Anyone have a kid with these sleep habits? Are these sleep habits healthy? - Page 2

[ellemenope]

Originally Posted by lisavark 

My daughter gave up naps at 18 months. I put her in preschool two days a week just so I could get a break at SOME point. 

Also, she has never slept all night--and by "all night" I mean five straight hours. She's slept five or six hours a few times in her life, I think--maybe three or four times? Usually she wakes every two hours, or at least every three hours, all night long. I tried for about a year to nightwean her, and she started waking and staying awake for five to six hours in the middle of the night (like from 10 pm till 3 am, or from midnight till 5), so I gave up on nightweaning. Now at least she goes right back to sleep every time she wakes, as long as I breastfeed her RIGHT AWAY. 

Yeah, I think your kid sounds like a perfect sleeper! :D 

Oh, and we have tea every afternoon too. It's a lifesaver! I make a pot of herbal tea, and DD had her own little teacups (they're actually espresso cups, super cute), and she can pour herself tea too. It's really fun. We also lie down and nurse for about an hour every day at 1:00. (Then we get up and have tea and a snack.) At least I get to lie down...if I'm really tired sometimes I'll have her play on my iphone for a while so I can lie in a comfortable position and rest. 

From 18 months till now, we pretty much couldn't go anywhere or do anything in the afternoons. It was really tough for me because I really like to go out and do stuff in the afternoons, but I just had to give up on that because DD couldn't handle it. We just stayed home and had tea, played quietly, maybe watched a movie. Sometimes we would walk to the playground, but a lot of times she couldn't even handle that.  Now she's almost 3, and she's finally able to "make it" till bedtime without having a breakdown, so we're starting to occasionally go on small, easy outings in the afternoon again. She also sometimes stays up really late even without napping--like when my mom was babysitting last week, she stayed up till 11 pm after getting up at 8:30 and not napping. When she first dropped her nap, she'd fall asleep in five minutes whenever I lay down with her, but now it takes her at least 30 minutes to fall asleep no matter how long she's been up. That's just how her body works, I guess--she needs time to unwind. 

I've sort of given up on it getting easier and just accepted the way it is! LOL! Pretty soon she'll be able to read so I'll just send her to bed with a book and let her stay up as late as she wants! 

Yes!  We love the herbal tea.  Best suggestion ever!  They really pushed it on my at Teavana what with their free samples.

Now DD is taking a tub.  This is another break I get.  She will stay in there for a half hour, and she wants nothing to do with me.  She doesn't even want to see me.  I am sitting in the hall, just barely out of her sight.

I also ordered a chaise lounge last week for the playroom so I can lounge while she plays.  Right now we are kind of split up, because I am in the den, and she is in the playroom.  I think she will play more by herself if I am in there.  I can't wait to get that delivered.

As far as evening activities, I just want to set her up for success and not let all the stress of the day build up to a head.  I have this dream of working out while she plays in the daycare with the other kids, but I am really cautious about making sure she has good experiences there.  I am not just going to drop her off and think out of sight out of mind, KWIM?  I want her to be happy there.  But, maybe I just need to attempt it and see how it goes.  I am going to try to schedule in a morning session next week and see how that goes, then I will try the evening.  They have the most unaccommodating hours for me.  They don't have child care from 12-4, and that is when I want to workout.  Nobody in this city has those hours.

I also had this dream of getting a heavy lunch after preschool, having her fall asleep easily on the way home, grabbing a drive thru latte, listening to NPR, and playing scrabble on my phone while I wait in my driveway.  But, that dream is dead!

And, you do make me feel better about DD's sleep habits.  At least I get 12 hours of sleep from her at night.
 

[alegna]

Neither of mine ever needed as much sleep as "they" said.  Dd sttn from early on, but did NOT NAP.  She'd kinda doze while nursing, but never never never stay asleep if unlatched.  She didn't nap until 18 months.  From 18 mo to 2.5yrs she napped 2 hours a day.  Then it was over.  By 3 she didn't nap at all ever.

As an infant and toddler she never went to sleep for the night before 11:30 or 12.  GRADUALLY her bedtime has moved up a touch now, and at nearly 6.5 she goes to sleep around 10:30-11.  Never earlier.

TWICE in her life she has fallen asleep playing or otherwise up.  One of those was when I was in labor with ds and was at 5 in the morning.

Ds wakes more at night than dd did, and napped- 2 naps as a tiny infant until maybe 8 months?  then one nap usually until sometime between 2 and 2.5 when we moved to 1 nap of 1-2hours 2-3 times a week.  

He goes to bed a touch earlier than dd- usually between 10 and 10:30.

-Angela

[pinky]

Just wanted to add that although it's hard to say goodbye to the nap, it's a relief to stop trying to get a reluctant napper to sleep.  You don't end up frustrated when they don't nap, because you're not expecting it.  And you don't spend a lot of energy in failed attempts to get them to sleep.

And like the PP, my dd started preschool 2x/week at 2 and it was great for us.  Since she didn't nap, we still had plenty of time together. 

good luck!

[KempsMama]

My oldest went through a phase when he was just over 2 where he gave up naps for about three months.  He didn't seem to really need them, although he did get cranky close to bed time.  He went back to needing naps again at about 2.5. 

[Nicole730]

Another thing, if she is stopping napping.  My son did it gradually.  So he would nap every 3rd day or so for awhile before he dropped it completely. 

[ellemenope]

Those are both good points. 

DD has not been napping regularly now for about 3 months.  I was lucky to get every other day.  And, like I said, it has always been a struggle, but one I always felt was worthwhile, and impossible without my ergo.  Now with the ergo not working, as well as my plan to get her bone tired in the mornings and have her sleep in the car fizzling out, I need to come up with some miracle to get her to nap.  And, like a PP said sometimes it is better to just avoid the battle for awhile.  When she is successful in holding out in these situations, I can't help but get a little mad at her.  I don't want to resent her because of this.  This is just too much negative energy. amen.

And, you bet I am going to be constantly reevaluating the situation.  I would be thrilled if she returned to napping in a few weeks.  I still feel like I haven't let go.

Only 8 more months till she starts Tuesday and Thursdays half day preschool.

[VisionaryMom]

Originally Posted by ellemenope 

They don't have child care from 12-4, and that is when I want to workout.  Nobody in this city has those hours.

OT, but neither does ours! The afternoon would work so much better for me, but every gym has 9-12 or 5-8 PM. 

[JamieB]

Op I really really recommend the book "Sleepless in America" by Mary Sheedy Kurkina. It changed my life. I know that sounds corny and I don't care. My DS was almost exactly like you DD. I couldn't get him to nap or go to bed at night and he would flight sleep so bad! That book helped a lot. He turned three a couple weeks ago and is napping right now