Toddler sleep during the summer - Page 2

[healthy momma]

Just a quick update on our progress. Two days ago my ds actually slept in until 8:30 am and since we had a good start to the day I thought I'd brave a no nap day to see if I could reset his clock a bit. He fell asleep on my lap at 3:00 that afternoon and I let him sleep for a half hour before gently waking him up. That was just enough to get him through the evening and by 8:00 I was getting him ready for bed. He was exhausted. After nursing he started to fight against sleep but I pulled out the sling we haven't used in probably six months, snuggled him against me and gently danced around. He just melted and was sound asleep in two minutes. He slept great and didn't get up for good until 7:30 am. Yeah! Even better, he took a good two hour nap yesterday from 12:30 to 2:30 and then we did the exact same routine last night and he was out. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for tonight. Hopefully we've licked the 10:30 bedtime for a while. If it creeps that way again I'll definitely work in a no nap day. And as another bright mom suggested I did it on a nice day where I kept him outside and distracted with his grandparents. Oh, and he's been a lot happier and less frustrated the last two days so it's been good for both of us.

[mckittre]

Maybe this is my problem too. I cannot get my 15 month old on any sort of schedule anymore. It does stay light here until 10:30-11PM, and getting more so all the time. Making the room/house dark is impossible (one room house with a skylight).
He doesn't wake with the sun (wakes up 7:45-8:30ish), but lately I just can't put him to sleep. I've had him drop off at 12AM, at 1AM... I thought his naps were too late in the afternoon on those days, but today he slept 1-3PM, and still won't sleep now (at 10:30PM). If he stays up late and doesn't nap at all then he will crash super early (like 6:30PM), but I don't think he's ready to lose naps entirely. I feel like I spend my late morning/early afternoon desperately trying to get him to nap in the hopes that the nap will be early enough, then my whole evening trying to get him to bed for the night.

[porcelina]

Originally Posted by healthy momma

Hmm. Have other people experienced a drop of naptime around 2 to 2.5 years? If so, has that helped with an earlier bedtime? My little guy sure seems to need his naptime and very rarely fights it. I'd love to just go with the flow more with bedtime but I really, really need that time in the evening for me. Also, how much sleep are your little ones getting total? With my DS change in schedule he went from getting 13 hours total of sleep in a 24 hour period to only 11 and it was not a gradual change. And with that decrease there seems to be an increase in constant low level frustration for him throughout the day. I just want us both to stay healthy and happy!

This is exactly what we are experiencing! My DS is 29 months From about 13 (well, maybe a bit less) to about 11 per day, so that about 9 hrs over night is normal for him now when he used to get 11 at night. It is so strange! He is also easily frustrated, cranky, on-edge, etc. during the day, and really needs the nap (without it, he wakes even more frequently at night with very disturbed sleep).

I have just been reading Sleepless in America and am implementing some of the techniques. So far, I love the book. The first night, I got him down 45 mins earlier than usual, and each consecutive night for almost a week, we made it 15-45 mins earlier. Then, we had a night of later bedtime and (of course, you guessed it) early, er, 5am wake up, which led to a day that was totally unusual (early to bed at 7.30) followed by a day that was also unusual (nap 1-4 and then bedtime at 9.40). But, in general, I think it is helping. Granted, I think the days of a 7.30 bedtime are probably long gone, as by the end of the summer, when the darkness is back, they'll be even closer to 3 yrs old. By 3, they are only said to need 12 hours total sleep per day...

Anyway, the main things I'm doing are blacking out the entire upstairs part of the house (as much as humanly possible with blackout shades in every room plus draping a blanket on the one window where most light comes in) AND dimming all the lights. You can buy a dimmer that you can plug your lamp into, and keep the room dimmer. You can also read by a flashlight, and have bath with a nightlight. I start the light dimming about 1.5-2 hours before I really hope he will be asleep, so around 6.30 or so. I also pull the shades and blinds downstairs to limit the light if we are a little on the late side of getting upstairs.

Another change is to be more consistent about earlier eating time (5.30 or so), and then having a bedtime snack (part of setting the body clock). I'm also less likely to fight him about the whole sleep thing, and keep a more calm environment, because I now understand it's his body that won't wind down, not that he's intentionally avoiding sleep. And the major change to start with is enforcing a wake-up time, though he has been exceeding my target of 7.00 am almost every day (maybe I need to make it earlier for this to really work). Then, make sure they get LOTS of natural sunlight when it's time to wake up, and get them outside as early as you can. The goal of all of this is to re-set their internal clocks.

Anyway, I highly recommend the book, even if we're still trying to work it out! Good luck!

[mermaidmama]

re

My almost 2 yr old has been going to bed later.......AND skipping naps! I feel so exhausted by the days end. I guess I should be happy that he doesn't usually wake up very early (knock on wood).

[brandianndesigns]

we've been having some interesting sleep patterns here too. my almost 3yo has been going to sleep later (around 9) and up earlier (around 530 am). he is still taking a nap but it's before noon because he's up so early - which won't work once he starts school, so i've been trying to get the times moved back.

he's always in bed by 7 and only rarely is still awake at 8. he goes down for a nap at 11 and usually sleeps for a couple of hours. for a while i had his naps moved back to 1pm which worked well, but not right now.

we have a rule in our house - even if there's no nap, quiet rest time is required. he does not have to sleep, but he does have to rest. this will help tremendously in the middle of summer when he wants to be out in the pool and it's just too hot that time of day.

in the mornings if he's up before 6 i will give him a cup of milk (i figure normally he's hungry like i am first thing in the morning) and tell him it's too early to be up that he has to go back to bed. normally that will work for about 30-45 minutes if he stays awake or longer if he falls back to sleep.

we usually run errands in the mornings and then play at home in/outside in the afternoons. i like it that way because if he naps late (i don't let him sleep past 330 so it doesn't interfere with bed time) then i don't have to worry about running here or there or anything - i can just go with it. because it gets so hot here in the summers (and it's already in the 90s during the day) we play outside early mornings, run errands, lunch (1030-11ish), nap, wake up, play, dinner at 5-530 (i also have a 16 mo who needs to eat earlier), play, bath around 615, bed for the little one, then the bigger one goes to bed later.

[CI Mama]

Originally Posted by Emmery'sMom

Just this week my DD started fighting sleep at bedtime- tossing and turning for an hour while we nurse and lay in bed. Sometimes I fall asleep before she does! She doesn't go to bed until it's dark anyway, but something has her messed up- I thought it might coincide with starting night weaning, but I nurse her to sleep so IDK....

This is my DD, too! (19 month old). About 3 weeks ago, our nice, peaceful "nurse to sleep" routine turned into 1-1.5 hours of nursing gymnastics in bed, with me falling asleep before her. Not good.

I couldn't take it anymore, so now she has a short nurse on the couch and either my partner or I walks her to sleep in the stroller. We've also pushed back our routine so that it's truly dark when we take her out of the house (between 8:30-9:00 at the moment). When we bring her home, she sleeps in the stroller in the living room or kitchen until I'm ready to go to bed, and then I take her with me. She usually wakes up at that point, but a quick nurse will put her back down again.

We just hope that before next winter's blizzards, the routine has shifted again.

[MJ13]

oh gosh I'm so glad I found this thread.

My 28 mos DS has always been a great sleeper (well except still waking up many time a night) In bed early 6:30ish sleeping until 6-7am and taking at least a 2 hour nap. This past week he's been staying up until 10-10:30 even 11 and taking really short naps or none at all.

We're getting lots of outside time and hard playing time and it doesn't seem to be making a difference.


glad to know I'm not alone...