Toddler routine vs Baby routine

[AussieSim]

My DS was a GF baby and I followed her routines quite strictly - I guess I still do most days BUT has he gotten too old for them? He is now nearly 15months and this is how it goes:

7am get up and breakfast
10am small snack
12noon lunch
12:45pm till 2:15pm nap
2:30pm small snack
5pm dinner
6:30pm milk
6:45pm asleep

The problem is that he has started to wake around 9pm and it seems like there is nothing wrong with him - he just wants to get picked up and carried around to look at stuff that interests him. It takes me quite a while to settle him down - which involves longish bouts of crying till he finally drops off. From waking till finally dropping off again can be 1- 1.5hours.

All advice gratefully received!

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As you may see from my recent cc post my dd has run into sleep problems quite suddenly too at 18 months. I don't feel anywhere near sorted enough to advise you but I think I'd avoid getting him up and carrying him around at all costs. Do you think maybe he could go to bed a little later? 6.45 seems a bit early for a 15 month old.

sounds good to me (apart fromt he 9pm waking)!!!

This is ds 20 mths:

awake anytime between 6am and 6:45am
faff on watching tv in bed until 6:45 then breakfast and cup of milk

lunch around 12-12:30 with juice (may have a small snack mid morning but not usually)

sleep after lunch 0 usually 1.5 - 2 hours

awake - water and piece of fruit

dinner between 5 and 6 (depending on how organised I am)

bath, milk and bed - bed between 6:30 and 7:15 (depending on time of nap, dinner, etc)

If I let him , ds will sometimes nap before dinner - eg if out inthe car - but I try to avoid this as then he wants to sleep again around 3-4pm which puts back bedtime.

No matter what time I put im to bed, he is up at the same time. Tried 7:30-8:30 - no difference. And I like my evenings to myself.

Not helpful to you at all but thought that it may be interesting to have another view.

AussieSim, that's pretty much the schedule I followed with both of mine, and the younger is now 16m. DS (now 3.5y) at 15m could easily have gone to bed at 6.45, but stayed up till about 7.15 in order to have some more daddy-time. DD, on the other hand, needs far less sleep and goes to bed at the same time as ds, which is 7.30.

I would suggest pushing milk and bed a little later, perhaps supper as well. Say supper 5.15/5.30ish, Milk 6.45/7.00ish, bed 7.00/7.15ish.

Just to update - he woke at 8:10 and I let him cry for 10minutes before I went in. I picked him up - even though I had already decided I wouldn't (wasn't even concious of decision). I gave him some little chamomile balls on his tongue and put him back in bed. He seemed to go off. I heard him cry out at 9pm but it didn't continue. I hope that is it for tonight. He didn't really have much of a nap today as I was out doing shoping/lunch/shopping/coffee with my SIL enjoying lovely string day.

There's a great, really fab book, called "Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth. I recommend it even to those whose children have no sleep problems. It helps you to understand how their sleep needs change as they get older and how to deal with the inevitable glitches.

aussiesim
my dd was having a bad run of sleep recently too, like evita.
and the advice i got from the thread was day time naps. she was ready to go down at 10/10.30 in the morn and that if she needed to sleep then, keep it under an hour, then another sleep in the afternoon but no later than 3.30 for her to be up for bed at 7.30/8.
it was a tough week but it worked and she got back to her regular wakening of 7/7.30 even 7.50 today. i even went back to the g fords way and took her out for strolls to help her nod off when she just refused in the day time.
shes getting plenty of fresh air in the morn and afternoon to help wack her out. i dont know if you are free to do that, but i find it helps - needless to say i hate the rain!!!!

and what twigglet says leave him to cry is no harm either i left my dd some morns at 6.15 and just closed my door. some one suggested some toys/books on a chair for them to pull into the cot.

There is a GF toddler book if you don't already know that. My 2 (3.5 y and 15 m) never slept as early as it said but otherwise it works for us. We do get night wakings sometimes at the same time for a few nights in a row, which I think is due to initially a disturbance which rapidly becomes a habit. We have had minor illnesses, over-exciting days and most interestingly once at about that age, a fright by a dog resulting in recurrent nightmares (she could say Dog and looked wildly around the room at 2 am, so I knew) for a few days. I think as they get older, things like being handled, talked to, picked up, given things to eat or drink are best avoided at night even more than when they are smaller. Just ensure they are well, (though sometimes I have to pick them up to be sure!) quietly and briefly doing and saying the same thing each time, then leave. Anything else is too rewarding, and now they are more developed, with only one lesson they can immediately learn that this is how to get an interesting reaction from you. It's much more fun than going to sleep. Very quickly they depend on you to get to sleep, when they should be re-learning to go back to sleep by themselves. Only give medicines or remedies if they seem actually poorly, and if they are, forget the routine business anyway until they recover. I think the schedule you have sounds ok though my 15 monther wouldn't sleep that long at night.

Thanks for the recommendation TW. I worry that I get him to bed too early, but at the same time I love the evenings to myself - but not when I have to listen to him cry.

Thanks Majorstress, very helpful - I was taking him down for a drink of juice for a while but then I worried I might be starting him on a bad habit. Does GF still had a 15mo in bed at 7pm in the toddler book?

IIRC, she doesn't give any fixed schedules for the over-ones in the Toddler book.