What does GF say about toddlers?

[expatkat]

I was a loose GF follower for dd, now 17 months old. Unfortunately, when we moved to the States I left my GF book in London, so have no idea if I should have altered dd's sleep & nap schedule in some way by now.

Dd sleeps 11 hours at night and 1.5 hours after lunch. I seem to remember ds slept 12 hours per night at that age. Should I be waking dd up earlier from her naps, so that she sleeps a full 12 hours at night? it would certainly make my life a little more pleasant if she slept in that extra hour each morning, but who am I to complain about 11 hours?

Just wondering what GF says about babies of this age: their sleep, food, milk, etc.

Thanks --Expat.

PS I've tried to introduce GF to friends here, but she hasn't gone over well. One friend called the CLBB "The Contented Little Mommy Book." I was slightly insulted, but also thought it was funny.

Hi expatkat - good to hear from you in a different context! If you check out my 'dropped morning nap' thread which is near the top somewhere you'll see I'm going through similar things. My dd is almost the same age as yours, born 10 October. She's doing pretty much what yours is, an 11 hour night (which I WISH was 12 ), and between an hour to 2.5 hours after lunch. Previously she was doing 2 day sleeps of 1-1.5 hours each, morning and afternoon but the later one was getting too late so I switched it to 1 nap after lunch over this last week and I'm not sure it's working as you'll see from my thread.

What time does your dd go down and get up?

I don't think GF says much about toddlers. She kind of assumes that by 18 months they have just 1 sleep a day of 1-2 hours but that they have a 12 hour night. Richard Ferber estimates that at 18 months 13.5 hours is the average sleep per day. Dd almost manages that, well actually is at the moment more like 12.5 which I personally don't think is enough as she's a bit manic and ratty by the end of the day. How is your dd's mood in general? I guess that's probably the best indicator.

Evita !

Saw your thread; thanks for directing me to it. Dd's mood leaves something to be desired but I can't tell if it's to do with sleep. She goes to bed at 7, wakes at 6, then has the 1.5 hour lunchtime nap which occasionally goes longer. I could start putting her to bed at 8, but my older son really needs that hour between 7 and 8 just with me due to dd's being at such a demanding and interruptive (as opposed to "joining in" ) age. So the 7pm bedtime is convenient; I'm not keen on making it later. I guess every child's sleep needs are slightly different, and fiddling with the hours, after a point, won't make a big difference.

I'm just shocked that your dd (& so many others on the thread you started) actually still had a morning nap through 17 months! Both my kids dropped it at about a year! [ Sigh.]

hi expatkat, yes, dd had 2 lovely sleeps a day until I disrupted it last weekend and now feel like a fool. She was sleeping 8pm-7am then having these 2 sleeps as well. Now she's sleeping 7.30-6.30 (if I'm lucky) and only having a 1 hour sleep and seems to be turning from a rather contented little soul into a maniac!!!

I don't think putting her to bed later will make her sleep in much later in my experience.

How you doing today? I'm at 'work.' Ahem ...

WTF! (sorry, not like me to be so rude) I'm quite happy to go by the Contented Little Mommy Book - after all, a contented mum usually means a contented baby too!

She's not terribly helpful about lengthening the nighttime sleep at that age. Plenty of blackout blinds, IIRC, and perhaps starting the night later and bringing the bedtime forward by 10m every few nights.

Welcome to the 'I Know She's a Good Sleeper, But I Wish She'd Sleep a Little Longer' Club!