I put my 11-month old down for a nap just after 5:00 (pm) because she had missed her usual nap today and was really cranky. Now it's 8:30ish and she is still asleep. Should I wake her up for a couple hours and put her back to bed, or let her continue to sleep...? Thanks :)
2007-01-19 15:05:08 · 16 answers · asked by Angelwings 2 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Newborn & Baby
This is a tough one! Dr Sears (my guru for all things baby!) says in order for them to have good sleep, they need to have at least 4 hours between their nap time, and their nighttime sleep.
Unfortunately when they go down for that late afternoon nap due to scheduling or whatever, obviously the normal routine goes out the window.
If it was me, I'd wake her up for an hour or so, give her dinner, let her play for a little bit, change her diaper, put her in her jammies, and then put her back to bed. One night of going to bed a little later than usual isn't going to hurt her.
Otherwise, you're looking at her waking up at 3 or 4, absolutely starving, and probably really wet!
Good luck!
2007-01-19 15:13:46 · answer #1 · answered by Kristin H 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Good luck getting to bed tonight! When she was tired and cranky at 5:00 you probably should have either put her down for just an hour or so, or kept her up for another hour or two and put her down early for the night. After a 3½ - 4 hour nap in the late afternoon/early evening she probably won't go to sleep until very late tonight. My advice is to wake her up now and play with her a lot.
2007-01-19 15:10:14 · answer #2 · answered by Justin H 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Maybe she's teething or something, my daughter was a real sleeper. If you are not worried about her waking up at 3am and staying up I say let her sleep. She will be well rested and ready to go in the morning. If she usually has a good schedule, then her little body is telling her she needs sleep.
On the other hand, if you can't wake up really early, then you have no choice, but either way you are probably stuck, because once she's up, she will be up for awhile. I say let her sleep it out. It's a weekend!
2007-01-19 15:10:32 · answer #3 · answered by Cash 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It really depends on your child. If she is hard to wake up and harder to put to sleep, I would let her go, but you do run the risk of late night waking up wanting to play, or very early morning wake up. If her nap is usually about 3 hours and you normally put her down at 8, I would let her go, you might get lucky. If none of the above apply to you, I would wake her up and keep her up until about 11 or so depending on when she is looking tired enough to sleep. Do what you think will be best for your own sleeping habits. After all, if mama ain't happy, ain't no one happy, and a 2am-5am wake up and play never makes mama happy lol For future reference please remember that 5 pm is the trap nap. You will almost always face this dilemma with this naptime, even if you can't control it. My youngest son would refuse his normal nap at 1 or 2 no matter what and be so tired I could not keep him up past 5. Eventually he outgrew it, but let's just say no one in my house was happy during that phase lol. If you can manage to keep the child up longer, at least til 6 or 7 depending on the child's normal bedtime, you can just let them go with almost no worries(what mother doesn't worry? lol). Good Luck
2007-01-19 15:24:19 · answer #4 · answered by experiencedmotherof4 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it's perfectly normal. Different children receive love in different ways. It seems to have a lot to do with personality. My daughter is more independent while my son is more cuddly. My daughter, however, loves for me to do things for her. She's not really into hugs and kisses but even though she's only three, she loves getting little massages. (My mom has a lot of back and leg problems so she has seen me giving mom massages.) She is also very excited if I make her something like curtains, a dress, or a crocheted hat. I recommend reading The Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman. It will help you discover the way to show your daughter love in the way that will mean the most to her. Good luck and don't feel like a bad parent just because she doesn't share your love language. :)
2016-05-23 23:31:25 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If it's only 8:30ish I would wake her up and play with her and try to wear her out then if you have some kids shows that might help her get sleepy. I would try that so the both of you wont be up for half the night.
2007-01-19 15:22:13 · answer #6 · answered by JG78 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When my baby was a baby and this kind of thing happened, I just hoped for the best that night and made positive that the next day was regular routine to the "T". Just have everything ready for a middle of the night wake up. And of course I stared closely at the baby's back to make sure it was rising and falling! :) Congratulations on your baby!
2007-01-19 15:17:55 · answer #7 · answered by J m 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When my 9 month old son does that, I wake him at 11pm or so and give him a bottle, change his diaper, and he goes right back to sleep. If I don't do that he wakes around 2-3 am.
2007-01-19 15:08:23 · answer #8 · answered by Kiss My Shaz 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My son's bedtime used to be 6:00 every night and he would sleep through until 7:00. You could try letting her do it this once, you may discover she does better with an earlier bedtime.
2007-01-19 15:14:05 · answer #9 · answered by Heather Y 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would wake her up or she will still be awake at 3 am.
2007-01-19 15:08:11 · answer #10 · answered by Ryan's mom 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