14 months old sleeping habit....

cathzeta · Dec 16, 2011

My DD is 14 months old and her sleeping pattern makes me sleepless and see stars thru the day

Almost for 1-1.5 months now, she sleeps only for 2-2.5 hrs day time and the rest is only in the night.... err..... mid-night!! She sleeps only after 12. After a long day, it is sometimes overwhelming!

Heres her pattern for the day:

8:30-9:30: wake up time
By 9:30-10:30, she is done with breakfast
11:30, I give her either some juice or a fruit
If she sleeps around 11:30, she goes on till 1:30
Arnd 1:30, lunch. Lunch goes in so slowly, she finishes eating by almost 3.
She sleeps after 3, IF she has not slept at 11:30.....
I give her a bath while she is awake, either at 12:00 or at 3-3:30
Is she sleeps at 3, then she wakes up by 5-5:30 and then I take her for a walk for an hr. Else, I take her for a walk at 4:30 for an hr
Arnd 5:30-6, I give her formula arnd 90 ml and a fruit/marie biscuit
I give her dinner by 8
I make her sleep arnd 10-11 giving her 90-120 ml formula.

But for the past few days, her day starts at 11 in the night and she wants doing anything, but sleep! She evades her sleep and bangs on things at home and then cries, gets cranky et al......

Please advise, what I can do better......

Thanks,
cathzeta.

loonypooh · Dec 20, 2011

I do not see a problem here. Thats how much a 1.5 year old sleeps. I suggest try cutting down 1 nap time. That is put her to bed after lunch and then directly after dinner .... at around 8.30-9.
Now the baby would need a sleep of 12-14 hrs which I think is what she is

amvi · Jan 10, 2012

Dear Cathzeta,

Just read your post. I am a new member to Indus and this is the very first time I am posting a thread, rather replying!
You really can't make a strict routine to babies at this age. They are always excited anxious and full of energy. My son just completed his 15 months. Whatever you have mentioned with your daughter, same goes with my son and I have to tell you frankly, He is a BIG NAUGHTY NAUGHTY NAUGHTY boy....very clever and always walking and running and throwing things and banging the mobile phones, remotes, doesn't show interest in eating. Once in a day he eats well. the other times it is like a big task. Whenever we need to change the diaper, it is a big task again.
He sleeps for 1.5 hr in the noon time and 1 hr may be in the evening time. Night times......there is no particular time. If he sleeps early in the night........then we need to prepare ourselves for a midnight wake up time.
It goes on and on and on.
Make your daughter walk in the evening times, take to a temple nearby, make her mingle with her age group children, etc etc....she will slowly get used to!
Have patience. Some kids don't stick to routines. They keep changing the times. They can't talk. We need to understand them. It is teething time too for them..Isn't it? They have their problems too....which they can't tell them and behave crankily instead.
I gave you a big reply, but sometimes even I lose patience with my son. It happens!!

MadhuSharmila · Jan 10, 2012

Hi cathzeta,

My daughter is 23 months old and her daily routine is almost the same as what you have mentioned.. From 15 months onwards she's following this routine which gets changed slightly inbetween. Babies don't sleep much in the day time once they cross a year. My daughter too sleeps late in the night around 11 - 12. One thing I've noticed is, if she wakes up early in the morning, say around 7'o clock, she goes to bed early. May be you can give a try, if you don't have problem if she stays awake early in the morning.

Best Regards,
Sharmila

amritavarshini · Jan 12, 2012

my daughter too has the same problem...she goes to sleep only by 12...earlier it was 2 -3am in the morning so i feel 12 is a lot better..she is 2 years now, everyone said the habit will change, that we parents have to sleep early etc ect..tried out everything...nothing worked...she sleeps for 2 hours, sometimes 1.5 hours in the afternoon, then stays awake late into the night...earlier i used to sit awake till 3 but now i dont..i have lost 15 kg due to my irregular sleeping habits...if she doesn't sleep in the afternoon she gets cranky by 5 pm and then goes to sleep without eating anything..thats also a problem...if she has lot of outdoor activities then she sleeps by 10pm..well dont know wat to do

rpm2 · Jan 13, 2012

OP,

I have 2 kids aged 4 & 2. I live in the US and take care of 2 kids with very little help from my husband.

My first one had a similar routine for 2 months and that was driving me nuts! There was no way I could take care of both of them, if my daughter's routine was so mess up. I understood that the problem was with me and not her!

I slowly started introducing a time for everything. I would wake her up around 7 am and give her milk. BF around 9 after a bath. We would play, read books etc. Lunch around 1 followed by a nap. I would put her in the crib with some books or toys. Since she woke up early, she almost all the time took a nap. Very few days, she would play in the crib. She knew that I will be there in the house busy with my little son. I needed a little break

I would wake her up around 3 pm and then a little snack. We would go out, play in the park or go for a walk. Dinner around 7 pm. Read books, watch a little TV and bed by 8 pm. I follow this routine for both my kids and that has helped me and the kids a lot. We both are energetic and happy.

Routine is a must for the kids. If you are spending almost 2 hours to feed her lunch then your daughter will think it is a play time. Try to feed her lunch in 30 mins, if she does not eat it then dont give it to her. Ask her again after sometime and keep doing it till she understands that she needs to eat food in the specified time. Set up times for everything and explain the time to her. Kids are very smart and she will understand what to expect next.

It will take a little while before you are able to establish a routine for her but it will be very easy after first few difficult days
Goodluck.