Bedtime Issues - Richmond, KS

8-9 am seems pretty late then trying to get her to take a nap only 2 hours after she's awake.

Put her to bed at 8:30 on a bedtime schedule- bath, reading, laying down. If she throws a fit well let her. If you get her out or go in to put the things she's threw out, it's turned into a game for her.

Get her up at between 6-7 a.m. If she needs a nap it should be after lunch around 12:30 to 1 p.m for an 1 1/2 or 2 hours long, then get her up.

Hey E.,

I agree with the first post, letting her sleep until 8-9 is too late with a nap two hours later.

Get her up earlier and make it the SAME time every morning and down for naps at the same time EVERYDAY... or as often as possible. Kids thrive on schedules. My son for instance, has made it a habit of getting up at 6:40 AM every morning. He then takes a nap around 1 PM.

The reason your daughter stays up late is because she's sleeping in, having a nap too early and finds it hard to go to sleep because she's not tired!

Try waking her up at 6:30 AM and letting her nap after lunch about 2 hours. Give this about 3-4 days and see if things work better for you.

Good luck, ls

It's been my experience that if they are not sleeping, they are not getting tired enough to sleep. There are 2 kinds of tired. There is physical and mental. She needs some physical stimulation to make her tired. She needs a safe way to climb, walk, run, dance, and jump. At her age she is all about learning how to do these things and needs a safe way to do them. She's too short and little to play in the tunnels at McDonald's. So I suggest you get her a small individual size trampoline, lots of music, encourage dance time and some structure she can climb. You could get something like a small ball pit and or a slide she can climb safely in the house.

The other thing she needs is plenty of mental stimulation. She needs to have a large amount of books she can look at without being in too much trouble if she rips. So I suggest lots of chunky board books. But also, lots of books of all kinds from the thrift store. She needs to see and hear the written words all over the place. You can teach her out to pound play dough, pour rice from dish to dish, wash her toys in a small amount of water, smear shaving cream on the table with food coloring etc. This is an age for exploration and soaking up learning of all kinds like a sponge.

If she is getting both of these types of stimulation, a strict schedule or routine is not needed. My kids can and will lay down early, late, and sometimes not at all. But without a doubt, if I do lay them down, they fall asleep. At her age, she needs that nap and will become very disagreeable if she is not getting it. But she doesn't want to miss anything. So her mind and body needs to wind up enough to wind down after.

Try this with her baths. Since you have to stay in the bathroom every minute, this should be safe. Get some fizzy balls that are bath salts that are for making a person tired and relaxed. I am tired and the kind is not coming to mind. But look for calming scents. Put on some candles, play some soft music, and be sure to use only a very soft voice while you sit with her in the bathroom. Make sure you do this after a full day of all kinds of activities. See if she doesn't come out of the bathroom with a much different attitude. Also, keep all the lights low around the house with only night-lights and or soft colored lights. Mood is everything.

Suzi

E. Pantley's No Cry Sleep Solution is a great place to start. It talks about routines and finding the right sleep for YOUR family. I don't think all families and all kids are the same. Someone mentioned she may not be tired enough, which might be true, but sometimes it's harder to get to sleep if she's not tired enough. If she doesn't get a nap she may be too tired and thus wired to sleep. I had that problem with my first, and when I worked on nap and EARLIER bed time, she slept better. Many 15 month olds still need 2 naps. Anyway, you may check out the book, it talks of many small ideas that may help you.

K.

