the long naps continue...

adamsbabble

only they come along with early morning wakings!  all of sudden she is waking up around 5:00-5:30 in the morning.  by 9:30 a.m. she is ready to go down and then she'll take a super long nap.  today she slept from 9:30 a.m. - 1:45 in the afternoon.  i can't deal with this.  i'm not super strict with a schedule or anything, but i'm not liking this at all.  this is the second time she has had an early morning waking in the past 3 days, and she's been taking the long naps all week (around 3.5 hours).  any other toddler moms deal with something like this or know what might be causing it?

Megs&Nick

I'm not a toddler mom, or a mom at all yet, so take my guess with a grain of salt but could she be going through a growth spurt?  Is she still going to bed around the same time in the evenings?

adamsbabble

she got kind of off track with her bedtime when she had the ear infection, but generally, yes her evening bedtime is the same.  i don't know what to make of it.

sistrkate

We have not gone through this on a consistent basis.  One time here or there doesn't bother me and it's usually brought on by illness, but it sounds like little Ava is just changing her schedule up on you.

 

Personally, I would wake her up after a set period of time.  Justin usually naps for a couple hours somewhere in the 12-3 window.  At daycare, he's pretty consistent with about 12:45 to 2:45.  On weekends at home, he usually goes down a little earlier (around noon) and will sleep anywhere from 2-2:30.

 

I do not let him take a nap longer than 3 hours, or sleep later than 3 PM, unless he is fighting an illness.  I know you said you're not rigid about schedules, but if you want her to get up later in the morning and be able to do more during the day, I think you should wake her.  It wouldn't take her long to get back on a shorter nap duration, I don't think.

 

Of course I have to be a little more rigid since I work, so feel free to take my advice with a grain of salt.  

johnandkristin

We have a pretty set schedule for Jack, but it's not always followed....especially when he decides to take a really long morning nap!

Maybe she is a little off from being sick, or trying to catch up like you mentioned before. If she's still going to bed at the same time, I would just try to let her stay up a little longer before putting her down for a nap to see if she will get back on a better schedule.

Rose.9.6.03

I'd make sure to wake her up from her nap after 3 hours (or less depending on what her "normal" naps are).   Also, to help with the early wakings, I'd do a couple of things.  First, move her nap later in the day (you can do this slowly in 15 minute increments).  Second, I'd leave her in the crib when she wakes up at 5:30 until a more reasonable time like 6:00, even 6:30 (depending on how upset she might get being left in there).  Both of those things helped my girls learn to sleep in a little later.  Best of luck.

vbmeg

I agree with sistrkate & rose. Wake her up at the 3 hour mark. Also for the morning wakings, like Rose said, let her "play" in her crib for a while. I never get Ryan out of bed before 8. Usually she wakes up between 8 and 8:30. Twice this week she tried getting up at 7:30 but she just chatted in her crib and played with her glow worm. I didn't get her out until 8. It works for us.