18 month old - having a tough time

[Annette69]

Hello, I would be interested to hear if anyone is/has experienced this 18 month sleep regression ? 'My daughter is 18 months and although always been an early riser around 5:30/6am she always had a short nap in the morning then 2 hours at lunch, about 9 weeks ago this all changed very much for the worse: The lunch to sleep became around 45 mins then reduced to 25 mins and now I can barely get her down at all! She still has a short morning nap which she needs as the early mornings have become between 4-5am. I literally really have no clue what to do. I have tried the VR technique of going in every 15 mins but she literally screamed for 3 hours the other day. Would be greatful for any advice as really affecting us all in the house. Thank you.

It sounds like she is ready for one, longer nap per day. 18 months (ish) is about right for changing from 2 nap days to 1 nap days.

What time is bedtime? 11 hours sleep would be average for night time sleep (if unbroken) so a range of 10h-12h. Therefore a bedtime any earlier than 7.30pm could well get you a 5.30-6.30am morning.

I would aim for 7-8pm bedtime, 6-7am wake and a 12pm-3pm lunchtime nap

Hi

The problem is I can't get the lunchtime sleep past 25 mins, she wakes and as I said screamed for nearly 3 hours, this is the same whether she has had a morning nap or not. Bedtime is 6:30/7pm as she so exhausted.

This is probably all over-tiredness related. It is a case of figuring out which to change first.

If baby went to bed later then she would wake up later. Because she's waking early, she will struggle to get through to lunchtime without a decent morning sleep, so she's over tired. An over tired baby is a light sleeper, so the naps are shorter. Then because she's not having enough lunchtime sleep, she's knackered by bedtime so wants to go to bed early. And do the cycle continues...

How about trying a very early lunch (or substantial snack) - say 10.30am. Then nap 11am? Over time gradually move lunch and nap later.

Hello

Yes I will try that again. She's having a night with Grandma tonight to give us a break. Thank you so much for your advice, you are totally right I think she is just so over tired and I need to try the big sleep earlier. X