Hi Moms,
Sorry, this is going to be a long one :)
My 15 month old is usually a pretty good napper and sleeper. He usually goes to bed around 7:30pm and sleeps until 7am. Then he plays in his crib until about 8am. He takes a nap from 9:30 to 11:30 then from 2-4pm. About 3 weeks ago, he started not sleeping in the afternoon. So we shortened his morning nap which fixed the problem for a few days. Then he would only sleep for less than an hour in the morning and less than an hour in the afternoon. Crabby Baby!!! Then a few days later, he decided to not nap in the morning at all. BUT, no matter what time I put him down (11am, 12pm, 12:30pm) he would only sleep for an hour and a half which is not enough because he would get very tried quickly. It got to the point where he was tired all the time, he slept horrible at night which made things even worse and the entrie household was a ball of nerves. Then one day, he went back to his two regular naps...BUT he started waking up at 5am. Obviously, he doesn't need all that sleep anymore and is ready for one nap, but how do I get him to nap for more than 1.5 hours?
Any advice will be appreciated.
To follow up on the responses that I received, I realize that two 2-hour naps are too much. I'm been trying to move him to one nap, the problem is the fact that he won't sleep for more than an hour and a half and that's not enough sleep for him. When he only sleeps that much, he is overtired and wakes up a lot during the night which only compounds the problem.
It sounds like you son is adjusting to losing 1 nap. 2 2-hr naps per day sounds like too much for a 15 month old. Try to get him into the 1 nap a day, even if it's only 1.5 hrs. Then put him to sleep at night at his usual 7:30p.
I was going to give the same response as Marina. The total napping hours seems excessive at that age. My son just turned 1 but Im hoping (and my daughter did this) to have the following schedule around that age: wake up 7:00/7:30; one naptime at 1:00 (approximately 2 hrs) and bedtime around 7:30/8:00. GL
I think he will adjust after a period of time. My 13 month old daughter went down to one nap a few weeks ago and for the first 2 weeks she only napped 60 minutes. Now she is doing 1.5 hours, 2 if we're lucky. She was crabby for about a week and then was back to her normal self. I don't think 1.5 hours is too short a nap if he sleeps 12 hours at night. Perhaps move his bedtime up to 7.
Put him to bed an hour earlier so that he is not so crabby and then watch and see now that he is better rested, he would sleep much better. Give it a few days and see.
with anything there is an adjustment period. you have to give it a couple weeks
Each time your child drops a nap there will be an adjustment period. You just do the one nap in the afternoon even if it is only 1.5 hours and try putting him to bed a little earlier (like 7 instead of 7:30).
I know when my older daughter dropped her morning nap I expected her to take a long afternoon nap, but she didn't. Her afternoon nap was only 1.5 hours unless she was sick or overly tired. It took about a week or two for her to adjust to the new schedule and then she was fine.
Hey A.-
Maybe try putting something in his crib like one of those oceanariums that play soft music and he can turn it on by touching it? My son has had one in his crib since he was an infant and when he wakes up in the middle of the night, I will still hear him turn it on and he is just over 3 years old. It makes sense that your son is waking up after 1.5 hours since a sleep cycle is 90 minutes.
I agree with some of the other comments that any change in a sleep schedule is an adjustment. I don't agree that your son is sleeping too long. He's only 15 months old. My son just turned 3 in August, still takes 3 hours naps on the days that he is not at school and also sleeps about 10.5-11 hours at night. Some kids just need more sleep. Go with your gut. If he wakes up cranky then keep pushing a little while longer for the longer nap. Best of luck!
Hi A., I have a 3 year old and a 17 month old. I had read a lot about sleep for children and really try to respect their sleep needs. First, I would highly recommend Dr. Weissbluth's book, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child." Both of my kids dropped their morning nap at 15 months. They say that a child under two should be going down for his nap between 12-1:00. My 17 month old also only sleeps for 1.5 hours, and he could use a little more. It is frustrating for everyone. What has worked is as soon as you hear him begin to wake up, RUN to his room. Don't let him get tooo awake, rock him back to sleep. I am nursing my guy, so I nurse him back to sleep and will usually hold him if I can. I usually can get 30 more minutes of sleep. My sitter can rock him back to sleep and put him back in his crib. Hopefully as he gets alittle older he will take 3 hour naps like my daughter. Night time: He is going to bed tooooo late. He should be in bed by 6:45/7:00 the latest, or even earlier. Keep a sleep log. I will keep one outside of the kids bedroom. This helps me. Be consistant with sleep times. Sometimes, more than a 15 mintues difference can through them off. As I think about it more, I would get your guy down by 12:30, meaning in his crib and nighttime, by 6:45, 7:00 the latest. Best wishes. The transition takes a few weeks. It is a challenging time, and you feel so sorry for them because they are so tired and you can't make them sleep more.
I am not sure you can force a kid to nap. He sounds like he might need a change his nap schedule - maybe either a morning nap or an afternoon nap but not both. So, choose what you would prefer and change the schedule -- for example, if you like morning activities, take him out all morning and then nap him after lunch and see how long he goes. (get him up at a reasonable hous so he is ready for bedby 7:30.
My kids (now 5 and 7) are both great sleepers (still go 7:30 - 6 or 7). But to my surprise, right at 2 years old, their nap schedules changed dramatically! Maybe that is what your son is going through. It seems like once you get the hang of their schedule, they change it on you! : ) Best of luck!
