To Wake from a Nap or Not...

My 26m old daughter is in a big girl bed, and we have a door knob cover on her door so she cannot roam around the house at night. This has helped keep her in her room and in bed. When putting her to bed she knows she can get out of bed, but cannot leave her room. After a few nights the novelty of playing in her dresser drawers, pulling all her diapers out etc. got old and she began just going to sleep. I never made a big deal about her making a mess, I Just had her help me clean it up in the morning.

I know it's too late for the nap time question and that I'm going against everyone elses advice, but I have found that if my daughter is over-tired it makes sleeping a BIGGER struggle, not easier. She missed 2 naps over the weekend when staying with her Aunt and at nap yesterday (monday) she slept 3.5 hours (normal nap is 1.5-2 hours) not waking until after 5pm (normal wake up is 3-ish). I also wondered if I should wake her so she would still go to bed at her 8pm bedtime, but decided that she needed the sleep (and I needed the time to clean..lol). I am happy to say she went down for bed at 8:30 without a problem and slept all night. One of the sleep doctors, I forget which one, said "sleep begets sleep" and I really do believe that. This is true only for days when I know she is sleep deprived or has missed a nap the day before though. On a normal day I don't let her sleep past 3:30pm.

My own experience with naps is that when "done right" they are relatively short, and then don't actually change anything about the night time sleep schedule. But that doesn't happen instantly or every time.

I'd say keep the nap moderate, based on the amount of sleep she needs in a 24 hour period, and her usual amount that she gets at night. For this particular transitional time, I'd not let her sleep more during her nap. That's what will set a disrupted pattern for the night-time sleep.

When I don't want my son to sleep too long or late in the day (this is only on weekends, as he's in daycare during the week), I wake him after about an hour, and before 2:30 - 3:00 (very very latest), and do it very gently so that he has a decent transition and doesn't feel jarred.

Dear I.

You have the answer. Wake her and let her be tired when it is bedtime.
You seem to have common sense which will help you in all situations.

L.-Maggie

Hi I.,

Personally I'm big fan letting sleeping babies sleep, however, since I just went through this I'm suggesting you wake her up. I was letting mine sleep then bedtime was an issue again because he wasn't tired when bedtime rolled around.

This phase too shall pass, though it feels like a long one! :) Hang in there!

Best,
T.

I'd wake her up and most importantly I'd start waking (if you aren't already) at the same time each morning to reset her clock.

Try putting a baby gate in her doorway at night so she can't get out and go to the TV. As long as she leaves the lights off, even if she gets up to play, she will soon tire and fall back asleep. You may set up a baby monitor so you can go back in and put her back to bed.

As for the nap, I am sure it is too late, but yes, I'd wake her up to make bedtime easier.

I am also a hard working mom of a toddler and I say let her sleep. (I think). Maybe give it a few more nights in the toddler bed and see what she does before shortening her nap time. There's just nothing worse then a tired two year old, except maybe a sick two year old.