21 Month Old with Horrible a Sleeping Schedule

Hi J.,
Perhaps you could try to keep her up a little later, depending on when you go to bed each night. At that age, my almost 2 year olds would be the last to go to bed. It gave them one on one time with me and their dad. I would nurse them to sleep around 10 or 11pm (stock them up for the night, we call it) and I rarely had to nurse through the night. We would usually wake up together around 7 or 8am (I co-sleep with my kids until 2-2 1/2 yrs.) Now my youngest, age 33 months, goes to sleep on her own around 8 or 9pm (depending on whether or not she had a short nap) and sleeps until 7 or 8am.. With naps, I try to avoid them after 4pm. I'll try not to travel after that time too as the drive will put them right to sleep. A nap at 5pm or later would keep my 2 year olds up until past midnight! That throws everything off and you have to struggle to curtail the nap the next day or keep them awake and little bit longer each night until you're back to the original schedule. Each child can be different, but I hope that helps.

I find that when I put my daughter to bed earlier she sleeps later and doesn't wake up.When my daughter does to bed at 8 she wakes up at 5-6am, but if we put her to bed at 7 she sleeps until 8am. I would try to put her to bed at 7. It might take a while for the new pattern to make a difference, but I have heard similar stories from my friends with children.

I also would not nurse her in the middle of the night and I would never bring her into your bed. She does not need to eat anymore after dinner and the extra calories are not good for her. She will never learn to soothe herself back to sleep when she does wake up if you nurse her and then she gets to go to bed with mommy! When my daughter wakes in the night we listen on the monitor until she goes back to sleep on her own.

My daughter has strange sleeping patterns whenever she is cutting a tooth or not feeling well. On a side note, it's nice to see that other moms are still nursing at this age...sometimes I feel like the only one!

If your daughter can fall asleep on her own thn she should be able to self soothe her way to sleep in the middle of the night. She may be teething. My 18 month old wakes up in the middle of the nighgt when she is teething. But my advice would be to not nurse in the middle of the night. At 21 months they don't need it for the feeding they are only using it for the soothing. I tried not picking up my daughter but just to rub her back. Once she knew I wasn't picking he up she would go back to sleep.

hi J.,
it's actually said that if you put your child to bed at an earlier hour, then they sleep better and longer. my son is 2 and goes to bed at 7 and 7:30pm is the LATEST he is allowed to stay up. up until 1, he went to bed at 6:30. he sleeps until 6:30-7am everyday. read healthy sleeping habits happy baby. it's a great book to help understand infant and childhood sleep habits. good luck!

I dont really have a suggestion on how to get back on track - other than maintaining consistency. But could she be cutting some molars? It sounds similar to what happens when my daughter gets a molar (we just got one in a couple weeks ago and the other is coming in now). But it sounds like the exact same thing my daughter does (minus putting herself to sleep - I am jealous of you for that). She too goes to bed around 8 - 8:30 - wakes at 4 to nurse and then is up for the day at 6:30 and takes one nap at 11:30 to 2.

Good luck and it should only last a couple days .....