Excessively Tired/Sleeping

[Unregistered]

I have a 16 month old who, starting last Friday has seemed excessively tired and has been sleeping a lot both here and at home. He already sleeps regularly from 6pm to 6am at home, which I have always thought to be unusual. Last Friday while he was here, he was taking long naps (2-3 hours, which he usually does not) and when he was awake, would lay on the floor crying. Mom came on Monday saying that he had slept 14 hour nights (5pm-7am) plus naps during the weekend. He has been doing this all week. He has been eating fine and no fever. This morning he slept an hour from 9-10, then once I brought him out to join us spent the next hour laying on the floor crying. I put him down again at 1 and he slept until 3:30.
I know every child goes through growth spurts and needs more sleep, but doesn't this seem excessive?

[Pestle]

Is he his usual self in between the naps? Does he have a healthy level of energy? If not, you might warn the parents that you'll refuse drop off and/or call for immediate pick up if he seems lethargic.

[Unregistered]

Is he his usual self in between the naps? Does he have a healthy level of energy? If not, you might warn the parents that you'll refuse drop off and/or call for immediate pick up if he seems lethargic.

He laid crying for an hour after his first nap today, but then got up and played acting like his usual self. After his second nap, he was crabby for a bit and then was fine. Has done versions of the same thing all week.

[Jdy2222]

Any recent immunizations? One of my babes got shots the other day and has been exhausted since, almost like she was sleepwalking However ... she got her shots a few days ago, not a week ago.

[Alwaysgreener]

Low Iron will cause this. Check out the symptoms of Anemia and see if that matches up.

[Ariana]

I have had two boys in my care like this. The first child coslept with mom and newborn baby so I thought it must be that. He would sleep here for 5 hours at 2.5 years old!

The second boy I had, the mom said the same thing, that he slept 12 hours at night but he was so tired all.the.time. I would put him down for two naps a day totalling 5 hours and he would still wake up cranky and yawning. He whined all day long. I told the mom about it and she said she would get his iron levels checked but never reported back. They were only with me for 8 months.

The common thread with both boys were developmental delays. The first child I suspected had ASD and the second was delayed by about 6 months cognitively and physically. He started with me at 12 months and had no idea how to take a blanket off of his head when playing peekaboo for example and he did not advance much in the 8 months he was with me. His older brother was also possibly on the spectrum. Both boys were also taken care of mainly by their dads (when not with me 2 days a week) who worked shift work while the moms worked full time.

[Unregistered]

My daughter does this. She’s 15 months. She sleeps from 7pm to 7am, when I wake her up. Then she naps from 9am-10am and 1pm-2:30pm. This has been her routine for 6 months. She’s energetic and alert when she’s up and has no developmental delays. I’ve tried weaning out morning nap and she behaves much better with it, so I figure she knows what she needs. I just think all kids are different. Some adults require more sleep than others, too. My husband only needs 5 hours of sleep at night to feel good and I do much better when I get 7+. I wouldn’t worry about it much.

[Ariana]

My daughter does this. She’s 15 months. She sleeps from 7pm to 7am, when I wake her up. Then she naps from 9am-10am and 1pm-2:30pm. This has been her routine for 6 months. She’s energetic and alert when she’s up and has no developmental delays. I’ve tried weaning out morning nap and she behaves much better with it, so I figure she knows what she needs. I just think all kids are different. Some adults require more sleep than others, too. My husband only needs 5 hours of sleep at night to feel good and I do much better when I get 7+. I wouldn’t worry about it much.

This is a normal amount of sleep and doesn’t seem excessive at all! I currently have a 2 yr old who didn’t cut out morning nap until shortly before she turned 2. Even now she cannot last until my nap time at 1pm and comes to me asking to go to bed at 11:30am and she will sleep until 2:30pm. I don’t think that is unusuak either. Sleeping 12 hours at night plus 5 hours during the day is excessive!

[HappyEverAfter]

I have an 18mth old that sleeps 10-12 hrs at night and typically takes a 1.5hr-2hr nap in the morning and a 2 hr nap in the afternoon. Some days she will sleep even longer in the afternoon. She is super energetic and plays hard when awake. She will ask repeatedly to take a nap when she gets tired. I tried shortening her morning nap and it resulted in a cranky child that ended up curling up and sleeping on the floor of the playroom while others played around her. She definitely is a happier child when she gets her sleep! Her doctor did a check up last week and just gave her a clean bill of health and said everything seems normal developmentally so I’m not concerned.