16 mo all over the place: 2-1 naps, early waking and settling problems

[Suchanamateur]

Just when I thought we had something a little bit sorted... DD has been hovering between 1 and 2 naps for a few months and we've mainly gone with the flow and gone with 1 or 2 depending on wake up time (usually 6 or after if I'm lucky).

But post horrible chicken pox, and a week with the inlaws and lots of cousins on holiday, suddenly I don't know what she wants. She's up in the night again, and is waking 5.15/5.30 (and one horrible time 4.45) for the day.

The problem is that with 2 naps, even the early waking means she doesn't settle till well after 7 - and thats a very very long day and short night.

With one nap - say 11-1 as today, I put her to bed as 6 as she was obviously tired but it still took her 25 minutes to settle which is either over tiredness (more likely) or under tiredness, but I really don't want to have to do 5.30 bedtimes, not least because I've got an older DS to deal with.

Any thoughts? Push ahead with 1 nap although I think shes OT, and hope it gets her more night sleep? Back to 2 naps? Faff around somewhere in between like a flip flopping gasping fish...?

I'd say try cutting down to one nap, she may be a nightmare for a few days but hopefully she'll settle down after that.

At that age my eldest two dropped any naps but slept from 7pm -7am. DC3 is 2.5 and still has a nap most days.

I think it's just trial and error but IMO she's having too much sleep in the day so is hard to settle and wakes early.

I've also found that when they're little any big disruption to their routine takes a few weeks to get back to normal.

Thanks Crazykat. We've done a few consecutive days of 1 nap - although she is still waking hideously early - and she's fine in the day although tonight it took her an hour to settle (but may be because she had a 2.5 hr nap from 11.45 - 2.15?). So still not quite there. Shes still getting far too little sleep at night.

Anyone care to share their routines about the same age?

Don't know why I'm floundering and fretting quite so much here. DS went down to 1 nap at 18 months and it was easy. But then DD - bless her sparky sparky soul - is a different kettle of baby altogether.

Hello, can I join your party please? DS is 14 months. Has had a lovely two nap schedule for months and months. He sometimes struggles to settle for the second and will chatter for ages, but then usually eventually drops off. He's struggling at the CM as on her days he usually misses the window for his morning nap due to her school run, so has one big pm nap, but then REALLY struggles to settle at bedtime (taking up to two hours), and still wakes at 5.30/6am regardless. Problem as well is that when I'm at work, 3 days a week we leave the house at 7am, which means the early starts and early bedtimes have worked for us. I just have no idea what to do really!!

sorry to hear your LO's routine is up the spout too, teacher123. although I could do without the early mornings, the early bedtimes work well for us too as I can then get DD's older brother down.

What time is the one nap when he has it at CM's? And how long?

The one nap is usually at about 1pm till about 2.45. But he's taking about 20 minutes to settle even though he's knackered. For months he's gone to bed around 6.30 and woken up about 6.30. The light mornings have slightly buggered that up and the heat isn't helping either. After these one nap days he's taken up to two hours to drop off at bedtime instead 5 minutes! I think I need to properly shift him to one nap and hopefully he'll adjust to a slightly later wake up time to compensate. It's a pain in the arse!

Argh-one nap yesterday. Took an hour to settle at bedtime. Still woke up at 5.45am...

Exactly the same here. Up 5.30 - so napped 11 -1, then I tried for an early bedtime at 6.15. Asleep at 7.20. And up at 5.20. Sooo tedious.

Wondering if its developmental. She goes down for her nap fine, but its like she just can't switch off at bedtime. I know there's an 18 month regression so I wonder if we are experiencing it early - at almost 17 months. But yours is a bit littler teacher? Is she starting to do something new? DD is just getting some words so I wonder if thats it. DH raises his eyebrows at my constant need to find reasons for shit sleep!

In the meantime, we're both so tired..

DS is 14 months. He is learning things at a rate of knots, talking, walking, running all that sort of stuff and I think that he's just gone a bit mad! I would quite happily force him onto one nap if I thought it would sort out the late settling and early waking, but it seems to be worse when he only has one nap, rather than two... Luckily I have broken up now for the holidays, so at least I don't have to struggle to work after my 5.45am start...!

Congrats on breaking up - hope suddenly DS starts giving you some later starts to enjoy your hols.

I think it must be developmental. DD definitely ready for 1 nap. On 2 our days stretches for weeks.

Thought I'd cracked it today as she only managed a short sleep (1 and a quarter hours) and then gave her an early bed at six. Quiet from about half six. But just went up and she was lying there. Wide bloody awake. But silent. A bit creepy!

Haha, DS does that, lulls you into a false sense of security... I also need a REASON for changes in routine etc, I constantly wonder WHY he's doing things. Drives DH and my mum absolutely batty.

Luckily we're going away next week with inlaws, and grandma doesn't really sleep past about 5am either so she has said she'll get up with him every morning to give me a lie in! I love her very much indeed.

I've got 8 weeks to try and get him to bloody well sleep in till 7am. That is my target.

Right now, I'd be happy with anything with a six in it..

Me too. DH is deaf in one ear, and sleeps on the good one. He never bloody hears him.

6am wake up today.... I feel like a new woman!

Yay! We got 6.20 (albeit with a short wake at 4.30) and I was asleep by 9.15! Heaven is 8 hours sleep. DH asked me if I was wearing new make up this morning. Nope. Just didnt look like a ghost.

8 hours sleep IS amazing I've decided to push on with only one nap as DS has done two days of that already with the CM and I'm hoping that cutting down to one nap will mean that gradually he'll wake a bit later...

Well it's not working so far... He's been awake on and off since 5.... Keep hoping he'll drop back off!

Oh no teacher. How did it go? Did he eventually go off?

I think DD was up around 6.30ish, but she may have been up earlier but quiet (which is better than up screaming as she has been the last few weeks) so I'll take not knowing for the quiet. Unfortunately DS was up in the night for a while, DH came home after a few drinks and decided DIY would be a good idea (the banging woke me just when I was dropping off to sleep) and a delivery man rang our doorbell at 6am to deliver something. So I didn't really get to enjoy the quiet as much as I'd have liked.

DD is now resisting her lunchtime nap (she usually is so knackered that she passes out), which may be because she had a decent nights sleep for once, or may be because I'm trying to drop the daytime breast feed for a bottle (in the long journey towards hopefully weaning) and she thinking that the bottle is a great game so not terribly wind-y down-y..

Who delivers stuff at 6am?! That's rubbish! Sounds like you had a crap night even if DD wasn't the culprit, sometimes it feels like everyone and everything is conspiring against you getting a good night!

I think the really light early mornings and the heat is also not helping, he keeps just waking up really thirsty. Normally if he wakes before 5 and I go straight in and give water he'll go back to sleep. If he wakes after 5 it's game over. I'm on a night out tonight-at this moment I reckon I'll fall asleep in my starter!!!

Have fun! I'm leaving the kids with DH for the weekend and having my first 2 nights off in 3.5 years. Can't wait, but also slightly terrified of leaving them. If DH has a nightmare, he might never let me go again!

Wahoo! How exciting! I've got my first 2 nights away in a fortnight-I had better not be woken up at 5am....! Have a wonderful time