won't sleep as well at night), bedtime 6:30-7pm and she sleeps 11-13 hours at night.

I think that routune is pretty good. my girks have lights off by 7pm. up at 6:30-7am. 2 hour nap @ 1-3 every day x

I would try cutting the nap to 45 mins and keep bedtime the same time. If no joy, cut the nap further to 30 mins. Don't just lose it altogether as this could tip her quickly into overtiredness.

I know 2 people whose DCs were 18 mos when they dropped all naps so it can happen. My DD was on 45 mins at 20 mos and dropped her nap at 2. HTH.

ok so is she still taking 1-2hrs to fall asleep even now you've cut the nap to 1hr? Or has that done the trick?

I tried it with my DS & he was ok for a week or so & then OT hit massively & he would still take forever to settle, sleep a shortish night of 10-10.5hrs & be foul & grumpy the next day. This is what drove us to reinstate the nap & have a later BT. Its ok saying cut the nap shorter but she has to be able to cope during the day on so little day sleep. My DS couldn't, even if his nights were long. If she seems completely fine in herself then its definitely the way to go.

HTH.x

Thanks for all the replies :)

So we have now tried extending the daytime nap to up to two hours and she seems to need it. She hasn't been as much of a pain to go to sleep at bedtime this way which is great, maybe its the case that she just needed more sleep time.

Yay!!!! Pleased to hear it. Its still doing the trick here too, though DS doesn't fall asleep til about 8.15-8.30pm now. While he goes into his cot without fuss & chatters til he's ready to sleep though, I don't mind.x

Yes it is bliss at the moment! Will have to wait and see how long it will last.