[Stormster]

Hi, so some of you know I have (had) a champion sleeper. Be careful what you wish for because last week he was still taking 2 and even 3 hour naps at 9am. And again at 3.

His naps have gotten much shorter this week and right now I can hear him and there doesnt' seem to be ANY nap. All I wanted was to be able to get out of the house in the mornings and I guess that time came very quickly! But the thing is he still wakes up at 6:30am (latest).

So the new schedule looks like sleep 8-6ish and then no nap until 3?

How do I do this? Should I start putting him down for a nap at 2? How do I get him to sleep a bit later in the AM? I can't imagine putting him down later than 8 at night. I'm really tired and I never know what is going to happen with his naps. I need routine! btw the ticker broke but he's 13 months. I hope his afternoon naps dont' get shorter too!

[nikkianni]

DD's sleep schedule changed in a major way at about 12 months.
She was sleeping from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. with two one hour-plus naps during the day. One in the morning, one mid-afternoon.
That was literally her schedule from the time she was three months old until right around 12.5 months.
Then all heck broke loose. She was up screaming three times a night, wouldn't take naps some days, would take three other days....it was awful.
We're finally getting down to the point where she's sleeping through the night regularly and she's started taking one 2-3 hour nap at around 1 p.m. every day.
I think that they get to stages where they sort of reset themselves. Maybe that's what E is doing?

[Stormster]

Originally Posted by nikkianni

DD's sleep schedule changed in a major way at about 12 months.
She was sleeping from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. with two one hour-plus naps during the day. One in the morning, one mid-afternoon.
That was literally her schedule from the time she was three months old until right around 12.5 months.
Then all heck broke loose. She was up screaming three times a night, wouldn't take naps some days, would take three other days....it was awful.
We're finally getting down to the point where she's sleeping through the night regularly and she's started taking one 2-3 hour nap at around 1 p.m. every day.
I think that they get to stages where they sort of reset themselves. Maybe that's what E is doing?

Ugh that sounds exhausting. He's still not sleeping this is the first time EVER he has not napped in the morning. I do think he's re"setting himself. So if we go out in the AM at say 9-11/11;30 and then have lunch at noon I can put him down at 1

And then I'll have to come up with a second activity every day???? UGH I had it so easy LOL!!!!! He was asleep half the time!

[Saya]

In my personal experience, there is no way to get a kid to sleep later in the AM. I've long ago become resigned to A's 6am wake up time. I figure it will change when she's a teenager. . .

We were very worried when it was time to reset A from 2 naps to 1 nap, but it actually wasn't so hard. She had been napping 2ce a day, once at 8:30 and once at around 1:30. When it was time to make the switch, we just started taking her out in the AM and keeping her in an activity past her usual naptime. She was sleepy and a bit cranky at exactly the time she had previously gone down, but then popped up again. Then we put her down at nap at around 11am. Over the next few weeks we transitioned her nap a bit later till we found a schedule that worked.

Yes you'll need 2 activities - but I found that I MUCH preferred not having to divide my day up so much with 2 naps. I loved going to a one nap schedule!

[nikkianni]

I know now that I probably should've set DD's schedule myself, but I let her do it. We sort of still do.
So she set her regular nap times and she's been the one to switch herself over to one nap.
Super Mom over here never even thought of trying to actually make the changes I wanted.
On the other hand, DD's done pretty well on her own.
As far as activities....we just play. I don't plan things so much. If it's nice out, we go outside and pick pears or apples and play with the dogs. If it's rainy, we stay in and dance or play ball or whatever she wants.
She's also developed a love for "typing" on my computer. So we got an extra keyboard and she can type right beside me while I work.
Of course, I am sadly not a SAHM, so that's probably the difference.

[Stormster]

Originally Posted by nikkianni

I know now that I probably should've set DD's schedule myself, but I let her do it. We sort of still do.
So she set her regular nap times and she's been the one to switch herself over to one nap.
Super Mom over here never even thought of trying to actually make the changes I wanted.
On the other hand, DD's done pretty well on her own.
As far as activities....we just play. I don't plan things so much. If it's nice out, we go outside and pick pears or apples and play with the dogs. If it's rainy, we stay in and dance or play ball or whatever she wants.
She's also developed a love for "typing" on my computer. So we got an extra keyboard and she can type right beside me while I work.
Of course, I am sadly not a SAHM, so that's probably the difference.

Oh I'm not a big "setter" myself. In fact, he didn't nap for the first 7 months. I would just wait for him to give me a "sign" and he never did so I never put him in his crib for a nap. Then I found out your'e supposed to PUT them in the crib...ooooooooh! No wonder he slept through months 8-12!

The problem with activities is he is sooooo active. He doesn't stop moving. Like a shark. He has never sat still for more than 2 minutes and that is very rare. Usually it's more like 10 seconds. I have to take him places where he can move freely because unfortunately we don't have a good property for a little toddler.

We do have lots of great options for activities....it's just that I'm lazy and old too LOL (I'm kidding I'm keeping up!)

[feelingreyt]

My 12 month old has started skipping one of his nap. Not every day, but it is starting to happen more often. Of course, this just started last week, so who knows what next week will be like, LOL!
And he is one of those active babies too. He never stops! I'm amazed at his energy.
On the plus side though, he still sleeps between 11-12 hrs at night! He went to sleep around 9pm last night and got up at 8:45am!
All of my kids sleep in. I love it!

[Fran27]

I was just going to say that you can do one nap after lunch, and maybe move up bedtime a bit if he gets cranky?

[aclee]

I have usually found that most kids don't drop to 1 nap consistantly till a little older than E. It might be that he does two naps, every other day for a while.

As far as sleeping later. Their clock gets set by MANY things, and right now, it's set at 6:30. It will take a while to undo that. Ty has been thinking the crack of Dawn's butt is his wake up time too. If DH is willing to get up with him, he does, if not, Ty gets a bottle, and I treat it like a night waking. I also put towels up over the windows under the curtains (ghetto, but no one sees them, they are on the back of the house) and it keeps the room darker. The first night after I did that he went from his 4 AM feeding to 8:30AM instead of 6:30AM. At this point, it's about 50-50 as to when he wakes. He was up at 7:00 today, but some days the alarm goes off, and he sleeps right through it and we wake him with enought time to change him and dress him and strap him in his carrier before we all run out the door. That is usually at 7:45 or 8:00. On the weekends when he wakes I will usually just feed him and let him lay with us for a minute, and then put him back in the pack and play. 75-80% of the time, he zonks back out...sometimes till 9 or 10. When I was between jobs, I would wake him at 8, feed him and put him back down, and the house was so nice and quiet he would sleep till 10 or 11 everyday...then I would get just the one long nap in the afternoon.

I do think there are some kids though, that are just morning kids.

[dawnrenee58]

Originally Posted by aclee

Ty has been thinking the crack of Dawn's butt is his wake up time too.

Ok, as someone named Dawn, I take HUGE offense to this. My butt is not something to talk about on a public forum!!


All kidding aside, I was very happy when Marco went down to one nap. So much more you can do in the morning! Maybe once the time changes he will sleep later? I know in the summer my kids get up earlier, because the sun is up earlier. In the winter, we sleep a lot more.

[nikkianni]

Originally Posted by dawnrenee58

I know in the summer my kids get up earlier, because the sun is up earlier. In the winter, we sleep a lot more.

That's a good point! I wonder how DD will handle that. I'd be in heaven if I got to sleep in until 7:30 or even....heaven forbid...8!!!

[Stormster]

yes DH is convinced in winter he'll sleep later. I do hope so. Now it's 415 and he JUST fell asleep! Something is seriously going on with my little man!