My 11 month old daughter has been on a strict schedule since she was born when it comes to napping. She wakes up at 8am, goes down for a nap at 11am and usually sleeps for an hour sometimes an hour and a half. Then she goes down again at 3pm and used to sleep until about 5:30-6pm. She would go to bed for the evening between 8 and 9pm depending on how tired she was. This worked very very well for a long time...until now. Now she goes to bed at 8-8:30pm wakes up around 8am. Naptime is still at 11am and she sleeps for an hour. When she goes down for her 3pm nap she is very tired but sleeps only for about 30 min to an hour and a half on a good day. She used to sleep about 3 hours during her afternoon nap. She is so cranky because of the lack of sleep. We wake her up around 12am to change her very full diaper and she usually goes back to bed until 8am or so. Lastnight she was woken up at 11:30pm and stayed up crying until 3am and then woke up again at 8am. She slept at 11am until 12pm then only got a 30 min nap at 3pm. Why has her sleep schedule changed? She is obviously tired at these times so why isnt she sleeping? She is not teething at the moment, we feed her right before she goes down so hunger is not an issue. Does anyone have any advise on a good sleep schedule for a little girl that is almost 1? This schedule just isnt working anymore and mommy and daddy arent getting any sleep anymore either.
Thanks so much for any advise!
Maybe she's ready to try 1 nap a day. Try feeding her lunch around 11am & put her down for a nap at 12. Maybe she will be full & tired enough to take a long, mid day nap. Good luck!
I would try just one nap a day. My son transitioned to one nap when he was right around a year. His schedule has stayed the same since and he is now 18 months old. He goes to bed around 9:00 and gets up around 8:00 sometimes a little earlier depending on the noise in the house. Then we eat lunch at 12:00 and he goes down for his nap right after that. He usually sleeps between 2 and 3 hours. I would definitely not wake up for a diaper change, just make sure you do a change right before bed and don't give a lot to drink. My son drinks no more than 4 ounces of milk before bed. Also, you might try the bigger size diaper because they tend to hold more. My son weighs right at 20 lbs. and we have him in the size fours because he was wetting through the size threes too often.
My 11 month old is doing the same things. I think she is transitioning to only one nap a day, but is having trouble getting her body to get used to it. She gets up in the night by herself, I don't wake her up or change her diaper unless it has a poo in it. She stays up for 1-3 hours and cries. I think she must be overtired, but can't get her to sleep more to fix it. So, I'm just waiting for this round of changes to happen and hopefully get better in not too long. I empathize with you!
A tired Mommy
I'm going to say over tiredness is getting to her and the waking at midnight probably doesn't help. Try and overnight diaper so she can sleep through or just enough light to get the job done as quietly as possible.
Is her room set up for an afternoon nap? Sunlight, noise, and your chosen activity may have something to do with this.
We generally cheated on this, our younger two had to at least go to bed for the duration. #2 would sing, #3 would cry, but they went to sleep. I played cd's for them both until we wore out the cds. The younger just recently outgrew his white noise machine which we used for all sleep times. A vaccum cleaner works just as well.
I would say it is time to transition to that afternoon nap, right after lunch. Good Luck
Schedules are good and all BUT.....with kids they are going to evolve and change. She is getting older and doesn't need as much sleep. She might be cranky until her body adjusts fully. I would reschedule her w/ one nap. OR 2 shorter naps and a later bed time.
TRIAL AND ERROR....good luck
My son also went through this stage and I wonder if it's not because of the diaper change interruption in the middle of the night. My son (now 20 months) all of a sudden starting waking up in the middle of the night with a leaking diaper, wet pjs, sheets, ect around 10 months old. I tried different diapers until I found Huggies Overnights. They come in size 4 and 5. They work great. We still use his Pampers Baby Dry during the day but put the Huggies night diaper on at bedtime. He has never leaked since. Maybe try that. If she sleeps through the entire night without inerruption then maybe it will keep her nap schedule on track too. It seems that if there's any one little thing or if they get too overtired it screws with their schedule. Hope this helps!
My guess would be that she's on her way to one nap a day, though it's still several months off. She sleeps so well in the morning that she has no need for a good nap after lunch, and then is too tired to sleep well at night. I'd wake her at 45 minutes into her first nap, then put her down after lunch for a long nap. The morning nap will get shorter until she refuses any attempt at a second nap, then the one nap will be in the middle of the day. HTH. :)
They all go through it. She's no longer a baby, she's a toddler and it's time to stop the morning naps and take her to one afternoon, which will likely start alot sooner, like right after lunch instead of 3pm. Then KEEP HER Awake until bedtime, which you can move up to 7-7:30pm. It will be tough at first, but within a few days you'll see it works out much better for all. Also, I would bet she is teething, you can't always tell or feel it at that age. If she's not sleeping at night, use some oragel and children's motrin see if that helps. Also not sleeping can mean ear infection too.
When mine can't sleep, it's either teeth or ear, I rule those out first.
Good Luck with the naps.
