Which scenario would you prefer?

a)wake up 8amish
day nap 1.30pm-3.45pm
bedtime 9pm (takes 30min to get to sleep)

b)wake up 7.30am
bedtime 6.45pm (to sleep in >5min)

I tried option b yesterday and it was pretty bad late avo (scary) but it was soooo lovely to have the early bedtime.lol

If you're over in the East tomorrow night 9pm will be 8pm!
Sorry Im not much help.
My DD dropped her daysleep at 19 months, and we have also struggled with 'sleep' most of her life. I would be thankful to have either you have mentioned if she went off to sleep easily in either scenario.

We used to have to distract DD with a snack, and/or some craft, an activity outside, a walk or some stories etc etc in the afternoons after the 'nap' disapeared. We do the bath before teatime as well which helped us/her. Still had some ratty afternoons though. Things are a lot better now in the afternoons, but she is 3.5 now. Still waking during the night though.

Definately Scenario A

I think all children that age need a nap through the day. Try bringing the afternoon nap an hour earlier even if she doesn't sleep for as long she will be better for it, you might find she will be ready for bed earlier too.

Goodluck

We do a variation on scenario a)

Wake 7:00am
Nap 12:30-1:30
Bed: 7:30pm



I need that nap during the day

FWIW: My eldest son gave up his day nap earlier but I let him because it never changed his behaviour ie he didn't act overtired and naughty/grumpy etc.

If those were my only two choices, then I'd take b.

If I could choose another, I would say:

wake 6.30-7am.
Sleep - 12ish - 1.30ish
bed 7.30ish

Actually also looking at option a, that's a very long sleep. Why not wake after 1 - 1.5 hours? That would make a difference to bedtime.

B is our day.

Though he will not sleep in the day (unless it's around 3-4pm and that just messes everything up!) and is not grumpy for the arvo, so works for us



Little too generalised I think

Yeah I guess ideally I would like her to only nap 1hr, like she does at kindy. But I have tried waking her (some very funny ways.lol) and she just goes back to sleep
Actually the temptation of yummy food sometimes does it.lol
She is very grumpy though, almost like she needed to sleep longer.
It's prob my fault though, cause I start to enjoy my quiet time and put off waking her
I just think, "God, once I wake her the "fun" starts again".lol

And when I make her go throught the day without a nap I feel like I'm torturing her (and me!)when it get's past 3pm, becuase I know that if I give her her dummy and blankie and lay her down or go for a drive she'll go to sleep instantly.

I just feel like the naps are putting me out of wack becuase I get into a rhythym and then it time for her to sleep and the clock stops and starts all over again when she wakes up.

If I did the no nap I wouldn't be able to drive anywhere after 3pm becuase she would just fall alseep which is even worse because that means an even later night. mmmmmm

I think also I need to set the alarm so we wake up earlier.
Would you willingly give up a sleep in, esp if you are NOT a morning person?

So up earlier, nap ealier, bedtime earlier. It did used to be this way but somehow it got all out of wack around December last yr......

OMG !!!! This is so "us" ATM !!!!

Althougth we haven't actually dropped the nap yet, DS (just turned 2) is going through exactly the same issues.

I love "my time" during the day, and he is way too ratty in the arvo, to even eat his dinner, so , we'll try to keep option A going for as long as possible ,
although our wake times are 7:00ish, and bed times 7:45-8:00pm.

I hate the idea of waking him from his nap (which can last from 1-2hrs), so will hold off, and just be persistant with bedtime.

I would (as some PPs have suggested) do a variation on a). I would wake DD at 7am, put her down for a nap at 12, open the curtains/window/door and wake her after 1.5hrs and put her to bed at 7.30pm. Actually this is kind of what our DD (2y1m) does except she usually wakes by 6.30am of her own accord, and I let her sleep as long as she wants in the daytime, from 12pm till 1.30-2.30pm usually. She goes to bed by 7.30pm and takes up to half an hour to fall asleep.

we tried 'a' for about 6 months on and off because I wasn't ready to give up the time in the middle of the day to get things done. We have now gone to 'b' and life is so much better. Our DS is back to sleeping through the night most nights and goes to sleep most nights by 7:30 with no hassles at all. Because he is sleeping longer and better through the night again now he is actually getting more sleep than when we were persisting with his day nap. My DS is 2 1/2 btw. So not all 2 - 3 year olds are best with a day nap!

Emma

When he is sick all this changes!!

well I tweaked the routine today.
I took her out for a drive a bit before 12pm as she seemed tired. We had been driving for about 15min and she still wasn't asleep but then 5 min later as we were nearing our street I turn around and....she's fast asleep Waddaya know!
(She woke up at about 7.20am this morning btw)

So I let her sleep till about 1.45pm and woke her up.
She was fast asleep, prob would have slept for another hour I reckon.

Tonight I started bedtime at about 7.15pm and it took about 30min for her to fall asleep.

So a very good result methinks
Except the 30min to go to sleep bit and the driving

Tomorrow I'm not sure what to do in regards to the morning as she will be at kindy and I don't want her to be too tired. She only ever sleeps 45min-1hr at kindy.
Should I set the alarm or just see when she wakes up?

I wouldn't worry about the 30 mins to fall asleep - this is pretty normal at this age from what I have read. Is she upset during that 30 mins or does she amuse herself by chatting, playing singing? My DD will sing and chat mostly for about 20 mins, I just leave her to it, it's kind of cute actually.

Re the daytime sleep - same thing, no need to drive around, just give her all her bedtime cues and put her to bed at 12.00-12.30ish and let her go off in her own good time. And if she doesn't go to sleep then just leave her for an hour or so and then get her up.

Re kindy - what did you do? I, like you, worry about how tired DD gets at daycare with a shortish nap, but she always survives and usually goes off to sleep really easily those two nights, which is lovely. I let her sleep as long as she wants to those mornings, but she still always gets up by 7am at the latest.

My DD is 2.8 months and this is her routine.

Wakes 5.45-6.15 am (husband goes off to work which wakes her)
Nap about 11am for 2 hours sometimes longer if she wakes earlier.

Bed time from 6.30-7pm. Takes about 5-10 mins to settle her.

If she would sleep in longer (agg bliss) Id say she would have a later nap but her bedtime would stay the same.. I find if we put her to bed later then 7pm its harder getting her down because shes overtired.

Its so reassuring to read a post that you were about to write! My DD2 wakes around 7 to 7.30am, easy naptime around 12.30 to 1pm for 1-2 hours and then bed 7.30pm but usualy still awake until 8.15pm on average, earlier if we are lucky. We are putting up with the evening call-outs, crying etc.. you get used to it, as we do like the quiet time when she is sleeping and the good morning starts. Even if she has 1 hour, she still can take a while to sleep. But its not forever ..