Changing Bedtime and Not Taking Naps

It sounds like your toddler decided to give up his morning nap soon. As they get older they require less sleep so he should be able to have one good nap a day and then go to bed aroound 8:00. My kids napped 1:00 - 3:00 and if they were in bed anytime after 3:30, it meant a late night for us. So try just one nap (which most kids usually go to around 15 mths), and bed time around 8:00. He should be tired especially if he has a lot of excerise and activities.

Hey K.! Hate sleep troubles, hate them. You said he managed to push his bedtime back an hour...I would take that into consideration every night and start the bedtime routine an hour earlier if you can. Or as close to an hour as you can. Also eliminate the after bathtime play like the previous poster said. Bathtime is kinda like playtime anyway in our house! I definitely wouldn't give in to the later bedtime right now because then you run the risk of letting him get overtired and I'm sure you know it's harder to get an overtired child to sleep. If he's not taking his last nap, you have to move his bedtime up anyway. Say you know he can only make it 3 hours between sleep then that's what you have to respect even if it seems unreasonable to put him to bed at 6:30.

The other thing is-if you've already had a few days of this, he's probably overtired during the day and you'll have to do whatever you have to to get him a good clip of daytime sleep. We do cry it out in our house, it's what works for us, so I understand. I don't think letting him cry for 2 hours through his nap is going to help. You would think he would wear his little self out and sleep though. Get him up after an hour, do whatever you usually do when he wakes up from a nap and try to put him down again as soon as you see his sleepy signs.

I just reread your post and understand what you're saying about 8:15. 8 isn't an unreasonable bedtime if he's getting the right amount of daytime sleep which he's not right now, right? I'm sorry this is so long, but I also just reread "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" so I'm on a roll here. :)

Bedtime and naptime can be challenging! I suggest you look at a book called "Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child" (or something to that effect). I don't agree with EVERYTHING in that book, but he does have good suggestions on biological sleep times and bedtime. I followed the suggestions that worked for our family and both of our boys are great sleepers (they backslide at times but it's easy to pull them back in). I hope this helps.

you have it right, bedtime between 7:30 and 8. that's always been the case for us. my kids never took 3 naps a day. more like 2 cat naps until 9 months when i dropped the second nap. so, try naptime around 12:30-1 pm, lie down on the floor in his room in the beginning. don't talk or try to console just be there so he knows you're there then slip out when he falls asleep. he needs that naptime. CIO in my opinion is 'cruel' although i embraced it at around 2 yrs of age when i thought i was going to lose my mind trying to get my kids to sleep. so if all fails continue with CIO :).
bedtime, for us at least, 30 min. prior to bedtime was always wind down time. not play time, so maybe you could do playtime before bathtime. after bathtime do quiet time. my kids loved baby einstein DVDs and they're not long. so put something calming on tv and have him watch not play and get all energetic. then off to bed. try it. don't give up. he is getting more and more curious about his surrounding and sleeping isn't as exciting.

Hi K.,
Check to see if he is getting his molars. Cutting molars can make a once happy child very cranky! Also, do you suspect fluid in his ears? My second child had chronic fluid in her ears which made it painful for her to lie flat. We had a time getting her to sleep on her own. Now might be a good time to try to find a comfort item for him to sleep with. My second child slept with a soft baby and my third has her blankie. (my first slept with me and that is an entirley different post!) Good luck. One year olds can be incredibly strong willed.

Take out the evening nap and you might see your problems disappear. He is at the stage where he wants his independence and wants to do things his way. Try to give him choices because that seems to help with my son. If they feel they have some control over their lives then they tend to protest less. My son is 20 months and takes a 2 hour nap on most days. If he doesn't take it I don't fight with him because I know he will go to bed earlier, normally before 7 when bedtime is typically 8. When my son started to have problems I let him go and go one night until he finally crashed...it was about 9:30. The next night I did the same thing and he was ready for bed around 9. The following night he was asleep by 8 and I haven't had a problem since. I gave him a little control over the situation and it worked out rather well for us. Now he goes into his bed, asks for a story and turns and goes to sleep as soon as it is finished. He probably needs less sleep now that he is getting a little older. My son went from 2 long naps (about 1 1/2 hours a piece) at 9 months to one 2 hour nap at 18 months. As long as he isn't cranky and is acting normal then the he may be getting the amount of sleep that he needs. Children at that age typically require about 13 hours of sleep a day, including naps. Every child is different and what they required a month ago may be different now. Good luck! I just read some of the other posts and agree that playtime after bath time is not a good idea. My son gets energized after bath so I do it earlier in the evening, normally around 6:30. TV isn't a good idea before bed either, though it may work for some kids. TV is also stimulating and can keep a lot of kids up instead of making them go to sleep. Try reading stories and having your son read to you. My son has a picture book and he spends half an hour pointing to the pictures. Your son may be too little right now but if you get him in the habit now of reading before bedtime it will stick.

