Early Waking and Short Naps

S.,

Totally normal sleep pattern change...this will happen over and overa again. Last week my 30 month old had one, and he was waking at 5am to tell me he was done sleeping and it was time to get up...

My son at around this time went through a transition and ended up with only two naps of two hours long, and went to bed at around 7:30pm. It's just a matter of making the transition smooth and having patience.

This is roughly what my son's routine was like...

6:30am wake and bottle
7am 'breakfast'
9:30am nap (2 hours...usually, pending no teething or other issues)
11:30pm wake and bottle/meal 30-60 minutes later once he was one solids regularly
2:30pm nap
4:30pm wake and bottle offered
5:30pm dinner
7:30pm Bedtime...

One or two wakings for bottle or diaper change...

Now, for the most part before solids I fed on demand...and I read a ton of books for help with adjusting my son (never a good sleeper) to getting large chunks of sleep. But, once he was on the solids regularly and we had a good routine going, he would sleep at night for 6-7 hour chunks at a time.

Getting too much sleep during the day can effect how we sleep at night or what time we wake to start our day. I know if I nap when my son naps during the day, I wake much earlier than if I don't. And, then my whole week is thrown off because I'm dying for a nap midday at work.

For my son I have stuck with a 3 hour on/off time frame and that has worked pretty well for him...of course now that he's older it's not the same, but it's worth a shot.

This is also a huge transition time, sleep, growth and becoming more and more aware of her surroundings is going to effect sleep. Just take care to make the transition slowly, and keep in mind that it WILL change again in a few months.

Good Luck!

OMG Like Deanna Leigh, I had an almost identical schedule with my son, when he was that age too!

Ditto what Deanna Leigh said.

Yes,sleep patterns are NOT static in a baby or child. It will continue to change in spurts... all throughout childhood. Even Teens go through this.

Your baby is doing what is normal. And it will also change when they are about do go through a growth spurt, a developmental change and they are simply learning and growing. It's all par for the course. Normal baby stuff, normal "changes" for Mommy too. You just have to ride it out.

Bear in mind, that too much changing around of your baby's schedule/routine can mess it up too! So don't discombobulate your baby too much with new fangled sleep ideas/routines.

KEEP consistent. That is the best.

And, try to get her to nap, BEFORE she gets to the point of being "tired" or 'over-tired.' Because over-tired babies and children actually sleep worse and wake more.

Now, if she is only napping for only 30 minutes at this time... I would suggest: (1) make sure you help her to wind-down first before nap... ie: keep things calm, don't work her up with hyper activity, keep things dark, keep it mellow. For me, it takes me 1/2 hour to wind down my kids before I actually put them to nap. (2) she is 'waking' after only 30 minutes of nap (or very early in the morning at 4:45-5:15a.m.)...which means her REM sleep is interrupted. I would try and NOT interrupt her when she wakes after 30 minutes. LET HER BE. Don't even go in the room to look at her. LET HER BE. MANY times, this is common in a baby...they have intermittent 'wakings' but if left alone, they will settle back down and fall asleep. Sometimes, it is the Parent that is 'waking' the baby during a normal sleep arousal/waking... but this is transient. So, listen to your baby's sounds and cues... IF she is in distress and/or crying/screaming, then go get her. But, if she is just making little noises (which is common) and is basically fine...then just try and hang-loose, let her be and SEE if she will fall back asleep, on her own. This is what I learned with both my kids. Babies do this sometimes.
(3) Make sure she gets a good feeding before nap and sleep.
(4) Maybe she is teething (5) a baby typically gets tired within 2-3 hours of "awake" time... so perhaps, start the nap routine within this time. Usually, by the time they are fussing and rubbing their eyes and "look" tired, they are already over-tired.

Sleep phases comes and goes all the time with kids. Bear in mind that at 1 year old and 2 years old, another hard sleep phase/wakings/protesting occurs!

Just some ideas,
All the best,
Susan

Her sleep needs are going to change over time. Try putting her to bed a little later..instead of earlier. Maybe 7:30. Try skipping a nap so the other 2 are longer ones. Also, I def would wait for her to cry before I went to get her. It's great that she can be alone and happy! Just keep in mind you have to rearrange the schedule a little to fit her needs. She's changing and her needs are likely different!

Hi S.,

Definitely try putting her to bed later than earlier. 7-7:30pm is a good time frame to put her down, she should sleep a little later in the mornings. And her short naps could be because she simply just isn't that tired that early in the morning for a nap. Try putting her down for a nap around 10am or a little later and I bet she might sleep longer.

Just keep in mind her sleep habits will continue to change as she grows.

Good luck!

