Post nap meltdown...help

[Scout]

Daughter is almost 20 months, and for the past 3 weeks the after nap time has been horrid. The majority of time she wakes up from her nap crying. I pick her up and hold her and she says she wants down. I put her down and she cries for me to pick her up. She'll say, "milk", so I'll fill her sippy cup and offer it to her, and she runs off screaming. I try snacks, holding her, reading, even resorted to turning on tv and nothing helps. It seems whatever I do, she cries. It can last up to an hour or longer. A month ago, she was waking up happy. Nothing in our routine has changed.

What can I do? I"m wondering if I need to adjust her sleep times. She currently goes to bed at 8 pm. She wakes up around 6am and comes to my bed where she'll go back to sleep for an hour or so. She naps at 2pm (I'm wondering if that is too late) and will sleep 2 hours. Also, she eats lunch around 12:30, so I thought maybe she's hungry, although I offer her a snack when she wakes and she refuses it. Maybe bc she is too upset at that point? Any ideas.

 

[NoodleSnack]

My son was the same, sometimes I think he just hasn't slept enough yet. What if you push nap time a bit earlier?

 

[Babybear85]

Exactly the same.and the.same.age I think.it must be a.stage. My lo.was so bad that I called the.Dr last week there's nothing wrong with.him

 

[Scout]

I sure hope it's phase. Yesterday was the worst. I'm going to put her down earlier today though and see if that helps. thanks

 

[Chocoholic123]

My lo is the same. He doesn't have a structured nap anymore as he's 3 and a half though he only stopped this summer and for the last year or so he's woken up from his nap screaming hysterically and nothing would work, as he was old enough to say what was wrong he said he was still tired so I think that's it, it would take about half an hour to calm him down and when my mum saw she said that's not normal it shouldn't happen but it did. Anyway he's stopped his structured naps but it's the same if we are going somewhere in the car and he falls asleep, once he's been asleep 10 mins he seems to go into a deep sleep and when we have to wake him up he screams hysterically ! I almost dread it!

 

[Scout]

I've started dreading naps too. Yesterday it was almost 2 hours and nothing would help. It's exhausting bc I keep trying to do stuff for/with her to help and nothing helps. Today though, I put her down at 1 and she was asleep within 5 minutes. Usually, when I put her down at 2, she gets back up and plays with her books for 30 minutes b4 she gets back into bed to sleep. I think she might have been getting over tired and then not enough sleep. We'll see how she does today, going down an hour earlier. (it's been 30 minutes of nap time so far..hope she sleeps until at least 3)

 

[misspriss]

DS is 21 months and does this too! Not every nap, but often. He will have a nice, long nap. Usually wakes calm...but then NOTHING makes him happy! No food, no milk, no toys...it usually lasts about 30 minutes for us. So frustrating!

 

[MumToEva]

My girl is older, but she has a meltdown if she naps too late on in the day, whereas if she has a nap earlier (around 12) then she's fine. Maybe bringing nap time a bit earlier might help your LO? Food-wise, my 2 have food at 11.30 and then again at 2.30ish after their nap.

 

[Clara85]

My ds1 was the same pretty much from birth until 3.5 when he stopped napping, but even know if he sleeps in car and wakes up more often than not we get a major tantrum for up to half an hour with crying and nothing will settle him until he comes out of it

He wakes anytime from 5 so is always over tierd every day no matter what we have tried.

No advice but your not alone x

 

[Scout]

Update:
today I brought nap forward and hour and put her down at 1. She was asleep within 5 minutes. She woke at 2, crying and standing at the gate on her door, so I brought her in the living room and rocked her. She slept another hour and 15 minutes. Woke at 3:20 and as soon as she woke I rolled her over onto her back and stuck her sippy cup with milk in her mouth. She drank it all and then sat up and smiled and said, 'down'. I put her down and made her a snack which she ate and has been a happy camper all afternoon. I don't know if this was just a fluke or if the earlier nap time helped, but I'm definitely putting her down at 1 from now on. Today was wonderful!

 

[Zephram]

My LO gets grumpy if he sleeps too late in the day. I think your body clock tells you when it's the best time to sleep and if you sleep at a different time then you can feel off. I would keep putting her to bed at 1 or even 1230 if she's waking at about 7.

My LO is waking about 6:30-7 at the moment and he just went to sleep at 1230.

 

[Scout]

Day 2: I put her down at 12:30 and it took a bit longer for her to go to sleep, but she was asleep by 12:45. She slept 2 hours and is awake and in a good mood. No crying at all. So, I think it was the time. I was putting her down too late in the day. Now that naps are pushed back, I think I'm going to put her to bed at 7:30 tonight instead of 8:00 and see how that goes. thanks for all the feedback

 

[MumToEva]

Good for you!