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View Full Version : Can you help with my nap woes?



Sarah1
05-04-2004, 04:05 PM
Generally DD is a great sleeper. Lately, though, we've been having an issue with her naps. She has been on a one-nap a day schedule since she was about 14 mos old.

Here's the problem: she wakes up TOO EARLY from her nap (i.e. after only an hour and 20 minutes), crying hard, and NOT well rested. I've let her cry up to a half hour in her crib, hoping she'll fall back asleep, but it hasn't happened. Although CIO worked for us at night, I have a feeling it might actually make things worse as far as her naps go.

The worst part of this is, when she wakes up from a nap too early, she's in a HORRIBLE mood the rest of the day, and I hate to see this, since she's generally such a sweet, pleasant child. Also, I don't mind if her naps are short--she sleeps 12 hours at night, so I'm OK if she doesn't nap as long during the day--I just want her to be well-rested!

And, I know she is not teething, and when she is, I give her motrin...so I don't think that's the issue.

ANY INSIGHT??? PLEASE???

lisams
05-04-2004, 05:47 PM
My DD is about a week younger than yours and she was having that same problem but it was when we switched to just one nap (around 15 months). She would wake up crying after about an hour (when she wakes up crying I know she needs to sleep more). It took about 2 weeks of me rushing in there to rock her back to sleep and then she started staying asleep longer on her own after that. For some reason I think she just needed to get used to taking one long nap instead of 2 shorter ones. I would try to get in there right as she woke up and she would drift back to sleep pretty easily since she didn't have time to really wake up.

Another thought is maybe she doesn't need a long nap (I think I read that they need about 13 hours of total sleep around this age - of course every child is different). But it sounds like she's waking up still tired so maybe not?

Or maybe you could put her down 30 minutes later to see if maybe she needs to be more tired to take a good nap?

I feel for you - we had a week or so there where DD was super grumpy and it was paired with nap issues and getting her eye teeth in which has been the roughest teething we have had so far. I hope you find something that works!

Lisa

Sarah1
05-04-2004, 08:23 PM
Lisa--I actually now think DD is getting her eye teeth, so that could be it after all. The fact that she wakes up with such a startling cry makes me think she has to be in some kind of pain. But I wonder why she doesn't wake up at night?

Our transition to one nap was really rough, too, but it had been smooth sailing up until a week or so ago. I'm just going to hope it will pass! Today she had a bad nap again, but after some fussing she was back to her normal self, so I feel better.

Thanks for responding! I'll keep you posted :)

mamahill
05-05-2004, 11:49 AM
I've done the rush-in-and-rock thing as well. Now that she's old enough, if she wakes up too early I'll open the door and say, 'Ainsleigh, it's not time to wake up yet. Go to sleep.' and 3 times out of 4, she will! It could be the eye teeth - those are nasty. But I agree, if she's waking up crying, that isn't a good/well-rested sign. On the occasion that Ainsleigh wakes up crying and doesn't go back to sleep, I rock her for a while and she is generally in a better mood. I wish I had a magic potion to sell you. Instead, I'll wish you good luck!