-Char

Try putting your daughter down for bed at 7:00. Maybe start your bedtime ritual around 6:30, whether that be bath, pj's, bottle, books, and then bed. If she wakes at 5:00 let her be until 7:00 (your wake time). Both my kids did and do the same things. If she isn't screaming for you, she is fine. She may go back to sleep she may not. Then, put her down for a nap at 8:30 or 9:00 in the morning.

Follow your child's lead. She knows how much sleep she needs and when - a book cannot answer that for you but your daughter is giving you the answers that you need to help her. For what it's worth, mine always took 2 naps a day from around 4 months on, and gave up her a.m. nap when she was just over 1 year.

Three naps is alot. I would be happy if I could get my dd to take one without a fight. As they get older they need less sleep so I am sure it is totally normal. Don't try to put her down at 7 am and play with her and try to wear her out. My dd is 14 months old and she goes to bed around 8 and wakes up around 8. She then takes a nap around 1 and goes down for two hours. That is it! When she was 10 months old she was just starting to stand on her own so she would do the stand up, sit down crawl around, stand up, etc, etc, etc. It drove me mad because she would not nap AT ALL! She got over it in a week or so. I think they are excited that they learned something new. My dd has had pretty much the same pattern of 1 nap a day since she was 9 months or so. No matter how I tried she would not do more than that. I am just thankful she sleeps so much at night. All children are so different you just have to change it up and figure out what works for the two of you. At your dd's age I believe they say they need anywhere from 11 to 13 hoours of sleep a day. I wish you the best.

That's a lot of sleeping. At that age I had my son up until 8:30 so he would sleep until 7:30 and then he would only get 1 or 2 naps a day (depending on how long he slept during his first) he only needed 2-3 hours of nap time during the day total. Try changing her schedule after about a week she should be used to the changes for a more ideal situation.

Sounds like you have gotten good advice already. I would just say that, personally, I would start with the shift from 3 to 2 naps first, and see how that goes for a few weeks or so. That might be all that she needs, and it might keep her 12 hours per night going strong. I wouldn't want to lose that, if I didn't have to (speaking from someone who has a 19-month old who has only ever slept 10.5-11 per night, max). Moving to a later bedtime can be phased in later, if she is still having trouble maximizing those other naps, and is still waking early. But, you may find that you put her to bed later and she still wakes as early. She might have just found her waking time. Once my daughter started sleeping through the night, she would wake at 6:30, no matter what time we put her to sleep. It's just her waking time.

Hello S.,
At the age of 10 months, my daughter was going to bed at 7:30 and waking up about 6:30 am. She would take her first nap about 10:30am and then another nap about 3:00 pm. Of course, this all veried from day to day, but this is pretty much how it went. I would try pushing her bedtime a little later. 6:00 pm is realy early to go to sleep. Just try starting a new routine and stick with it. Eventually, her body will adjust.
It sounds like her sleep pattern is all off. She shouldn't be taking a nap 2 hours after she wakes up in the morning, it's up to you to set her internal clocks by repetition.
Good luck!

MY 8 month old does nearly the same thing except she never napped longer then 30 minute. I read that same book and loved it but my baby wasn't like he describes I felt terrible that she wasn't napping longer. I know it says baby should be ready for a nap after 2-3 hours but mine just isn't. I tried doing that and then I get 30 minutes of crying for 3 30 min naps. So I decided to just wait until she really tired and in the last week of doing that she us sleeping a bit longer, like an hour and goes down without all the problems.
It's great she can play in her crib nicely for so long, gives you a while longer to sleep. My first daughter did this too and I never went in until I started hearing fussing.

I would try to move her bedtime back to 7 -7:30 and then put her on a 2 nap a day schedule. A morning nap at 9:30-10 and an after noon nap at 1:00ish. It might take a week or so for her body to adjust, but this is a natural progression for a baby her age anyway. Then, usually at around 18 months (apprx.) take her down to 1 nap after lunch that will typically last 2-3 hours. Hope this helps!!

Have you tried cutting out one of the daytime naps? 2-3 naps sounds like 1 too many (but each child is different of course). I would try cutting down to 2 naps. Try and keep her up in the a.m until around 8:45 or 9am, and then give her another nap around 1pm. Then depending on how long she sleeps for the 1pm nap, but her down for the night around 6-6:30. Cutting out one of the naps altogether may help her sleep better at night and not wake up so early....good luck!

