do you wake your toddler up from naps and nighttime? the reason i ask is that sometimes elijah wakes up in a really good happy mood (i mean bouncing off the bed the second his eyes wake up), and sometimes he is ggggggggggggggrumpy and whingy and crying.

i don't normally wake him up but have started trying to reduce his naptimes a bit (from 2 hours) as he has been getting up at 3.30/4pm then obviously is awful to get to bed, but i don't know if i should be doing it really, would i be better to just try and move the nap earlier?

bedtime is getting out of hand for the second time in 2 months (teething/colds/clocks changing) and i am thinking of trying to wake him up earlier as if i leave him now he is sleeping til 8.30/9am...what would you do? (ahh lovely lie in though )

anyway, thoughts welcome....on a side note i need to start getting elijah to nap alone, do you just leave your little one in their clothes or put a grobag or anything on them?!

ummmm well Tyler wakes up far too early for my liking but then he always has done and he goes to bed about 7.30 at the latest and will sleep till 6 if not later (sometimes 7!)

he HAS to have a nap though or he can't last through dinner, so he has his nap when he gets hope from nursery between 2/3 which is quite late for a nap but I wake him up after an hour and a half and he always goes to bed fine, any longer and he's up playing about and the later he stays up the earlier he gets up in the morning

so yes I wake Tyler up and it means he still goes to bed and then also gets up in the morning at the right time. I suppose it depends on what you prefer, a lie in but a later night, or an earlier night and earlier start ?

Tyler naps in his clothes with blankets on him same as he would have at night but he's in clothes instead of his pj's.

I never wake Jamie up but he is younger and I don't mind that much if he goes to bed later. I just pull a blanket over his clothes

Hannah is the same age as Elijah and her routine is:

7-7.30 get up - bottle + breakfast
11.30 lunch - balamory
soon as balamory finishes or if she's not watching it she goes up in her cot
she sleeps for around 2 hours so wakes about 2.30
5.00 dinner
6.30 bath
7.00 bottle - cuddles
7.30 bed

This routine is perfect for her at the moment, she used to nap later at about 1.30 but I found she was over tired and difficult to settle. Now as soon as she has finished lunch and balamory she gets out of her chair, turns the tv off, grabs her blankie and goes upstairs on her own shouting nanight momas (Thomas) nanight mummy and waving through the banister . I follow her up and pop her in her cot, cover her with her duvet and close the door.

This works perfect at home but if we are away she doesn't settle half as well and wont sleep in her buggy any more either. Only way to get her to sleep away from home is a car ride.

Personally I love my evenings to myself so can deal with the early gets up but it's up to you if you would rather the lie in then keep him up later? only problem you will have is if/when he goes to nursery you will have to reajust his routine to suit the earlier get ups and he may not appreciate that If he gets up later it stands to reason he will nap later and go to bed later. I would def try bringing his nap time forward though as it may just be that he is overtired and cant switch off. Hannah never actually looks tired when she goes down but she has no problem settling, if I wait until she shows signs of tiredness then I've missed the boat and will expect a bit of fuss and crying to settle her.

xx

i think its more that i need to edge it back just a bit - at the moment its like this

8.30 up

out and about/group/swimming/park etc

12 home, lunch about 1

nap about 2

up 3.30/4ish

play

5.30 tea

7 bath and (ho ho) bed

9pm still awake

because i haven't moved anything really for a long time but he has moved his sleeps it doesn't quite fit anymore? maybe i will try 8am to get up then lunch for 12? that way if he does need to sleep longer thats alright cos he is up for a proper play before 3 (and its dark!!!! i think not being able to go out til teatime is affecting him).

we did get him up at 7 for a week but he was just chronically overtired and it was just uncontrollable so maybe if i get him up at 8 at first and play it by ear : /

When Libby was Elijah's age she was having an hour ish a day. She would have her lunch at 12 then go to bed at 1, sleep for about an hour and would always be in bed by 7pm. She then started to take ages to get to sleep at nap times and then wake up in the foulest of moods so we stopped them, she has slept from 6:30pm til 7-8am since she was 19 months ish.

