My 20 month old son just recently started taking one long nap in the afternoon. He used to only nap for about 1 1/2 hours in the morning and sporadically took an afternoon nap. Now he is sleeping for 3 hours and many times has to be woken up after 3 hours since it is time for me to pick him up from his babysitter. When we wake him, he is very cranky for almost an hour and now is up for about an hour later at night. He also misses his afternoon snack which then throws his dinner schedule off. Should I let him take naps for this long? How do I shorten his nap when he is so cranky when woken up.
Thanks you everyone for your advice. Today I had my son's sitter wake him up with enough time for his afternoon snack. He was a lot happier when I picked him up. I hope this routine works, we will see again tomorrow!
You can read a little about what the expert Dr. Weissbluth says at
http://billiediscoverytoys.blogspot.com/2008/09/sleep-beg...
Hi S.,
I'd try moving his naptime earlier - ask the daycare provider if he can have an early lunch (say, 11:30) and then nap at noon. Depending on what time you usually pick him up, even if he's sleeping til 3pm, at 8-8:30 pm he'll probably be ready for bed. Good luck!
Dear S.,
I am the owner of a childcare center and there are a few questions I have. First of all what time are they putting him down for a nap. My toddler room which begins around 15 months old is on a schedule. They have their lunch at 11:30 and usually go down for a nap at 12:00 all are sleeping by 12:30 and are all awake by 2:30 for their afternoon snack. I think if may be time for you to consider a center based facility. He may have more physical activity and have a routine which may help him with with naps and bedtime. Sometime homebased daycares have children of all ages and it is difficult to have a regular routine in that situation. Whereas in a center, children are grouped by age and it is much easier to follow a routine with children of the same age group. Just some food for thought. I would ask my sitter to please put him down earlier for a nap and wake him after two hours and see what happens. Good luck!!
Our youngest is too 20 months old. He still takes 2 naps on most days and some just one.If your son sleeps 3 hours and then cranky for a hour, I do not know if he is ready for 1 nap(some kids just need more sleep...our oldest was done with 2 naps at 12 month).Sleeping patterns will change every so often though. Maybe you can let him take his 1 nap earlier so you do not have to wake him up.Or your sitter can put on some soft music on before you come so waking prossess is a bit more gentle.
My son is 20 months old too and started taking one nap. I don't let him sleep past 2 1/2 hrs because he doesn't want to go to bed then til about 930. I sometimes just walk in the room and he hears me so he wakes up. I have woke him up myself and found he is very cranky. Making noise has worked better for me. He also isn't always ready to eat when he gets up. I wait about 1/2 hr and try to feed him. It does throw his schedule off too.
A lot of children around his age start transitioning towards the one nap. It does take some time before they are used to it. My advice would be as consistent as possible. Put him down at the same time each day (myself, and a lot of people I know use 1pm, or after lunch as a guideline).
My daughter is on a similar schedule, and does at times sleep through the afternoon snack. On the positive side, I noticed that she eats dinner a little better!
My son is 20 months old as well and usually takes a 3 hour nap, so I don't think it's unusual for him to want to sleep that long. Maybe he can take his nap earlier so he gets up earlier? I'd say when he gets up let him have a small snack so you can try to keep dinner at the at the same time.
I have a 20 month old son who is exactly the same in every way. This change has just begun but I figure if that is what his body wants to do then so be it. For example, today I tried to put him down at 9, 10, 11 am and 12 pm. He didn't want to. Then we went out, had pizza and he ended up falling asleep in the stroller at around 4 pm. He did not wake up until me and my husband were getting ready to go to bed, around 9 pm. So we let him get up, have milk and a snack. He played and we put him back to bed around 9:30. He is still lying awake in bed at 10:35 pm. Oh well. He is trying to sleep and at least he is resting. I figure tomorrow I will keep him up til around 1 or 2 pm then he should be sleepy enough to nap...
a catnap in the a.m. might be ideal, but if he won't do that I would let him sleep for 2-2and 1/2 hrs and then open the door/ open the shades and let him wake up on his own...if I touch my kiddies awake they are grumpy, but when they feel like they are waking on their own they are happier...I would give him his snack as soon as he wakes up....just maybe a smaller one as to not throw off the schedule...or maybe a juice box in the car on the ride home to tide him over til dinner....best of luck.