i agree with everything already said! just because you don't work doesn't mean she can sleep in every day and stay up late. she should be getting up a couple hours earlier, and please for both your sake's, create a bedtime routine and stick with it. it's best for her, regardless of whether you're working right now or not. it will be a huge help later when you do go to work during the day, trust me! my friend's husband works odd hours and her 2 year old now stays up till 11 or later "waiting" for daddy to come home. not okay in my house! (she comes to work the same time i do in the morning- 7:30 am) you also want to look at the total number of hours she's sleeping, as well as the "when" she's sleeping. she should get about 12-14 at this age, i believe (you can google that to make sure) also what someone said about stimulation is right on. my son is a TERROR at 2, if he is not stimulated with some fun learning activities. at 15 months i bet you notice behavior changes if you guys don't do anything with her on a given day - it will only get worse as she gets older. they need activities. taking them for a walk or to a park will always wear them out really good. since going to one nap, my son has always taken an early afternoon one, right after lunchtime. it was HARD for me to give up that morning nap when he grew out of it, and i tried for awhile to put him down earlier, but it didn't work. also wanted to add, car rides are great for knocking them out (like you stated, IF you have somewhere to go) but keep in mind they provide ZERO physical stimulation and next to no mental stimulation. they'll just be more hyper after they wake up in my experience. hope any of this helps. good luck!

well since she is getting up at 9am she probably doesn't need a nap that early. try 1 or 2 in the afternoon and see how that goes but wouldn't let her sleep later than 4 because any later will be too close to bedtime at night. Every child is different and some don't require more than 12 hours of sleep which is about what your child is getting overnight. My son quit taking naps around 16-18 months and slept well through the night. He went to bed around 9 and woke up between 8:30 and 9 am. I did have him go to his room for quiet time for a few hours and he could play quietly in his room and if he did decide he was tired he would sometimes fall asleep but knew that time of the day was quiet time so he was content playing in his room or looking at books. I made sure his room was baby proofed and put a gate at his door so he knew couldn't get out. This helps kids learn how to be independent and know that they can be ok alone and not hanging on Mom's legs all day as I have seen other kids do at around age 1. All of my kids had independent playtime and none of them were clingy at a year old. My daughter took naps through age 4 and youngest son quit taking naps around age 2. Their choice was either take a nap or play quietly in their room. I usually did housecleaning during that time or had some downtime for myself if it was a busy morning but I did peek into their rooms every once in a while to watch them play or make sure they were doing ok.

Hi E.!
Your little one still needs her rest; she is too little to give up her nap and fight the bedtime. First of all make bedtime routine a priority. She needs naps and a good sleep habit to be healthier and happier. Try to make more apart the time she wakes up in the morning and goes to nap, however, what will help her to have a nap is just being more active. Make your little one read, play, take her to some place in the morning, sing with her, show her books, give her something to keep his mind and body active. A kid who does not sleep, mostly needs more exercise in some way. For what I read, she needs more exercise and then a GOOD routine. Wake her up in the morning a little bit earlier, even if you are a stay home mom. I am at home, I don't work out of my house, but I have a routine for my kids, that helps a lot! Even make a routine for her meals that will go together with bed time and nap times routines. Stick to it, at first is not going to be easy because she does not have a routine already, but you can do it with patience and thinking that is good for BOTH of you.

Take care
Alejandra

You need a bed time routine. She is much too young not to have a nap. AT her age she sould be sleeping at least 15 hours a day.

Try not putting her down for a nap until about 1 and then if she sleeps go with 9 PM bedtime but if not put her down at 7 PM. She is probably overly tired.

I'm not sure how working is related in any way to having a bedtime routine. I am also a stay-at-home mom and have had a bedtime routine for my son since he was about 3 months old. I highly recommend you start one! It doesn't need to be very complicated or long. Ours now (23 months old) consists of bath, brushing teeth, getting on PJ's, reading a few books, then singing a lullaby as I put him in bed. The after-bath part is 10 minutes, tops. The reason a routine is so effective is kids use it as a cue that bed time is coming and can start to get themselves into "sleepy mode." You may also want to adjust your daughter's nap time. If she's down to one nap, then it is too close to her wake-up time and too far from her bedtime. She is probably not tired at 11:30, and then by the time her bedtime comes around she is overtired. My son switched to one nap at a year and it was about 5 hours after he woke up and lasted 2-3 hours. By the way, a naptime routine is also a must! Being consistent in the times and routine will help your daughter figure out when she is "supposed" to sleep. Best of luck to you!