Your daughter could be growing out of 3 naps? And maybe her bedtime is changing also. Try putting her to bed a little later (7-7:30) and try keeping her busy and up till 10ish and then put her down for another one later in the afternoon. She might take a longer naps. It is always tricky to figure out what to do. And just remember it may take a week or so for it to work.Good Luck

You are putting her to bed too early. I put my daughter down at 9:00 and she gets up at 7:00. She will take 2-3 naps, usually 1-2 hrs each and she is fine.

hi S. - i have a 5 month old that i've gone through the same thing for the past 6 weeks -- short naps, was sleeping through the night, now not -- i think it just comes in cycles. For my son, i think it has to do with the REM sleep cycles that tend to wake him either at 10 minutes or 30 minutes, as you said, it's like clockwork. I was referred to www.thesleeplady.com - it helped, but takes lots of patience. If she's not crying, i say leave her. set her schedule (flexible) and unless she's complaining, keep to it. if she's not complaining at night, leave her (check like i do that she's ok, but leave her).. feed her at your scheduled time. For naps, i set at time limit - he needed to be in his crib for at least an hour... sometimes i was in there almost the entire time, but he got used to being in his crib. if she's not complaining, just leave her to rest during 'nap time' even if she doesn't initially go to sleep. at least she'll get into the routine and eventually she'll nap during those times. It's hard - as they go through so many changes within this first year -- growing physically, mentally, teething, etc. hope it helps!

Hi S.,

Don't worry - you'll figure things out. One thing I've learned is that no matter how many books you read about raising kids - it doesn't completely prepare you for your own kid - who has his/her own ideas about how things should be. A lot of mothering is just winging it to see what your kid likes or doesn't like. You are lucky that your daughter sleeps through the night. I never slept at that age and drove my parents crazy.

I agree with the mothers who said to put her to bed later. Maybe try 7:30 or 8:00pm first then try later if that doesn't work. It's ok if she gets up early and she's playing quietly in her room. You don't have to rush in. She will call you if she's hungry or wants to come out. Go in when you're ready to take her out.

Also your daughter just may not need as many naps anymore. At 18 months my son was down to 1 nap and by 2 1/2 no more naps or he'd be up until midnight. She will let you know if she's tired. See where she is with going to bed later then see when she starts to get tired during the day. One long nap may be all she needs rather than 2 naps. Also, if she naps too late in the afternoon she won't be tired for bed so you have to figure out a good balance.

Good luck with everything... you'll figure it out and then your daughter will come up with something else to confuse you!

First of all, great job reading the book and trying to figure out how to give her the best amount of sleep! That is awesome and is quite a unique and refreshing perspective.

I am a sleep consultant. You can check out my blog/site at www.lullabyluna.com. You may find additional helpful information there.

Anyways, I would switch to a schedule of a 9:00 nap that lasts until she wakes up (probably 1.5-2.5 hours). And then another nap that starts around 1 or 1:30 (will have to gauge from wake-up time of other nap) and then a bedtime of 6:30-7pm. Note: It may take you a week or so to fully transition. I would also choose to not go into her room until 7am- this encourages settling into the later wake time. Stay consistent on what you are doing- it is not an instantaneous change. Just stick with it- it will pass in a hearbeat looking back on it and you will have something new to deal with- climbing or emptying cabinets.

Good luck! And you are on the right track- SLEEP IS SO IMPORTANT!

Hi S.! I really can relate, I have never been so obsessed with monitoring another persons sleep. I had to play so much with my sons bed time, sometimes a difference of 20 minutes can really affect his waking time. At ten months I found that the best time for him was 7:30, on the dot! that led to a waking time of 6:30-7:00 and then down again at 10:45 for first nap. Keep trying new times and see how her wake time is affected. And, you said it best, you are sooooooo lucky that she sleeps through the night. I wish you so much luck and just wanted to tell you that it will all work out!

HI S.. You child is transitioning her nap times due to her age. Take a look at these sample sleep schedules based o age provided by Sleepy Planet (sleep experts)

http://www.sleepyplanet.com/schedule.html

Hope this helps!

J.

Sounds like your child is letting you know that her sleep needs are changing. 6-6:30 sounds too early. If she is only going to sleep 11 hours than push until 7. And maybe (after a few weeks) you will have her sleeping a little later.

Any developmental change babies experience can lead to different sleep patterns--we saw this with our kids whether it was crawling, walking or talking they def. slept less while they were learning a new milestone.

If she is happy in her crib in the morning and not crying it seems all right to leave her for a while.

Try to move to a strict 2 nap a day schedule--but realize the morning nap is going to get shorter and shorter and maybe within a few months might go away. It wasn't long after my kids were one that they went to one afternoon nap. It will take some time transitioning and it won't necessarily be easy but you will get there. Good luck.

Wow - this sounds exactly like what I am going through with my now 13 month old twins. It started at about 10 months. First naps went down to 30 minutes and then we had several (up to 3) night wakings. I think in our case, they were getting molars and uncomfortable as there was a whole lot of screaming. I have moved back their bedtime to 6 (from 7 - 7:30) but that has not helped. We are doing two naps and neither is great 30 minutes -1.5 hours and not consistent. I got some good tips from the 'No Cry Sleep Solution' but we haven't quite figured out how to fix our problem. I am hoping it will pass soon! They were 12 hour/night sleepers and I so need them to do that again!

Good luck - and know that you are not alone!