2 yr. old sleep issues - help needed!

[busyshrew]

If you do cut the nap or shorten the nap, expect the bedtime to get moved up dramatically.

When my DD finally dropped her nap, her bedtime had to get moved up to 6:00 pm. Yup, that's right, SIX o'clock. (she slept/ sleeps until 7:15 am most mornings). That lasted for a good year or so.

You'd be the best judge of whether an early bedtime (or the later bedtime) works better for your family. I liked it - it meant a nice relaxing evening for me, with a chance to have "grown-up" food for supper with DH. But the flip side was that DH didn't eat suppers with our daughter for about a year until she managed to shift her bedtime back to 7:00 pm. Instead, he always got up with her in the morning and fed her breakfast while I slept in a bit!

 

[kjs1976]

Thanks for all your advice. I think it's funny that I didn't consider shortening her nap beavuse 1) about 8, 2-3 yr. olds I know still nap 2-3 hrs. and still sleep a full 10-12 hrs. at night and 2) I think that it took her until she was 8 months old to get a solid nap in w/o waking up.

We started making sure she is up earlier in the AM and wake her up at the 1.5 hr. mark for a nap. She already has been only getting up only once and on night one she fell asleep 15 min earlier and last night I never heard her talk and she asked to go to sleep 10 min. earlier. Those small changes have made a difference! Daddy has the next two days off so hopefully he follows the routine and doesn't screw things up!