Ready to drop her final nap?

[Winglessvulture]

My 17 month old is becoming very difficult to get to sleep at night. She has been fighting her nap for over a month, with it taking me 45 minutes to get her sleep most days, but for the last week she has been getting worse at going to sleep at night too.

She has a bit of a cold at the moment, and we think she teething too. I have been giving her pain relief at bed time and Anbesol, but makes little difference. She has taken 2-3 hours to settle the last 4 nights.

She dropped to one nap before she turned one, and once she is asleep at night sleeps through. I wondered if she might be showing signs she is ready to drop her final nap, or if there is anything else people can suggest.

What time does she start her day, nap and when is bedtime?

Thank you, she used to start her nap about 1.20pm and then start bedtime at about 8 and be asleep by about 8.30pm (she gets up about 8.30am). With the fighting of the nap she is often not asleep until 2/2.10pm.

It isn’t typical for a child to stop napping at such a young age, so my instinct is that she’s going through a weird phase or that the timings are off. 7:30pm to 7am with nap starting at more like 12:45 is the more usual schedule for a child this age but obviously everyone is different!

My boy had only just dropped down to one nap at this age. Seems early to have no nap, and not ideal for you I'm sure!
My boy is now 2.5 he walks at 6.30am (or we wake him) naps 12.30-2 then bed at 8pm - so 6hrs awake either side of the nap works for us.
Could you wake her a bit earlier in the morning, or try for the nap at 2pm for just 40mins and see if that works?
Are you getting out of the house in the morning and afternoon to wear her out?

Thanks everyone. Yes we get out in the morning or play at home to make sure she is worn out by nap time. She is pretty active, runs around the house a lot and we also get her out for a walk in her pushchair each day for fresh air.

From what I have read most children don't drop their final nap until at least two, but as she dropped down to one so early I thought she might be ready already.

I think she might be teething too which I imagine isn't helping. She only has 8 teeth at the moment and hasn't cut any new ones for a while!

She woke up at 8 this morning, and I took her out for a walk after lunch, with her falling asleep in her pushchair just before 1.30 for about an hour, so fingers crossed she might be a little easier to settle tonight.

So she needs 6 hours awake then? How long do you let her nap for? You probably just need to shorten the nap?

I think that's too early to drop it. I'd bring it forwards or shorten it. I think at 18 months she'll be awful by tea time without a nap.

She has between 45 mins and an hour and a half for her nap, depends really on what she wants. I don't let her go longer than an hour and a half though.

So if she sleeps an hour and a half at 2:30 she isn't up til 4 then you want her to sleep at 8:30? I'd say that must be the issue. That's only 4.5 hours awake. If she goes 6 hours in the morning she probably needs that in the evening too?

Just so you know I've been there and thought I was the only one! My first dropped all her naps at 18 months old and my 3rd is currently 15 months and already fighting her nap! My second was a boy and napped until he was about 2 and a half like normal. Were you or dad the same when you were babies? My mum says I was always awake so it might just be in the genes! 😅

Sounds like the 18 month sleep regression to me! We've just been through it - just would not sleep at nap time or bedtime, whatever we tried. Thankfully we're out the other side now and back to normal, as long as we don't let him nap past 2pm.
Lasted about a month I'd say. Good luck!

Maybe wake her up a little earlier in the morning?

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate all the advice. Managed to get bedtime done in 45 mins tonight, which is about normal for her. I think a shorter nap, that finishes earlier, is definitely the way to go. I might need to do a post lunch walk each day to achieve it though as she doesn't fight it when she's in her pushchair :)

No idea if either DH or I were early nap droppers unfortunately! We both love our sleep now and would be pretty happy if someone offered us a nice afternoon nap.