I believe your son is ready for only one nap a day - after lunch, put him down and then keep him until 8 - he will sleep like a log. Oh and BTW, yes children that yound definetly have nightmares/dreams - but I don't think that's the issue here - I think he's sleeping too much and that's why he has trouble at night going to bed............give it a try and good luck!

As soon as they get overtired it becomes difficult to get them to go to sleep, and things like teething could also be part of his problem. My advice is to move the bedtime up (my one year old goes to bed at 615-any later and he can't sleep well) and give him consistent naptimes, about an hour and a half after he gets up, put him down for nap one, don't let him sleep past 1030 or you will not get an afternoon nap. Then around 1230-130 for nap number 2. Good luck, sleep can be challenging for these little ones, esp as they get older and want to explore more. I like Healthy Sleep Habits book also.

HI K.! Sleep is the biggest challenge for most of us moms! If only I had the chance to sleep as much as we want our little ones to sleep! I have read that many children will change their routine when they have met a new milestone, such as walking. Maybe that is the case with your child. My little angel is in bed asleep by 7pm. My parents/inlaws think that is too early, but everytime I have tried to stretch it longer, she is up multiple times through out the night. The old way of thinking "keep them up late and tire them out and they will sleep all night" does not work. Sleep begets sleep. It doesn't make sense, but it works. I would definitely eliminate the play after bath and just give the final sippy after that b/c it would be hard to push his bedtime up earlier than that at this point. Also, when are his naps? If he gets up by 0800, I would try a late morning nap (10-1030)and then maybe one around 3-4pm but not letting him sleep later than 5pm so he can have his evening routine. Also, if he is teething, give a dose of Motrin before bed and see if that helps. And finally, my daughter had night terrors too. It will pass. GOOD LUCK and keep us posted! T.

Hi K.. I feel your pain. Only I have two little ones. 21mo and 9mo. They are forever changing nap times on me. Like the others say, when they are over tired it is even harder for them to go to sleep. I know this all too well. If I know they are over tired, I lay them down and let them cry. They don't cry for long, usually. AS for him wakening at night screaming, my 21mo. did this also, I asked our Ped. and she said it was night terrors. That it was common and that most kids grow out of them. Mine has, thankfully. Also I use to rock my oldest to sleep every night, up until about a month before our second was due. At that point I realized I wouldn't be able to nurse and rock him to sleep, so I did the cry it out method. It was hard but it worked. Then when we switched him to a toddler bed, when we put him to bed, we shut his door and that was it. If he got out and cried I would only go in there twice and put him back to bed. If he got out after that it was up to him if he wanted to sleep on the floor or in his bed (which is a twin matress on the floor at this point). I'm sure I sound kinda harsh, but I had one on the way and needed him to be able to sleep in his own bed. And yes we have a nightly routine and they both og to bed at different times, but that works for us at this point. Our oldest goes to bed anywhere for 8pm to 930pm. I don't know if I am any help to you, but these were my experiences. Don't what is right for you and your little guy. I wish you all the luck.

I went through the same thing with my first child. She took three naps a day until about 8 months and then two naps a day until she turned 1. After she turned 1 she went down to one nap a day. This may be the case for your little one. It was easier to keep her bedtime the same when we only let her have the one long nap a day. She would sleep for a couple of hours each afternoon and then was in bed by 7:30. She woke each morning around 8 and had her nap right after lunch at around 12:30. I found that when I tried to get her to take more than one nap she would hold off bedtime until 8:30 or 9:00. It was quite frustrating. Maybe if he doesn't take the morning nap and has a nap after lunch and then the short catnap on the ride home you can still get him down at 7:30. The only other thing I can think of is maybe "tricking" him into thinking it's later by feeding him and bathing him a little earlier. Maybe he will think it's later than it actually is! Good luck to you and your little one!

First of all, what are his naptimes? Is he taking a evening nap? If so, I would cut that one out so he is more tired at night. Then maybe not let him play after his bath...let him play before then bathtime, read books and rock before bedtime w/ his sippy cup. I have an 11mo old daughter, she also wakes up sometimes at night crying. I do think that this is a common age to start wanting to get up at night. My husband usually gets up and just puts her back down and says night,night. We found this works and she is actually not really fully awake. If we get her out of her crib, she gets roused awake and we have trouble getting her down. I know that kids this age can have nightmares but it is not common. Hang in there. I've read it is common for kids this age to start to have sleep problems, just be consistent and he'll get the message. Hope this helps.

Children do change their sleep schedules, especially around naps. I wouldn't force it too much. Go with his natural cues and see if he's tired enough for a nap, if not, then don't force it too much. As for bedtime, I think 8:15 is a fine bedtime and if that works better, go with it! Quite frankly, any time before 9pm, in my opinion is good. After that, it gets too late. Good luck!