Question re: Change in sleep habits

carrie118 · #1 (**permalink**) 11-27-2005, 07:37 AM

Hi ladies! I haven't had to post here in months as I thought all of our sleep issues were solved. However, some new ones have popped up. Ds is now 13 months old and after doing sleep training at about 5 months was a great sleeper. Up until about 2 weeks ago he was sleeping 11.5-12 hours at night (usually 8:15pm to 8am) and taking 2 naps a day about 1 1/2 hours each.

Suddenly, about 2 weeks ago he got more difficult. He now wakes up at about 7:30 ever day- I realize this is still pretty good but it just seems like a big shift. He also wakes up shrieking. He used to doze or play quietly in his bed until I went to get him. I tried putting him to bed earlier and it had absolutely no effect. He just woke a little earlier.

Also, he used to nap for about 1 1/2 hours 2x a day but now will only go down for about 50-60 minutes. I don't think it's enough sleep because he gets grumpy before it's time for his next nap or bedtime. I don't know if he is ready to transition to one nap because he is exhausted after 3 hours of awake time.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what might have caused my great sleeper to disappear and what I can do about it? THanks!!

Carrie

bostoncg · #2 (**permalink**) 11-27-2005, 05:47 PM

Hmm...not sure about the waking up shrieking. Around a year, my dd went from sleeping 12-13 hrs a night to sleeping more like 10.5-11.5 hours. She would wake up at 7:30 instead of 8 (i had been so spoiled). I think the shifting the wake up time is normal.

As for naps, Allie also started taking a short nap when she transitioned to only 1 nap. It was tough for a week or two. I had expected her to take one longer nap instead of one short nap. Within a couple of weeks, she was napping for 2-3 hours every day for 1 nap. She transitioned to 1 nap at 12 months. She just turned 2 and she still takes a 2.5-4 hr nap every day!

CincyJen · #3 (**permalink**) 11-30-2005, 08:06 AM

That's rough - sorry about the shrieking. Maybe he is going through some type of separation anxiety? Have you tried letting him go just a bit in the morning? Maybe he would go back to sleep?

As for the naps, it sounds to me like he isn't necessarily ready for 1 nap. When Megan was that age her schedule got all screwed up. It took her a while to transition to one nap. I lengthened her awake time in the morning and sometimes got a longer morning nap that way. Then, against my better judgment, I would sometimes give her a late afternoon nap - like 4p or 5p. Depending on how long she would sleep then, I would keep her up longer so that I wasn't putting her to bed when she wasn't tired. That seemed to work for me (for about 2-3 months) until she could make it on just one nap

Good luck!

carrie118 · #4 (**permalink**) 12-01-2005, 07:26 AM

Thanks Ladies, that's a good point about the separation anxiety. It does seem to be pretty bad right now. I don't think he's quite ready to go to one nap but maybe we are entering the transition phase. I think we'll keep on as we are for a little while longer then try transitioning him. I appreciate the advice.

Carrie