What’s wrong with my routine

nsummer12

New member
Yall. I’m struggling. My 2.5 year old’s sleep is horrific right now. I know a lot of it can be chalked up to development, molars, and just being two… but I’d like to make sure all my bases are covered from my end.

I own a childcare program and we need to be there at 9am weekdays. I’m able to leave work to give her a nap in our bed, which works about 2/3 of the time.

My daughter and I sleep alone together, dad sleeps downstairs.

My ideal sleep schedule for her is 8-8 with a 1.5 hour nap mid day. THIS IS NOT HAPPENING RIGHT NOW 😬😬😅😅

In a perfect world:

We start bedtime routine at 7 with a bath, followed by pjs and a little snack, her night time milk, brush teeth, go upstairs to our room, and fill up the humidifier. I have a “sunset” light that dims over the course of 30 min while we read books or “talk about fings today” where I just list our activities through the day or ask her questions about what we did. It’s lovely and sweet.

She’s typically asleep by the time the light turns off.

HOWEVER. This last 4 weeks she falls asleep and 4-6 hours later wakes up. I change her diaper, give her some water, and then she barrel rolls half asleep in my arms, lightly scratching my skin til it feels like nails on a chalkboard, or kicking me square in the face or stomach for 2-4 HOURS. She’s not upset, not even really awake, she just can’t fall fully back asleep. Then she falls deeply asleep from 7-850 and I have to wake her up to go to work.

The last three nights for example:
Asleep at 930-10pm
Up 3-7 am rolling and squirming
Deeply asleep 7-850
Nap 130-245

The later sleep gives us later nap which gives us later bedtime. So we look for sleep cues before starting the routine because even with a 7pm routine and the sunset light, she’s up til 10. I can manage all that, but WTF is going on from 3-7am?? I’d be fine getting up earlier if she was getting solid sleep, even if she woke up, got a diaper, and went back down.

What can I be doing differently?
 
@nsummer12 Sounds like she doesn’t have enough sleep pressure to get her through the night. Then she’s treating 7am as one nap and her usual nap as a second nap. I’d say you need to start cutting down the nap at this age. Can you try a 1 hour nap and see if that helps. You also probably need to adjust your wake up time, if you’re letting her sleep in you’re just going to be continuing the cycle! Be firm with wake up time and shorten the nap and see if that helps. It may take a few days to adjust.

Your bedtime routine is perfect I will say, sounds wonderful!
 
@jessemorrell I think I’ll start with the one hour nap, maybe even 45 min. She’s such a terror without the nap that I feel like cutting it fully would be awful for everyone.
 
@nsummer12 Changing her diaper seems weird to me. Why does she need this at midnight-2am? I wouldn't even do water unless she asked for it.

Maybe time to drop the nap? It's early but not unheard of, yeah?

I know it's rough but I would wake her up on time at 8am, and if you do let her nap, wake her up at the normal time that was working with the 8pm bedtime. Don't let her sleep late. Yes she will be tired for a day or two but that's the only way to get off the late-shifted thing.
 
@neostarwcc She pees a TON so when she’s squirmy my first go to is to give her a dry diaper which has solved the issue in the past. I only give her water if she asks for it, and just a little in her cup. Otherwise I’m just shhhhing and trying to get her to fall back asleep.
 
@nsummer12 Id try dropping her nap:( my girl dropped hers at that age. When she didn’t nap she’d go to bed at 7 instead of 8 and she’d fall asleep instantly and sleep improved greatly
 
@nsummer12 I agree with others - time to drop the nap! Yes she’s a terror without it, that’s normal and it’s a rough transition. My son dropped his nap before 2.5 and so did both of his cousins. A 10 minute micro nap mid afternoon will help (but don’t let it be more than 10m or 15 absolute max!). We live in London and I have endless pics of my son taking micro naps on public transport for about a year after he first dropped the nap 😆 Good luck!
 
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