4Real Forums: need advice- 2 year olds nap/ bedtime

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Topic: need advice- 2 year olds nap/ bedtime

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monica
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Posted: July 03 2008 at 1:10pm \| IP Logged

my son who is 2yrs2 months old seems to be in one of those in between phases with naps. he takes an afternoon nap, usually 2-3 hours long. he and his 5yo brother go to bed at night at 8 and wake up by 7. he seems tired and fussy all morning and if i lay him down in the morning, he takes a short nap, but then wont sleep in the afternoon and is a total bear by night. he also has had trouble getting to sleep at night ever since he figured out how to climb out of his crib. as i write he is out of bed asking for a drink of water.
should i just go with a short morning nap?
should i cut short the afternoon nap?
should i move up or move back the bedtime or nap time?
ok, off to put him to bed. again
thanks
monica

mathmama
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Posted: July 03 2008 at 2:50pm \| IP Logged

Perhaps stick with the short AM nap and then have an earlier bedtime. My girls go to bed right after dinner. I like this because it gives dh and I some down time at night.

hth,

Beth

DominaCaeli
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Posted: July 03 2008 at 2:54pm \| IP Logged

Ugh--I hate those in-between phases!

I have two toddlers right now: 21 months and 24 months. They both take their nap from about 12-2pm and sleep at night from about 8pm-6am. We did some adjusting to their naptime and bedtime a few months ago and this is what seems to have stuck.

I would first try pushing forward the afternoon nap to make it a bit earlier in the day. I'm not sure what time yours is at, but ours in right in the middle of our day--they're up for about 6 hours before and 6 hours after--and it seems to be the right balance for us. That might also help with his problems falling asleep at night (though mine don't climb out of their cribs yet, so I can't speak to that!).

You said that when he takes a nap in the morning, he doesn't sleep for long--how early are you planning it for? I might move the family schedule around a bit to make it *seem* (to him) like it's already time for his "afternoon nap" an hour or so earlier than usual and see if his body takes the cues and stays out for longer. Sometimes an hour's difference one way or the other is all it takes to get a sleep schedule back on track.

As long as his napping is consistently 2-3 hours, I would guess that that's how much he probably needs, and I wouldn't mess with the length. I'm not a fan of waking my kids if it can be avoided--both for their sake and for mine!

I have read that sometimes around age 2 kids will start sleeping less consistently because they're ready to transition out of the crib--not sure how true this is since our little ones are just fine so far, but since you mentioned his climbing out, I thought it might be related.

Anyway, just some thoughts. Hope you get things settled with your little guy soon.

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Celeste
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doris
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Posted: July 03 2008 at 3:33pm \| IP Logged

This might not work (or even be dangerous) now that he is already climbing out of his crib, but I found that baby sleeping bags kept mine in their cot very nicely! They didn't even realise that climbing was an option

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mama251ders
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Posted: July 03 2008 at 6:42pm \| IP Logged

We're kind of at this phase as well. My youngest will be 2 in a month and I have a feeling that naps are on their way out. She is great about taking a 3 hour nap in the afternoon and it is well appreciated

, but we have a terrible time getting her to sleep at night. I think this is a phase that you just have to wait out until they get their sleep set right. It seems to me that my others have always sorted that out for themselves after a week or two. You could also try doing a nap every other day. That seems to work for my 3.5yo. So, I guess that I don't really have any advice, just empathy and prayers!

Blessings,
Betsie

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