I agree with some of the other moms...your daughter needs to wake up earlier in the morning. Then get her going...whether it's playing outside or inside or going to run errands...get stimulation happening. Don't put her down for nap until after lunch and only LET her sleep for 90 to 120 minutes...then wake her up. Then get her going again. She needs stimulation during the day to be tired for nap and bed time. Then start your night time routine. Find one that works for you. Bath, reading a book, listening to music, watching a video, something that you can do to calm her so she can fall asleep. She needs that down time, whether you are working or not. I was a SAHM for years when my kiddos were young and we always had a routine and if I wssn't home for whatever reason, my husband did the routine. She is sleeping too long at night and that is causing her not to want to take a nap and that will cause over stimulation which will prevent her from settling down at night. One nap a day is all she needs. But she doesn't need to sleep in either. Good luck and God Bless.

Although I'm not sure about a 15 month old but I know that toddlers need about 5 hrs of wake time before going to sleep again. So lets says she wakes up at 8am, then you could put her down at 1pm (wake at 3pm) then back to bed at 8 or 9pm. If shes not waking up in the morning until 9am trying to put her back down at 11:30am or noon is too soon. Try spreading it out more.

Hi E.,

I have had a similar issue with my now 22 month old youngest son. He has always had a hard time falling asleep. It really helped for him starting a bed time routine: it doesn't have to be really elaborate. He's very active and on the go, so the whole sit down and read a book approach never worked.
But what did work as a routine for us was after the bath, I would take him upstairs and tell him it was time to go night night. Then I would turn his musical projector while I was dressing him and dim the lights. I would hug him if he let me, then I would lay him down and cry or not, leave the room and not come back. Once he understood that no matter how much he called I wasn't coming to get him, he stopped crying.
For the nap, he only takes one around 1pm and then goes to bed at 8.30 - 9pm, but doesn't usually fall asleep before 9.45, sometimes 10. But he doesn't cry while in his crib: he babbles to himself. I hear him move around and eventually he'll fall asleep.

I think that consistency is key. For Luke, he's really irritable once he's exhausted. So if he starts crying harder, I know I waited too long, he's overstimulated. it might be the case for your daughter too. I just think some kids are wired differently. My Luke is one of them and as tiring as it might be to care for him sometimes, that's just the way he is. Hope it helped a little! Good luck!

C.

If your a SAHM I don't believe in forcing a wake up time unless you have to for some reason. Heck, we have to wake up early the rest of our lives..so if my son wanted to sleep until 9am I thought it was great! I got to sleep in too! Whoo hoo!

I agree that putting her back down for a nap at 11:30 is too early. I'd wait until after lunch and only go for 60-90 minutes. If she won't sleep then just encourage quite time (my youngest quit taking naps about this point too...declared herself a "big girl"). Doesn't mean that there aren't days that at 4 she doesn't NEED or take a nap, just that it's not now on a regular basis...just depends on how busy we are.

As for not having a bedtime routine, I'd HIGHLY recommend it. Kids thrive on a routine...they actually crave it and the structure it provides. I would recommend deciding on a bedtime suitable for your child and start the routine at least an hour earlier. bath, pjs, brush teeth, read books, etc. Bathtime used to stimulate my kids too so you might want to switch that out to early morning instead of late night or use lavender bedtime soap to help quite her down.

I've done the whole supernanny thing where they cry themselves to sleep and you keep moving towards the door every few minutes. Emotionally, the first week is sheer hell but it works. My kids know now that when I say it's bedtime, it's bedtime. Set a timer and have her race to get her stuff done in time for her 3 books or whatever you settle on...if she doesn't get done in time a book gets taken away...my kids HATE that! They look forward to getting as many books as possible out of me everynight and cribbing on that sets off a huge argument between brother and sister at who "lost" the extra book...LOL...so they strive harder then next night NOT to lose it.

You might also want to get her more active during the day. My kids will positively drop over right after dinner if they have been run ragged. Playing outside, running around, playing at the park, swimming lessons, dance lessons, gymnastics...all really great things that will help her developmentally and wear her out. Oh, another thing I got for my kids at about this time was a small bounce house that I could blow up in my living room...PERFECT for wearing them out! It rocked and you can get them for under $50...they are about the size of a small swimming pool you buy at Wal-mart!