[mama-mia]

Hi all,
13 month old DD is moving to one sleep a day, and has been for about 3 weeks now. She used to have 2 x 45 min naps previously (despite all my efforts to get her to sleep a bit longer).

The problem now is that she only has one sleep a day and often it's only still 45 mins! I SO need more of a break from her in the day! I had a few weeks of her sleeping for just over an hour but the last few days she's gone back to the shorter sleep. Everyone has said "She'll sleep longer once she only has one sleep and is really tired". She is tired - often falling asleep when I give her the milk. At the moment I'm stretching her to about 11.15 or 11.30am. It makes for a very long afternoon when she's up again by 12.30pm!

She is close to walking, is quite active and generally happy when awake (although last two days she has been whingey beyond description - a whole other "tear my hair out" story).

She actually now sleeps really well at night, often from about 6.30 or 7pm until about 6.30am.

So is it a case of "suck it up" and just accept this is her, or any advice to get that longer sleep in the middle of the day?????

[mitch82]

my ds sometimes fights a second sleep he is also 13months between them discovering the world of walking and teething is quite hard to keep a pattern happening..... i try and keep him to his breaking point and he just falls off to sleep with a cuddle the sleep lasts anywhere from 45 mintues till 2 hours depending on what he has been up to

[*~*ME*~*]

oh its hard isnt it??

My DS1, was the same, he went down to one sleep and hardly slept... but he also didnt sleep well at night, and still doesnt at 3.

My ds2 is the opposite, and sleeps great at night 6.30pm-6.30am and atm has 2 day sleeps of 1.5 hrs each...

I really think it depends on the child, i woul say you might just have to suck it up (sorry i mean that in the nicest way possible.)

[SomeAussieChick]

I don't think there is really much you can do to make a child sleep longer during the day. My DS2 sleeps up to 3hrs every day! Can you afford to put her in daycare once a week so you can get a break and just chill out on your own? I use DS2 sleep time to sit on the net and relax with a coffee etc and I put him in daycare 1 days a week too.

[Riotproof]

Have you tried going in at say 40 minutes and stirring her slightly, by moving the covers or something. People have said that this seems to "reset" their cycle and they sleep through til the next one. You haven't got anything to lose anyway.

[KimDeal]

I can sympathise.

DD is just turned one and has been dropping her second sleep over the last few weeks. We're now "enjoying" one 45 minute sleep a day (I get lucky maybe once a week with an 1 1/2 hour sleep, bliss!).

I have started making big afternoon plans, as soon as she's awake (usually around noon) she has lunch and then we're out until around 3 or 4. It helps to be busy!

I'm still hoping that DD will settle in to one sleep and start stretching it out.......

[talia08]

Hi I can sympathise with you.You do mention you give her milk and she is falling asleep, do you give her milk around 11 or so before she sleeps, perhaps milk is her sleep cue? Just wondering if you didnt give her milk and you could give her an early lunch , I sometimes give ds his lunch from 1130 or start the process from then, he then perks up a little , I give him then time to have a roll around after early lunch, then read stories and then he seems to have a longer sleep (occassionally)It seems the longer and later I can string him out now for one sleep, he really does seem to have a longer sleep, where earlier on that wouldnt have bene the case.

[mama-mia]

Thanks everyone! I'm actually going back to work in 4 months so I know I'll get a break from it all then!

Thanks KimDeal - since reading your post I have decided to give her lunch then just get out and do stuff. Today we went to the garden centre and I planted some herbs when we got back. Something I've been meaning to do for a long time!

Talia08 - I have played around with the schedule and I stopped giving DD lunch before that sleep at about 11am because she was literally falling asleep in the high chair when still feeding herself. Poor little thing! So I tend to give morning tea about 10.30 which is usually a banana and some crackers. I don't think the milk is a cue to sleep because prior to this phase, she was going down for her two sleeps without milk. Once she can stay up a bit longer I'll squeeze in lunch before the sleep.

[stayz]

My DS2 is only 5 days older than your DD and has dropped down to one nap in the past 3-4 weeks. At first he was only sleeping an hour so he'd been up for around 7 hours before he went down again at night. Add an active 3.9 year old to the mix and some afternoons seem to last forever!

Now DS2 is starting to sleep longer and some days he will sleep for two hours. I also give him a snack around 10.30am to last him through to lunch which is now after 1pm. I'll bring lunch forward to around 11.30am-noon once he's able to stay up longer, though I'm dreading that day as it will clash with DS1's kinder drop off!

[greenmother]

I am in the same predicament, only my DD (15 months) is GRUMPY and angry and whiny without enough sleep - and even with it sometimes lol. I am gradually trying to shift her to 1 sleep, but it seems like that sleep won't be as long as most bubs 1 sleep is. 30-45 mins is all I get sometimes. I don't understand when people say they switched to one sleep and bubs sleeps for 2 hours or more now????