Hum well Awen is only on the roughest of routines but its:

4am shouts for a while. Usually get her back between 420 and 6am depending how much of a toad she is being

630am Up for bottle then sometimes snoozes til 730 if not we are out of bed at 7

930-10ish Nap in bouncer chair with bunny and blanket for 30 mins

11-1130ish Lunch

1230-1ish Bottle of milk.

1-130ish Naptime in cot

3-330 up from nap

430-530 Dinner

6pm Bath

630-7pm Bottle and straight into bed

i will be heartbroken when elijah stops napping although.....a nice early bedtime is tempting i do think just now without a nap at all he will be too tired by bedtime and just horrid!!

i do miss a couple of hours after he has gone to bed, and really can't take 3 hours of battling to get him down now im on my own all day too!

ffs awen is in a better routine than elijah just now and shes a titchy baby!

Ive been lucky both my girls have always responded well to a routine. I dont get overwrought about the timings just know roughly when things will happen. If i could sort out Awens 4am meanderings she would be an absolute dream. Caelyns always been the same, it took a long time to stop her getting up at 5am too but eventually she learned to sleep 7-7. As for naps both girls still nap though C will be giving it up soon I think Im just trying to hold out til New Year when my shifts change. Awen has napped alone since about 6-8 weeks I think. I dont grobag her in the day just a blanket but she has her bunny she sleeps with at night

mariheartselijah wrote:

i will be heartbroken when elijah stops napping although.....a nice early bedtime is tempting i do think just now without a nap at all he will be too tired by bedtime and just horrid!!

i do miss a couple of hours after he has gone to bed, and really can't take 3 hours of battling to get him down now im on my own all day too!

Dont get me wrong, Libby was a nightmare in the afternoons for a good few weeks after we stopped them but she got used to it.

Dexter is in quite a good routine now (thankfully!!), his is:

wakes up around 6:30-7am, has a breastfeed straight away

8am breakfast

10am breastfeed nap for around an hour

12 noon lunch

1:30pm breastfeed then nap for an hour

4:30pm dinner

5:30pm bath

6:30pm bedtime routine (story in Libby's bedroom then breastfeed)

6:45pm bed

aww i want a nice peaceful house at night again elijah is still galloping around tonight, normally i would have either put him in his cot asleep or be in there holding him til he sleeps but i couldn't face it (inconsistency anyone?)

Oooooh eck rather you than me Mrs. 730 onwards is My time!

yeah i need those couple of hours back!!! i really don't mind him sleeping with me but i really do mind him having a temper because he isn't allowed to stick his head up my t-shirt

The kids come in my bed 630 onwards or if poorly. Neils been more lax about it and ive kicked his arse for it cos i end up rectifying it later while hes snoring! I hope you get it sorted then mate Id go nuts without my bit of evening peace

Arwyn still has 2 naps in the day or she's grumpy by tea time. Sometimes I can get away with just the morning one if she's had a wee nap in the car or something in the afternoon

Ellie only has a nap if she fall asleep in the car or in her pram, if it's after 3pm I usually wake her as it's too close to bed time. From been a tiny baby she has always slept in her daytime clothes.

Noah will still wake once through the night at 5:30, i just give him a drink and either put him in with me or settle him back down. Then he wakes at 7 then.

Noah will have one nap at 1 after lunch he will have about 1 hour a bit longer if i put him in his cot for one.

Now the clocks went back i was able to get him into bed at 7:30 which is what time i want him to go to bed it use to be 8.

I am dreading when the clocks go forward lol.

Char

ava sleeps before lunch, she's gone at 1100 today and will usually get up between 1300-1400, she just goes in her daytime clothes and I put a soft fleece blanket over her. She goes to bed at 1830. Have you maybe tried an earlier naptime for Eli?

Alfie wakes up about 7/7.30. His routien is a bit like Hannahs Debs. He normally has his dinner about 11.45/12 and goes down for his napy about half 12/1. he sleeps normally till about 3. I dont let him sleep aftr half 3. Come half 6 is is exhausted again. He watches ITNG till 6.50 then goes upstairs in the bath (every other night) pj,es bottle and bed. He never wakes during the night unless hes teething or poorly x