Refusing to nap at 22 mos.

[alison]

She went to bed at 9:15. Gawd, what a day.
I'm not ready for her to give up naps, and I'm pretty sure she isn't either... What a cranky pants. I'll try putting her to bed earlier and see how it goes--hopefully that'll regularize her naps. We're all over the place (10:30am, 12, 3:45pm).

[Flynn]

All three of my kids gave up naps in the 18 to 26 month range. They would sleep for 20 minutes in the car when we were on the go and that was basically it. We moved up bedtime and they basically slept from 7 to 7 for years. I do think 8:30 / 9:00 even with a short nap is on the late side but all kids are different. Good Luck!

[Pollyanna]

I'm sorry for your rough day Alison. Do what works best for M and your family. I honestly don't think think 8:30 is particularly late but this is after 5 kids. The first ones used to go to sleep by 7-7:30 at night and wake at 5-6am. While this is a fine schedule when you have young ones. Once there are older siblings with nightly activities the 7pm bedtime is unrealistic. E goes to bed between 8:30-9:30 (11pm a few days this week due to baseball) and wakes anywhere from 5:30-6:30 (no matter when she goes to sleep) and naps for 1-2 hours starting at 1-2 in the afternoon. I have never noticed a difference between bedtimes and naps except that when they give up their nap a 7pm bedtime is crazy easy because they basically pass out from exhaustion, lol. Like I said in the beginning, do what works best for your family and M. Sending lots of support your way (along with some napping vibes).

ETA: I am most impressed at her diaper removal skills

[ladymoreta]

Not to scare you, but... DS does better with a little later bedtime, around 8-8:30. When we tried to move it to 7:00, he started having long night wakings - 1-2 hours around 2:00-4:00 a.m. Awful! It didn't happen immediately, so we took awhile to figure it out...

[alison]

Thanks, ladies.
M followed the Healthy Sleep Habits schedule quite closely--when I picked it up because of witching hour when she was a few weeks old, the book said it was because she was ready for bed. We were putting her to bed when we were going down! 10-11pm! When we started a bedtime routine at around 6pm like the book suggested, she would sleeeeeeep and sleep and sleep until 1am! We knew nothing!

And her naps followed the exact schedule that the author lays out. She lost her 2nd nap as the book predicted, and the single nap started shifting.

Anyway, we'll see what happens if we move bedtime. If that doesn't work, then I'm fine with her not sleeping and us having TONS of time together. Oy.

[HouseofWool]

Don't forget, that if your stress about her not napping is gone, the time she is away will improve. They aren't always fun days, but, I am relieved that we can occasionally skip a nap without hideous meltdowns.

[alison]

You're right, K. The only problem is that I bank on getting some writing done while she naps. I think I'm going to have to get a babysitter for longer stretches during the day, even if means having to pay for someone to watch a sleeping toddler.

OMG!!! As I type this post, I think ... she's ASLEEP!!! OMGOMG!!! Off to go work now!!

[HouseofWool]

Ooops, that should have read "the time she is awake"...

[alison]

Ooops, that should have read "the time she is awake"...

"Away" would work for me, too.

[alison]

Ummm... 3.5 hours and counting? I feel like I haven't seen her all day!

[diggitydot]

Messing with sleep patterns sucks. Our kids are older (youngest is 9 y/o), and they even are giant crabby pants when sleep patterns are screwy. Hell, DH had 4 nights in a row where he had little, if any, sleep and was a huge asshole when on the 5th nigh we had a ing kid. I actually had to tell him to quit being a dick and that the kiddo can't control that she has food poisoning. Yeah, he was *that* discombobulated over lack of sleep.

Hang in there and do whatever works best for you and your family.

[HouseofWool]

I find too that sometime they will need a nap every other day.

[alison]

WTH?! Dh is home. He just put M down for a nap. She slept from 8:30pm to 9:30am this morning. He put her down at 12:30pm and she's asleep. I give up!!!

[SuzySunshine]

Maybe she needs an earlier nap, maybe if you're putting her down to late she's overtired?? You'll figure it out.

[alison]

Maybe she needs an earlier nap, maybe if you're putting her down to late she's overtired?? You'll figure it out.

Exactly. She's just like me. Once I'm over the hump, I can go for many more hours!
Healthy Sleep Habits says to put the toddler down after 3-4 hours of being awake. 3 just seems crazy to me, but it worked today!