Not Napping Long and Getting up Too Early!

Hi. I too have read that book and actually went to go see Dr. Weissbluth - he's in Chicago - when my son was about 7 months because we were having a very hard time with him. He turned things around for us. (My son is now 21 months old, just like yours).

Now when I switched to only one nap, there was an adjustment time but on average my son will sleep 2 hours a day. Sometimes we only get 90 min, but then there will be days he might sleep 2 1/2 hours. But on average is just under two hours. He goes down at 12:30-1:00.

I used to put my son to bed as early at 5:30 as well, but as he got older, that has changed and now he's in bed between 6:30-7:00 every night and he will sleep til 6:30-7:00a. Once in a while he will wake up around 5a (like 1-2 times a month) and I just go in his room and tell him the sun is still going nite nite and it's time to go back to sleep. That usually works. If it doesn't, he just occupies himself in his room (we have babyproofed it very well and there's nothing he can hurt himself with and there are very few toys in there as we don't want to make bedtime fun with tempting toys around). His door is also closed and he cannot open it, yet! :)

I don't know if you have converted to a bed yet. I wanted to wait until my son was at least 2, but for about two weeks he kept waking up at 10p crying. I couldn't figure it out. We have had his toddler bed in his room since the summer to get his used to it, sit on it, etc... but never slept in it. One night I put him in his bed to sleep at night and he stopped crying. Aside from the newly found freedom of being able to walk around in his room stage, that stopped the 10p wake-ups. Just a thought. I cannot figure out why this was an issue for him, but it was resolved by moving him to a toddler bed. So he started sleeping in a toddler bed around 19 months. I cannot make sense of it, but it worked. :)

1 mom found this helpful

Unfortunatly kids sleep patterns change as often as we change their diapers. I would not put them down so early. I have a 22 month old and she goes down anyhwhere between 7:30- 8:00. She wakes up at 7:45 like clockwork every morning and she takes a 2 hour nap from 12:30-2:30.With your childerns age I would not give them 2 naps, they really don't need it if they are getting most of their sleep at night. Just have routine with them and it will get easier. be thankful you still have some type of nar time, pretty soon there will be no nap and I will have to say from experience I miss my 4 year old napping.
Good luck

1 mom found this helpful

K.,
I am Weissbluth junky too for my 21-month old son. My only idea is what if you put them down for their nap earlier, like 11 or 11:30? My son sleeps from 7-7 or 7-6:30 and he goes down for his nap at noon.
Hope that helps!
A.

Every child is different in the nap department, and Active twin boys are the worst. Once the pattern starts, reversing it is harder. I have heard a lot of crazy advice because I have four boys. They always sleep better in a daycare setting because it is such the norm. They tend to push the limits at home because it is "their zone". One doctor even suggested giving my kids caffinated drinks such as coffee, stating that it has the reverse affect on hyperactivity and that it would actually help them wind down faster. Yours are too young to even try that. Personally I am lucky if my boys sleep two hours, on a good day. If they get one hour, I call it even and hope they will atleast get to bed within an hour of bedtime. Definitely let them get outside as much as possible in the morning and set them down for a quiet, non-aggressive television program or music right before nap time. Maybe even a warm bath on the tough days. When you find something that works go with it, one suggestion was orange herbal tea to relax them.You can always disguise it in a favorite juice.

Have you tried putting them to bed around 7:30 or 8:00? Maybe they are actually going to be too early? For naps, I had to move the morning nap later gradually with my son. He needed it more than the afternoon nap. So I started just stretching as long as I could in the morning (11:00 or so?). If you can get an hour or two then, I would call that good. Eventually, my son could nap as late as 1 or 1:30. If it's any comfort, I think most kids out grow this stage.

I would try and keep them up later in the evening.

sounds like he is sleeping 12-13 hours a day. that's not bad.i read that book too and followed it with #1.

K. -

My boy is very similar to your two. He is a little older 2 1/2 and we have also been struggling with the really earlier wake up time. It all started in our household when the clocks 'fell' back. He generally finally falls asleep 6:45 - 7 but like clock work will wake up right around 5 am. Somedays he naps 2 hours, others just 1. I don't know how well the putting kids to bed later works out. We have tried and all that happens is he is really tired, usually wakes up once during the night and then still up at 5 am. I have heard others say that his body just tells him it is time to wake up. So, if you have trouble getting them to sleep later these are the things that we do to push the morning up a little later. He is not allowed to go downstairs until at least 6:30 am, he can come in mom/dad's bed but must be quiet and no TV on until 6am. This at least gives me a chance to get a little more sleep. Good luck!

Hi K.,

I would suggest to put kids to bed between 8-9 p.m.
Wake them up no later than 7:30 a.m. if they are still sleeping. If I want to make sure my son gets his 2-3 hours nap, I take him out every day before nap. He gets fresh air and becomes tired from running and walking.
It's hard to take care of one sometimes, so please give yourself credit and stay strong!

Good luck,
S.

You don't say why you cut the morning nap out instead of the afternoon nap, but it sounds to me like they prefer the morning nap instead... just a thought. I'm going through a complicated bit where my daughter (almost a year) likes to nap in the morning, but my son (3 1/2) takes his nap in the afternoon. I want very badly to cut my daughter's morning nap out, but then she gets overtired and refuses to take the afternoon nap! It's like she's on a different internal clock than my son. You might try "moving" the morning nap by bumping it back a half an hour every couple of days until it is an afternoon nap instead.

K.,
If you are concerned about the early waking time (I would be!)I would suggest putting them to bed a little later. I have a 20M old son and his sleep schedule is as follows: Up at 7:00AM, nap from NOON - 2:00PM, bed at 8:00PM.

Babycenter.com (I love that site) says the following with regard to sleep for that age:

"By now your toddler should be sleeping about 11 to 12 hours at night and taking a one-and-a-half- to three-hour afternoon nap every day. Some children will hold onto two shorter daily naps until their second birthday. If yours is one of them, don't fight it."

Maybe the twins don't want the single-nap. Maybe an hour nap in the AM and then another in the PM??

Good luck.

T.

I would put them down later. I put my son to bed between 8-9 pm and we have to wake him up at 6:15. He gets one nap a day for about 1-2 hours.

I would put them to bed later at night and wake them in the morning at the same time if they do not wake on their own. I have a family daycare and not all of the kids take a long nap. The ones who do not nap well have learned they still have quiet time. They are allowed to read books or do puzzles until nap time is over. This helps everyone, because I like a little break during the day after running around after 5 little ones all morning.
Cheryl

Don't worry it's not just you!!! I have 23 month old twin boys. They sleep from 8pm to 8am and take only an hour nap too! Maybe once a week, they'll sleep for 2 hours. My mom said that once I hit 2 years old, I didn't nap again. Some kids sleep more than others, just like some adults sleep more than others. I have friends whose kids sleep over 2 hours also. I wish mine would do that! It's just the luck of the draw! I'm sorry I can't help, but at least you know you're not alone!

Hi K.:

I don't think your situation is unique. My 21 month old son is pretty much down to one nap a day that lasts about 90 minutes. That nap usually happens from 3:00-4:30pm. Somtimes he will just rest in bed from 10a-11am but usually doesn't fall asleep. Then we put him down at 8pm for the night (usually takes him about 30-60 minutes to get himself to sleep) and he wakes up between 6:30 and 7am. This equates to 11-12 hours of sleep which our pediatrician says is just fine. The pediatrician feels like any down time is good, even if they don't fall asleep.

Good luck!
M.