Would you shorten a nap?

Summer20

DD has been taking forevvvver to fall asleep lately. She's usually in bed around 7:30 but it's often 8:30-9 before she's actually asleep. Sometimes even later. We've tried putting her to bed earlier and later and either way it's still a good 45 min - an hour or more before she's asleep. 

On days when she doesn't nap she will usually fall asleep quickly around 6:30-7. However, if she goes more than one day without a nap she's a total wreck so I know she's not ready to drop naps completely. She usually naps 2-2.5 hours so Im wondering if I need to shorten her nap. WWYD? 

MrsMommyQ

What time do you put her in for a nap? Maybe put her in a half hour earlier? I'd try that before I woke her from a nap.

nosoup4u

My older son wasn't allowed to nap past 4 pm after he was about 18 months, bc he'd go to bed so late. Try shortening it and see what happens.

MrsWindyCity

Can  you move the nap earlier?

Also, is her taking a while to fall asleep interfering with anything? Is she content in her crib? Do you need to wake her in the morning or does she get up when she wants? DS takes a fair amount of time to go to sleep, even if we put him down later. I think he just needs the "wind down" time. 

Summer20

MrsWindyCity:

Can  you move the nap earlier?

Also, is her taking a while to fall asleep interfering with anything? Is she content in her crib? Do you need to wake her in the morning or does she get up when she wants? DS takes a fair amount of time to go to sleep, even if we put him down later. I think he just needs the "wind down" time. 

I have tried to put her down earlier to nap, but she usually won't fall asleep earlier.

She's up somewhere between 7-7:30am, naps around 1:00, bed around 7:30.  Generally, she just lays in her crib and plays with her doll or talks quietly.  It's really not a problem for us (I don't even know if I'd realize she was awake if it weren't for the video monitor).  I just feel terrible having her spend so much time awake in her crib... 

choppinbroccoli22

I hear what you're saying about feeling bad having her awake in there for a while. What kind of bedtime routine do you have? Quiet time, reading, etc? I wonder if she may just need a while longer to settle into it being bedtime?

Angela814

Summer20:

MrsWindyCity:

Can  you move the nap earlier?

Also, is her taking a while to fall asleep interfering with anything? Is she content in her crib? Do you need to wake her in the morning or does she get up when she wants? DS takes a fair amount of time to go to sleep, even if we put him down later. I think he just needs the "wind down" time. 

I have tried to put her down earlier to nap, but she usually won't fall asleep earlier.

She's up somewhere between 7-7:30am, naps around 1:00, bed around 7:30.  Generally, she just lays in her crib and plays with her doll or talks quietly.  It's really not a problem for us (I don't even know if I'd realize she was awake if it weren't for the video monitor).  I just feel terrible having her spend so much time awake in her crib... 

She may not need that much sleep. At 2 years, DD1 was sleeping 10 hours at night with a 2-2.5 hour nap. DD2 sleeps 11 hours at night with a 2 hour nap. You could try shortening the nap to 2 hours or even moving it up a bit to 12:30.

Or she may just need time to wind down alone like a pp suggested.

g8trkim

When Grant was still having 2 naps, he took about 45 minutes to go to sleep at night. But since he's been at one nap, he's out immediately. If your LO is already to one nap, I would say maybe try to push the nap a little earlier and see if that helps. Is your LO fussy when you try to put her down at night, or is she just up for a little while. If she's just up but content, I wouldn't worry about it.

MrsWindyCity

Like pp said, she may not need as much sleep at this age. If you can't push the nap a little earlier, then I would try putting her to bed about 15 minutes later to cut down on her awake time. If she is still falling asleep around the same time, then you can continue doing that. If she is still taking an hour, she may need the wind-down time. DS falls asleep more quickly on the weekends, because we give him a nap earlier. On DCP nights he doesn't fall asleep until between 8:20-8:40 (always the same window) so we put him down a little later those nights, since we were also putting him down at about 7:30 - and he was not having it. Now after we read and rock for 5ish minutes, we put him down at about 8.