2.5 year old sleep issues

howiesbride

I'm at my wits end. I have tried everything that I can think of and nothing helps. For the past two months now sleep has been a major issue with my daughter. For a month nap time and bedtime was a disaster. It would take her hours to fall asleep for both a nap and bedtime. I dealt with that for a month, then I finally gave in and said fine she's just ready to drop her nap. We did no naps for about a week, which was hell. She would be a complete terror at the end of the day, she was overly tired and wouldn't want to eat dinner and bedtime didn't improve either. After a week of that I thought okay, she's in an in between phase, she's not quite ready to drop the nap but she's not ready to nap at a normal naptime. So, for the last couple of weeks I've allowed her to nap when she's ready which is usually around 2:30 and if she's still asleep at 4:30 I wake her up. Then put her to bed at 10. Well, this situation has helped with the naptime problem b/c she takes a nap right away, but now she's still having issues going to sleep at night. Last night she didn't go to sleep until after midnight. I'm constantly tired. I dont know what to do anymore. If anyone has any insight I would greatly appreciate it.

Bigboobsmcgee

Is 10pm her normal bedtime? That is REALLY late IMO but every family is different.

I think your LO is an overly tired cycle and is having a hard time getting out of it.

Some questions: If she goes to bed at 10, what time does she get up? During the day, does she show signs of being tired and you attempt a nap right after? For my son, who is 3, I KNOW when he's tired and when he needs a nap. It's usually between 12-1 every day, like clock work but I put him down according to his signs of being ready, not a clock.

When you put her down for a nap or for bed, does she get out of bed over and over? Is she just not sleeping?

For night time sleep, is she throwing fits or just not ready to fall asleep yet? Does she wake in the night? Do you bring her to your bed?

There are so many questions but basically I think you need to move that bedtime earlier, a little bit each day and make the nap happen somehow. Easier said than done, I know, but she is just really tired all the time and that is screwing up both day time and night time sleep. Consistency is key so whatever you do, you have to be consistent.

KDR1979

Good luck! We have not slept well since having our twins almost 3 years ago....

We did take DD to our local Children's to see a sleep specialist a year ago.  She did a sleep study that showed "periodic limb movements" (kinda like restless legs). 3 of the movements caused arousals and woke her up. We checked her ferritin/iron level and it was very low. After a few months on daily liquid iron, her sleep dramatically improved.

Now, DS is waking up crying and screaming.....

It never ends!

nj001

Not a huge help, but we are in the same boat with J.   She used to love naps and pounced off for them happily, despite always having issues at night.  Lately, she is up around 7.00- 7.30 am and I cannot get a nap before 1.30pm most days, which doesn't sound too bad but she sleeps until 3-3.30 then she won't fall asleep before 9-9.30pm.  Again, this schedule doesn't sound too terrible but on days when she does nap like this (nearly every day) she then doesn't sleep well at night and wakes frequently.  On really bizzare days, like yesterday, when she randomly fell asleep at 11am-1pm, and was out for the night at 8pm-- then she seems to sleep all night.

I feel like I've tried everything to get her to nap earlier, thinking she needs  longer stretch before bed, but still needs a full nap) but she just won't go for it! Not even in the car or stroller, which is "the big guns."

So I tend to agree that an earlier bedtime is ideal for everyone, but any suggestions on how to do this PP?  I've tried cutting naps or limiting them but that seems to make things worse-- leads to days like yesterday when she melts down at 10.45am, which oddly then leads to a really great night of sleep.

Anyone think these phases of a weird schedule happen for a little while until they are ready to drop their nap?  Also, anyone think that she'd just adjust if we stuck with no nap and earlyyyyyyy bedtime for a while? I'd love advice.  7 or 7.30 am until 9:30 pm is a really long day for me and I'd like some evening, sitting-on-the-couch-and-do-nothing time which I can't afford right now. Thanks!