18 month regression?

Submitted by AnitaP on Tue, 02/26/2013 - 10:50

Hi

My baby is 3 days away from turning 18 months old. For the last 8 weeks he has been down to 1 nap of about 70 minutes and has 10.5 hours at night.

He is now waking up once a night (which he has not done for ages) and also looking exhausted after only 2 hours awake in the morning whereas previously he could be awake for 5 hours. Yesterday he woke up at 6.30am and was yawning at 9.00am. I kept him awake as he had a toddler music class to go to but then when I tried to put him down for a nap at midday (the usual time) he just screamed and could not settle. After 90 minutes of trying I took him for a drive and he went to sleep straightaway.

Do I need to reinstate the morning nap and if yes what sort of time and for how long should I let him sleep in the morning please?

I also need to ensure that he has an afternoon nap as there is no way that he could just have an early morning nap and then last for the whole day - any afternoon nap would need to end by 3.30 as I need to do the school run.

Any help much appreciated thank you.

‹ Early Morning Waking 2.5 year old won't sleep in her bed ›

Dear Anita,Thank you for

Submitted by Juliet on Tue, 03/05/2013 - 23:09.

Dear Anita,
Thank you for your post. It is usual for a baby of 18 months to be only having 1 nap of on average of around 2 hours and then on average around 11.5 hours at night - a total of 14 hours. This is an average and some babies need more and some less. I think if you have reduced him to one nap then i would continue with one nap.
Maybe he started waking in the night due to discomfort such as teething or too cold, not feeling well etc. The most important thing is you re-settle him and make him comfortable without rewarding the behaviour. If he is looking exhausted after 2 hours awake then the night waking is affecting him. On the day he woke at 6.30am and then screamed at his midday nap he may well have just been too over tired to nap. What you could do if this happens again is just give him a 10-15 min power nap to help get him through the class and to his regular nap. Then stick to the usual midday nap.
Also it is not worth trying naps for hours on end as the actual sleep time is shorter - if he is not asleep within 40 mins get him up and try again in an hours time or take for a walk/drive as you did.
Hope that helps and let us know how you get on.
Best wishes
Juliet