14 month old sleep help

Penguin129

We moved DD from co sleeping in our room to a toddler bed in her room a couple of weeks ago.

Right now DD's sleep schedule is:

Wake in morning: between 7:30 and 9:00 am
Morning nap: 3 hours later
Afternoon nap: 4 hours after she wakes from the 1st nap
Bedtime: in her room by 8:30 and it takes her 1 hour to fall asleep * she falls asleep after having 2 sippies of half milk and half chamomille tea with me laying next to her in the toddler bed

She sleeps until 11:30 and needs a diaper change and sometimes her sippy cup (half water and half milk). I usually bring her onto the air bed in her room and sleep with her the rest of the night. She tosses and turns so much and hogs the twin mattress leaving me nowhere to sleep. Sometimes 2 more diaper changes are needed.

I know I should wean her off the sippy at bedtime and overnight, but am not sure how. I also want to get her sleeping in her toddler bed all night and for me to be able to sleep with dh. I don't know where to start. Any suggestions are appreciated. I've looked everywhere online. I think talking to people will help me come up with a plan.

I've already come so far. I used to rock her to sleep every night and now she falls asleep in her bed with me by her side. I am going to start trying to just sit by her bed tonight.

I also thought about waking her up at 7 every morning to get an earlier bedtime and maybe better sleep. I feel lost on this. Thanks ladies!

GracefulStar

Hm, is she eating enough during the day? My son is 14 months too. He sleeps at 9pm (or 9:30ish) and wakes up between 6 and 7. He is giving up his second nap, although he's not totally ready to and takes one nap btwn 1 and 2 hours a day. He has his dinner between 5:30 and 6:30. After that I give him water. If he's still hungry he gets a few puffs or a bottle but that's rare. Does your daughter like pacifiers? Perhaps use one when she wakes up looking for a bottle? My son loves his, although I'm not a huge fan it's the only thing he likes when teething. Instead of me, we have him cuddle with a teddy in his crib when we first put him down. Once he's asleep I take away the teddy. When he's really tired or wants to be with us he lays sideways in the crib so the space feels smaller and cozy. It might be that 830 is too early for her to sleep, maybe use that as wind down time? Or read to her but not bed yet? Good luck!

Penguin129

Thanks for responding

It sounds like they are on the same schedule mostly. She eats dinner in the same time frame as your son. We give her a nightly snack and her milk around 8 and then give her a bath. After her bath we let her play in her room and read books to her. A little after 9 we turn out the lights after saying goodnight to the house, her elmo bed, and her toys. She actually turns the light off herself. So we do wind down time, just in her room. I didn't give her the half milk/half tea mix tonight. She actually fell asleep with only drinking 1 sippy of just milk and she fell asleep a good 15 minutes after finishing it. I was able to sit at the edge of her bed and she fell asleep, with some protesting. Maybe I stumbled upon the solution.

She won't take a pacifier. I do have this teething ring kind of like a pacifier so maybe I'll give that a try tonight. She has a zebra, teddy, and a small hippo blanky to snuggle with. She usually chews on the zebras zipper before falling asleep.

Penguin129

She woke up at 12:30 am. I put her back to sleep in her toddler bed last night by laying next to her. She drank a little bit of a half milk/ half water mix. She slept straight through until 7:30. I got to sleep in my room. Yay! I'm going to repeat the process tonight.

The chamomille tea makes you have to go to the bathroom more. I think that is why she needed the diaper changes so much. I never tried putting two diapers on her. Last night without drinking tea she only needed the diaper change at 12:30.

GracefulStar

When she wakes up does she get up or just cry but still laying down? If she's laying down she might go back to bed if you just give a quick back rub or adjust any blankie/pj. I think she will surprise you, sounds like she is adjusting better each day! Good luck!

Stormytucker

First off, congrats to you for the toddler bed! Im so not ready for my little guy to be able to be out of his crib!

The only advice I could give is maybe try starting your lo's day a little earlier so the naps are earlier in the day, if my almost 14 month d naps too late it messes with his sleep also.

Sleep begets sleep, so maybe up your bedtime a little, I have noticed if I give him a bath and then start bedtime routine a little earlier he has a much easier time going to bed, and nothing that stimulating after bath that quiet time and it really seems to help him a lot!

Good luck to you, now my question for OP is when did you decide on the toddler bed? I think my guy is getting close to ready but don't want to jump the gun! I'm afraid it may mess with a good thing since he does sleep so well in his crib and he's contained!

Penguin129

@Stormytucker‌

Thanks for writing. I figured out how to have her sleep in her bed all night with less milk and everything. She did so good. Two days later she got a bad cold, so for now we are doing whatever works. Today will be messed up since we both didn't get up until 9.

As far as the switch to the toddler bed goes here is how we came to that decision. DD slept in a rock and play until she grew out of it and then moved to the crib. I think around 10 months when she was having a hard time sleeping in the crib we stumbled upon co-sleeping and did it for just over 2 months. We got nervous about co sleeping after dh had a close call and needed a way to fix it. We knew she didn't sleep well in the crib be because of how restless she is in her sleep. She hit the walls hard when rolling and it would wake her up and she would scream and stand in her crib and take a long time to calm down. We tried her crib mattress on the floor in her room, but she would end up sleeping on the floor. We thought she would like the toddler bed because she could climb into and out of it on her own. We made sure her bed was Elmo, her favorite character, and got a special blanket (also Sesame Street). She was 13 months when we made the switch. We cuddle in her bed every night to read books and I either lay next to her or sit by her to put her to sleep. The room is completely toddler proofed and there are some toys in it. When she wakes up in the middle of the night she just sits up in her bed and cries. She hasn't climbed out of it. There is a baby gate in her doorway to keep her in her room if she tries to get out. I'm glad we made the switch early because she adjusted so well.

Sorry that got long.

Stormytucker

@penguin129 thanks for the reply! My little guy has actually been sleeping on a cot in daycare since he turned a year and does great! I do worry sometimes that he will try to climb out of his crib and hurt himself, and now after hearing your way of switching to toddler bed I do feel better about switching him in the next few months!

Oh and I completely agree, when they don't feel well we also do whatever works!!! Good luck!

Penguin129

ClaryPax said:

I would drop to 1 nap.  That should help her fall asleep easier too.  Just go cold turkey on the sippies, and switch to water, but just a little bit of water not like 2 sippies because then you get into the whole diaper change 3 times a night thing.  Sounds like cutting out the tea helped too.  That was a good choice. You might want to cut out the milk unless you are brushing teeth afterwards. 

Schedule: Wake at 8, lunch at 11:30 or noon, then nap after lunch then bedtime at 8.  Try to have her wake at the same time each day. 

So far this week she's had 1 nap after lunch about 11/2 hrs long. I think you are right about the 1 nap transition. Thanks!