Toddler sleep
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Just throwing it out there, my daughter actually sleeps better and longer if I put her to bed earlier. Some days she is exhausted and so we put her to bed at 6.30/6.40 and she then sleeps through until 6.20/6.30am the next day. But other days when she is a Duracell bunny she doesn’t want to stop running around ect we put her to bed 7/7.30pm she seems to wake up a few times during the night and up earlier. Maybe try tiring your LO out before bedtime and then put him to bed earlier (we do bath, milk, bed) to calm her down and see if an earlier bedtime helps. Although it seems counter intuitive to put them to bed earlier for them to sleep in later it does actually work. Good luck x
I agree with both of the ladies above!
@Brittany this is the issue, I’m 99% sure my son would sleep much better and longer if he slept earlier. But that doesn’t work for us, it would be the last option. Our family dynamic is much better with him sleeping later. I’m going to keep trying with a later bedtime but if it doesn’t work then I’ll have to give up
@Tanya so preferably we’d want a 9pm bedtime which is what I’m aiming to work towards, I’ve used a blanket and a few things to cover the window more and his room is now pitch black so that should tackle the sunrise. I agree the 2 naps aren’t an option but today was one of those days where he wouldn’t have made it another 5 minutes he was completely beside himself exhausted so now I’m battling to fit a second nap in but it was the effect of a few days of lack of sleeping building up that caused it. Yesterday he slept in his pram before lunch sat upright holding a bottle of water, he never does that but was so so tired he passed out. I’ll try from tomorrow to stick to one nap, he tends to have a much shorter wake window in the morning compared to afternoon.
@Emily For 9pm bedtime I'd suggest 8:30am wake then and 1:30pm nap. Maybe a touch earlier if you say he does a shorter first wake window. But if the second wake window is too long he may get overtired which again can lead to early wakings. Sometimes toddlers get hyper and people think they have lots of energy and aren't tired when actually they are overtired.
@Tanya yea I think a 1pm nap will suit him, he normally does 2.5 hour nap anyway, it’s just getting him to wake up later than 5:30/6am that’s the issue but hopefully he’ll change that over the next week x
I would recommend following sleep well with Hannah on insta or fb. She suggests not let your baby (over 12 months) sleep longer than 10 hours overnight and 2 hour nap. You can lengthen overnight when they are consistently sleeping through. Also clocks change this weekend so you should get a lie it 🙌🏻🥰
@Hannah im counting on the clocks changing to being my saving Grace 😂 he’s only about 10 hours the last few months anyway at night so that might just be his thing?
So there are a few things that might help. Firstly, I wouldn't do 2 naps at this age even if he is tired. It will just mean there isn't enough sleep pressure at bedtime to sleep through to when you want. If the most important thing is an 8:30pm bedtime then I'd look at when the nap should ideally be to support this, and lock it in regardless of when he wakes in the morning. Early naps reinforce early wakings, as does too much day sleep. I would try a schedule like this, based on huckleberry schedules. 8am wake, 1-3pm nap, 8:30pm bedtime. You can either push him through to 1pm one day and stick with it or gradually push the nap later 15 minutes each day until it gets there, then stick to 1pm regardless. https://huckleberrycare.com/blog/18-month-old-sleep-schedule-bedtime-and-nap-schedule Re light you could put kitchen foil on the windows.