Lana (17 months old) only takes one 19 minute nap each day.

She's tired by 7 and is in bed by 7:30, but she's sluggish throughout the day. She gets about 12 hours of sleep throughout the night, but it's the daytime sleep that I'm worried about her not getting.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Do any of your kids take such short naps?

Thanks!

In a word Yes!!

Percy can go all day (and by that I mean ALL day 7am to 10pm!!) and only catch maybe 10 - 15 minutes during the day. Other days she might sleep a little longer but general she can have a very short cat nap and look like she's had hours!! (the lucky so and so!)

Ethan can, but he is a major grump-butt later!

Matt started giving up his nap at around 2. And from around then, we had to limit his naps, only allowing him at most 10mins else he'd be awake all evening. Now he doesn't nap at all.

My Hannah, who is 15mths, sleeps probably about 15mins all day. Admittedly she's tired by aroudn 7.00pm but keeps going until 7.30. I figure some kids just need more sleep than others. And there's nothing you can do to change that - unfortunately!!!

But you may find when she gets more active, that she'll want/need more sleep. Or she may just be one of those active little kids who cope fine without naps.

Angela has always been a non-sleeper. By 6 months or so she hardly napped. By 2 we had her on melatonin to increase her nightime sleeping because that was disappearing as well. Now, at 10, she's on clonidine in order to sleep. Without it, she'll be up for days at at time.

Just so happens I am reading "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child". I looked up the chapter between Thirteen and Thirty-six months. This is the suggestion it had for short naps and sluggish during the day...

Move up the bedtime. So in your case try 6pm (I know it sounds way early). The doctor who wrote the book did a case study on a little girl who wouldn't nap at all or at best would take a short 30 min. nap. After a few days of moving up the bedtime from 7pm to 5pm (crazy huh) the girl was taking 1 two hour nap from 12:30-2:30 and appeared better rested throughout each day.

It's a great book ~ pm me and I will mail you the chapter on Months Thirteen to Thirty-Six if you want.

Good luck! (Where are you in Texas? ~ I am in Houston)

Some days Talitha only has a couple of short naps, maybe 15 mins each but on those days she usually crashes for the night at around 7pm. The only problem with this is that if she is asleep before 7.30pm she will often wake up at around 5.30am and I am NOT a morning person. If she wakes early she is more likely to have a longer nap mid-morning, up to an hour but that might be it for the day. She is only 10 1/2 months old. She isn't grumpy at all though.

I forgot to mention that sleep disturbances are very common to people (both adults and children) who have DS and other cognitive disabilities.

Elias is 19 months and he always take 2 hr naps more less. in the morning and he sleeps at 9/10 pm - 6/7am

elias problem is that he cant get sleep by his own if i put him on his crib. i have to be layed talking, singing , giving him massages, sometimes he cries bc he wants be playing but i try to keep him in bed and then 10 min later he will fall out sleep.

Daniel is just a bit younger than Lana, but his sleeping habits have defintely been changing the last few weeks. He USED to take 2 naps per day. One around noon and another around 4ish.....that is no more. He is now staying up until 1pm and napping only once AFTER lunch. However, he is out cold by 7:30pm. I actually like the new schedule, it's more in line with Elayna's nap. She just turned 4 and still NEEDS a nap....or watch out around dinner time...she's one cranky child.

I am a firm believer in naptime....we ALL need it in my house.

My older daughter only took catnaps, even when she was a newborn. That kid rarely slept.

Sarah just turned five and due to her full day school schedule, we have given up naps. She is just so darned exhausted that we still do naps on weekends. We give her a bath at 7pm and she is asleep by 7:30. Our biggest problem is keeping her awake between 3 and 7pm. My husband is very guilty of letting her fall asleep late in the afternoon. HE gets to go to work in the evening and I have to put up with a very fussy kid for the rest of the night. Last week, this happened and she was so wired that I didn't get her to sleep until midnight. I was ready to choke my husband.

Chris

Hello Jenna,

whenever I wanted my children to take longer naps, the only way to get them there was for me to take a nap myself. It then worked. Cecilie used to sleep 1-2 hrs after lunch. She now stopped. But whenever we feel, that she needs a nap, either her sisters are I go for a nap as well...