Anon8319
17-10-2011, 08:46 AM
My toddler is nearly 18 months old. She was breastfed til she was nearly 17 months old when she started refusing (and still is), but despite that she's always slept well (b/f babies tend to need more frequent feeds as breastmilk is more easily digested by them, so doesn't fill them for as long). She would sleep from 730 til 1 then on til 4/5 and then on til about 8 (often co-sleeping). Then at 7 months or so, she started sleeping all the way through from 730 til 5 and it slowly spread out til about 7 (although she woke earlier over summer!). She now sleeps 7-6/7 every night.
She was never great at napping - I used to carry her in a wrap and she'd sleep on me during the day as I took 13 months' mat leave, so it was a luxury I could give her. And why not!? When she started nursery, they slowly got her into sleeping in the cot during the day, and she will now easily sleep for 1.5-2 hours at nursery (she still goes 1 day a week) and then still fall asleep during tea time at 4pm!!
What I have found now I am working from home and so around her more than I was in the last 5 months when I was going out to work, is that she can't seem to last longer than 2.5-3 hours without needing a sleep. Today for eg, she was up at about 645 (but awake a bit earlier than that) to welcome children here at 7. We did the schoolrun and by the time we got back at 915, she was nearly asleep, rubbing her eyes, doing all her tired signs. She will nap til about midday and then have lunch; we will be going to the library and then to feed the ducks, this afternoon, and then if the mindee was being collected at 330, we'd come back and she'd want another sleep. As it stands, today I will be doing a schoolrun and I think she will struggle to get through til bedtime at 7!
SO, I have worked with children for a long time, but I've rarely come across a toddler who needs to nap every 2-3 hours and then sleeps 12 hours overnight as well! She is a very very very active and busy girl, never sits still, never ever been given the opportunity to watch tv and wouldn't sit and watch tbh, climbs on everything, been walking for about 7 months, dances to even the slightest hint of music, loves bouncing and jumping. In contrast, my mindee is a couple of months older and she sits a lot and is reasonably quiet. And doesn't even nap for the 2 hours during the day, and definitely doesn't need regular naps.
So my question - do we think this is linked to how active she is? She has a very healthy diet; she eats very balanced and healthy meals. She is under a paediatrician at the moment due to some 'seizures' she's been having, and will be having an MRI and EEG soon, but I have not mentioned this to the Dr and I don't think it is particularly linked.
She was never great at napping - I used to carry her in a wrap and she'd sleep on me during the day as I took 13 months' mat leave, so it was a luxury I could give her. And why not!? When she started nursery, they slowly got her into sleeping in the cot during the day, and she will now easily sleep for 1.5-2 hours at nursery (she still goes 1 day a week) and then still fall asleep during tea time at 4pm!!
What I have found now I am working from home and so around her more than I was in the last 5 months when I was going out to work, is that she can't seem to last longer than 2.5-3 hours without needing a sleep. Today for eg, she was up at about 645 (but awake a bit earlier than that) to welcome children here at 7. We did the schoolrun and by the time we got back at 915, she was nearly asleep, rubbing her eyes, doing all her tired signs. She will nap til about midday and then have lunch; we will be going to the library and then to feed the ducks, this afternoon, and then if the mindee was being collected at 330, we'd come back and she'd want another sleep. As it stands, today I will be doing a schoolrun and I think she will struggle to get through til bedtime at 7!
SO, I have worked with children for a long time, but I've rarely come across a toddler who needs to nap every 2-3 hours and then sleeps 12 hours overnight as well! She is a very very very active and busy girl, never sits still, never ever been given the opportunity to watch tv and wouldn't sit and watch tbh, climbs on everything, been walking for about 7 months, dances to even the slightest hint of music, loves bouncing and jumping. In contrast, my mindee is a couple of months older and she sits a lot and is reasonably quiet. And doesn't even nap for the 2 hours during the day, and definitely doesn't need regular naps.
So my question - do we think this is linked to how active she is? She has a very healthy diet; she eats very balanced and healthy meals. She is under a paediatrician at the moment due to some 'seizures' she's been having, and will be having an MRI and EEG soon, but I have not mentioned this to the Dr and I don't think it is particularly linked.