Wake windows for 12m+ - can we fix bedtime battles??

[PocketRocket12]

Hi all

My son is 13 months and naps like a dream - gets tired, points upstairs, sleeping bag on, quick cuddle and goes down in his cot for 2.5hours roughly. This is usually between 11.30-12 most days unless at nursery when it can be later.

Bedtime is a different matter. I usually go for 5 hours after he wakes (around 7.30). For a month he has fought me tooth and nail and screams/cries/fights/tantrums for over an hour each time. I’ve experimented with both 4.5 and 5.5 hour wake windows and nothing changes. Bedtimes are so awful and sad for the both of us.

I know it seems really long for a 13 month old but should I be going for a 6 hour wake window instead? Or maybe an even shorter one? Anything else I’m missing or should try? I don’t mind a few tears but it’s really quite awful at the minute.

Anyone else have bedtime battles or am I doomed to evenings with my tiny dictator?

Hi my daughters 12.5 months and still had two naps a day and her last wake window is so times as short as 3 hours so maybe a shorter one would work?

I think they’re all so different with their sleep needs that you might not figure out the issue until you experiment a bit.

DD1 hated napping with a passion, and would only go to sleep at night at that age if her nap finished no later than 1.30pm. My friend’s daughter of the same age was still having two two hour naps at that age, finishing at 4 for a 7pm bedtime.

Also, is he on the verge of walking or similar? DD1 went batshit at bedtime for a week at 10/11 months, and after about six days of screaming and refusing to lie down at bedtime she suddenly walked independently AND dropped to one short nap a day. This eliminated the bedtime issue straight away, so I assume the cause was developmental.

What time does he get up in the morning? Might be his nap is a bit too long as well - or could be he needs a quick morning nap some days. Hard to tell with them

You are right @Timeturnerplease, I think I have to really try and watch / understand my DS and get to grips with what works for him. Currently no idea!

He is learning to walk - 4 or 5 unaided steps so almost there. He's going through a lot developmentally I think. He's always woken multiple times in the night but gone back to sleep quickly - the split nights are a killer!

@Alexahelp - he gets up around 6/6.30 usually. He is always awake for 2 or 3 hours in the night so averages around 8 hours overnight which I know isn't enough. Last night he was awake 2-.420am and I had to wake him at (usually we always are awake at 6.30 but this morning I was just too knackered).

xx

**I had to wake him at 7am