[caedmyn]

I've finally got my 16 month old DD into a nap and bedtime routine, after months of struggling with both. She generally takes a nap around 11:30 or 12:00 and goes to bed at 7:00. But two nights a week we have church that starts at 7:00, so I can't get her to bed before 8:30 on those nights. Not going isn't an option, so I'm trying to find a way to make the late bedtime as easy as possible on DD (she won't sleep later in the morning if she goes to bed later so she basically loses an hour and a half of sleep on those two nights, unfortunately). I've tried getting her to take an earlier nap and then letting her take a short late afternoon nap as well, but that isn't working. Tonight I did that and she napped from 5:15 to 6:00, woke up and was super crabby and so tired I ended up staying home and putting her to bed at her normal bedtime.<br><br>
The only other thing I can think of to do is to delay her nap so that she isn't ready for bed until later on those days. I'd probably have to wait until 1:00 to put her down. I can just keep her up, but...I guess I'm really looking for an way to delay the nap that will still give her a bit of a break or rest time without sleeping so she's not just exhausted by naptime.<br><br>
Sorry for the rambly post...any advice?

 

[MuesliMama]

I've found that giving my DD something to eat or drink usually perks her up for a little while longer, but it has to be something tasty!<br><br>
After getting some good advice here on MDC (thanks mamas!!!!!), we recently moved back DD's naptime from 11:30 to more like 12:30, and you know, she's napping LONGER now! Instead of her old hour and a half, now she'll nap 2 or even 3 hours (which creates other problems if it's too close to bedtime). But a longer afternoon nap would buy you that extra hour you need for church. So definitely give it a try! Good luck.

 

[Maggieinnh]

Maybe your best bet is to try to find somebody to watch your little one for those two nights that you are going to church, this way she can keep to her regular routine and won't get confused by 2 different time schedules.

 

[caedmyn]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>Maggieinnh</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/7892579"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">Maybe your best bet is to try to find somebody to watch your little one for those two nights that you are going to church, this way she can keep to her regular routine and won't get confused by 2 different time schedules.</div>
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Unfortunately pretty much everybody I know goes to church too!

 

[caedmyn]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>MuesliMama</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/7892154"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">I've found that giving my DD something to eat or drink usually perks her up for a little while longer, but it has to be something tasty!<br><br>
After getting some good advice here on MDC (thanks mamas!!!!!), we recently moved back DD's naptime from 11:30 to more like 12:30, and you know, she's napping LONGER now! Instead of her old hour and a half, now she'll nap 2 or even 3 hours (which creates other problems if it's too close to bedtime). But a longer afternoon nap would buy you that extra hour you need for church. So definitely give it a try! Good luck.</div>
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I'll try feeding her, thanks for the suggestion. It doesn't seem to matter what time she goes down for a nap, she'll sleep for about 40 minutes, wake up and cry, and then I go in and pick her up (and usually nurse) to get her back to sleep and have to hold her for the next hour to hour and a half while she finishes her nap. Not a very practical solution long-term but otherwise she takes such short naps and doesn't get enough sleep. I keep hoping that someday she'll start taking nice long naps on her own!

 

[J2]

My son (12mos) is the same way with naps. Although now he will sometimes go an hour and a half on his own and then the rest on me. But yeah, sometimes its only 40minutes. I guess I shouldn't expect that to end any time soon? Well I didn't, so I guess that's good. No expectations are sometimes better anyway.

 

[Emma's_Mommy]

can you bring a small umbrella stroller to church so DD can nod off in that if she gets too tired?

 

[caedmyn]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>Emma's_Mommy</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/7894851"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">can you bring a small umbrella stroller to church so DD can nod off in that if she gets too tired?</div>
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She won't...she's one of those babies that won't go to sleep if there's activity going on unless she's exhausted, like when it's been 8 or more hours since she's slept. I'm always amazed when I see other people's kids falling asleep in church!

 

[kreyno4]

The most reliable way I have found to keep my dd up (not that I want to do that very frequently lol) is to go out--outside and just look at the birdies, or plan an outing like the library or whatever for an hour or so before I want her to go down. If you want her to "rest" but not sleep, maybe you could wear her in a carrier (just don't let her get too comfy or she will drift off!)

 

[cdahlgrd]

How about slowly easing her whole routine to an 8:30 pm bedtime? That way there isn't a big issue between the different days. Perhaps her nap should go to 1pm (with a few days to adjust it)? Hopefully she will start to sleep in a little later too.<br><br>
My first would adjust to a different schedule, but my twins just couldn't handle it (they still get up a 6 am no matter how late they stay up, sigh). You will know in a couple weeks if it works.

 

[caedmyn]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>cdahlgrd</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/7896600"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">How about slowly easing her whole routine to an 8:30 pm bedtime? That way there isn't a big issue between the different days. Perhaps her nap should go to 1pm (with a few days to adjust it)? Hopefully she will start to sleep in a little later too.<br><br>
My first would adjust to a different schedule, but my twins just couldn't handle it (they still get up a 6 am no matter how late they stay up, sigh). You will know in a couple weeks if it works.</div>
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That would be the ideal solution but unfortunately it seems like the later she goes to bed the earlier she wakes up! She won't sleep past 7:30 in any case (right now she's going to bed at 7:00 and waking up around 7:30) so she'd be losing an hour or more of sleep every day.

 

[Salema]

I agree with the fresh air solution.<br>
It seems to help "even them out".<br>
I find if DS doesn't get his fresh air in the AM, naps are harder. And if he's outside, he wants to stay out later and not nap.<br><br>
So try playing with her outside to delay nap.<br><br>
The other thing is for her to make up for lost sleep the next day, maybe by taking a bigger nap and having a quieter day after she's been up late?