sleep at almost 2

My guys will be two in a few weeks, and I'm seeing some sleep issues. They ARE cutting their molars, so it could be that, but I'd like to get your all's take on it.

For awhile, we have had a good schedule of 6:30-7am wakeup, nap at 12:30 (lasting until 2 or 3 pm), and bedtime at 7:30pm (total of 12.5-13.5 hours of sleep most days). The last couple of weeks, they are talking and singing, etc. for anywhere from 15-45 minutes before they go to sleep for their nap, and sometimes for 10-15 minutes before bedtime. Two days, they have barely napped at all (judging by the talking and singing, they slept MAYBE 30 minutes those two days and seemed just fine until bedtime). I've also noticed that they pretty much never fall asleep in the car anymore, even if it is time for nap or bed.

So, I'm wondering if they are getting so they need less sleep. Should I try a later nap? I could also do a later bedtime, but that cuts into time I really like to have in evenings to do my grad school work, so that would not be my first choice. Or any other ideas?? They do share a room, and that can't change, but they have always shared, and I don't think that has anything to do with it. We also have the room very dark, sound machine, etc.

 

Your schedule is exactly like ours. Sometimes my boys will also goof off before a nap but they are happy and eventually fall asleep (dark, share a room, white noise). As general rule I do not let them nap past 3pm, even if their nap was short. Otherwise, we have to push back their bedtime which I don't like to do... Mommy loves their early bedtime!! If they are content to play in their crib and are not creating mayhem, I say keep doing what you are doing and enjoy the personal time! If they start to cause trouble or cry, maybe try to push back naptime 30 minutes but keep the 2/3pm wake time. If it makes you feel any better, our twins went through something similar right around two and grew out of it in a few months without a major change to our schedule (we changed from a 12pm nap to 12:30pm nap a little after they turned 2). Now, it is only every so often that they talk before bed/naptime. Good luck!

 

This is what I was going to say too. If they are happily chatting away and it's not having a negative effect on the rest of your day (making them grumpy all afternoon) then I don't think it's a big problem that it takes them a while to fall asleep.
The only thing I would add is, if you think molars could be a factor you could try giving them some kind of pain killer half an hour or so before bed to see if it makes a difference.

 

Thanks. I guess I will just ride it out for a bit and see what happens. They had finally gotten to be decent nappers around 18 months, so I may just be overreacting. I used to be lucky if they napped more than 30-40 minutes!

 

I agree with PPs - a bit of chatting at naptime is not a problem if they are happy and rested at their usual wake-up time. I would not let them sleep longer than 3 pm max to keep your bed-time.

For what it's worth: My LOs adjusted their sleep schedule a bit around their 2nd birthday. Our schedule was very similar to yours but they seemed to need less sleep, maybe 30 minutes per day. I pushed back bedtime because I need the nap to get work for the office done. In your situation I probably would have cut back their naps a lttle, but it seems as if they are already taking care of that themselves.

 

I agree with this. My DD is not much of a napper any more (she's almost 4) but every day, she still goes up to her room to lay down, she might sleep for 45 minutes to an hour but the rest of the time she sings to herself, plays with her toys quietly or looks through a book. Molars could definitely be contributing to sleep issues and I also agree with Zoe to give a pain reliever before nap or bedtime, if you feel that is an issue. I know during age 2 and most of 3, both of my kids went through phases with napping where they barely napped but kept themselves occupied to back to taking 3 hour naps a day.

 

See, that is what I am wondering - if they are hitting an adjustment point since they are almost two. They have been waking up about 30-45 minutes earlier every morning for the last week or so, too. Most days the sleeping until 3pm isn't a problem - they are usually up between 2 and 2:30, but there are random times where they do sleep past 3pm.

I'm still debating if I want to try a later nap....and I hate to do a later bedtime, but I might have to adjust that, too. I'm not enjoying them waking me up at 6 or 6:15 every morning this week! I much prefer 6:45 or 7, but I don't want to cut into my evening study time too much.

It's always something to figure out, isn't it???

 

Yes - as soon as I think something is working well one of them decides that mom needs a bit of a challenge again!

I found that I have little influence over their morning wake-up time; unless they are sick or we had a very rare very late night (something like 10 pm after a wedding) they do not sleep past 6.30 am. But I can switch sleep between the nap and bedtime, even during the week - they have a shorter nap at daycare so I put them down a little earlier at night; I need a longer nap on our days at home for work so bedtime moves back a little.

Maybe it is worth the experiment to move things around a bit looking for a new schedule of reasonable morning wake-up times and enough time to study at night?

 

They used to sleep until at least 6:45 in the mornings, and on weekends when DH didn't have to get up for work, they would sometimes even sleep until 7:15 or 7:30. So I have hope that they could sleep that late again (they used to be TERRIBLE early risers - I'm talking 4-5am until they were over a year old!). I guess I just need to juggle things and find out....I'm thinking I better do it before the chaos of all the Christmas events start, too.