could too much tv be the reason she's not settling?

[emeraldgirl1]

DD is 16m and (completely inadvertently) I htink I've ended up letting her watch more TV than is good for her... We're in the process of moving house and so the last 2, maybe 3 weeks I have been guilty of using the Tv as a babysitter more often during the day than I am comfortable with, just so I can get vital stuff done. Also we have slipped into VERY bad habit of letting her watch TV after breakfast in the mornings because she wakes up so early (this is the major sleep problem we have) and she's too tired and cranky by 7am to do anything else.

But gradually over the last couple of weeks her sleep has been getting worse. She's never been the greatest sleeper but after a LOT of hard work she does now sttn. But her usual fairly early wakings (6am, 6.30 if lucky) have become 5am, 5.15...

Also she's been taking longer and longer to settle for naps and evening sleep.

I do know that this could be explained by her needing to drop a morning nap but we have just been trying that and she has become HIDEOUSLY overtired to the point where she is now partly taking ages ot settle to sleep because she is so tired. And it could be that her early wakings are getting worse because of the overtiredness caused by trying to drop the morning nap too quickly.

BUT does too much tv disturb toddler's sleep? In the last couple of weeks She has probably watched about 30-40 mins in the mornings, another 15-20 just before lunch, 20 mins after supper and then 20 mins in the evenings right before bed... god that does look like a lot now I write it down!!! Am a bit mortified by that!!!

I NEVER intended her to end up watching this much!!

Anyway, PLEASE PLEASE don't judge me but can anyone advise on what they know about TV and sleep, and/or has this happened to anyone else?

[Wishfulmakeupping]

Watching with interest I've been in the sane boat boat with dd as I've been ill plus we're halfway through renovating our house hopefully we won't be judged OP

[emeraldgirl1]

Wishful oh, am so glad I'm not the only one

I can't actually believe I have let her slip into quite so much!!! In fact I might have been a little too conservative - I think she probably ends up on about 2 hours a day!!! Interspersed over the day but STILL... every day!

In my defence part of it is because I have also been trying to stay at home more rather than go out as she wants to potter about and not be in her pushchair, and obviously at such a little age she can't actually 'walk' to the shops and things like that, she tends to jsut go round and round in circles finding things she wants to stop and look at. So we have been at home more and it's a tricky age to fill with endless 'activities' eg colouring, playdough, everything has a limited span of interest... She loves ot potter around the room playing with things while the TV is on so I have been thinking it was a 'good' thing for the stage we're at, plus as I say I have stuff I HAVE to do right now...

BUt her settling is taking longer and longer (an hour most nights) and the early waking is getting chronic now...

wishful how old is your DD can I ask?

[Wishfulmakeupping]

She's almost 18 months now, we've had problems with sleep for a little while now plus I'm still feeding her to sleep which is another issue altogether. :( but am interested to see if tv could be part of the problem.
We moved a few months back so I know how hard it I'd trying to do all those last minute jobs its so stressful isn't it !

[Jonkastique]

I read somewhere recently that adult sleep can be affected by tv or elec devices like ipads etc, before bedtime. Maybe same for kids?

But I SO wouldn't beat yourselves up about your kids watching tv! I know loads isn't great long term, but nor is it the worst thing ever. I haven't had a tv for years and for various reasons have just got one. My daughter is too small for it yet, but I will let her watch it when she's old enough and will try very hard not to feel guilty about it!

TV is a huge part of the way the world works, and arguably kids need to learn how to watch it responsibly. Otherwise they might overdose on rubbish tv once they've flown the nest :)

[CityDweller]

Can you post her daytime nap schedule/ times and what time she goes to bed?

DD is 15 mo and we alternate btw 2 naps and 1 nap, depending on what's going on. I'm beginning to notice that she's harder to settle at night/ earlier to wake after a string of 2-nap-days. But, conversely, when we dropped the 2nd nap altogether for a couple of weeks (at about 12 mo, because she seemed to be indicating she was moving towards 1 nap) we had catastrophic over tiredness by the end of those couple of weeks (cranky, early waking and the nap getting shorter and shorter), so that's why we now alternate according to her need/ what's going on.

I've read advice on here that the way to drop from 2 to 1 nap is to gradually push the morning nap later and later (by about 15-30 mins each day) and then give a v. short afternoon nap if they need it. You could try that? Although in our case, the alternating 1 and 2 nap days seems to be working ok.

I can't give any specific advice on TV, but can appreciate why you're using it when you've got so much else going on. Perhaps try dropping the TV in the evenings to see if it helps?

[ThisBitchIsResting]

I think you don't need to worry - if she was sitting slack jawed watching TV for hours like my 2yo that would be bad, but if it's just on in the background I wouldn't stress. You're aware - so try to cut it down. Have the radio on instead. Do you have a garden? Fresh air and exercise are the top two sleep creators in this house.

[emeraldgirl1]

CityDweller wow your post could have been written by me!! Have been trying to drop her to one nap as it seemed like she was ready recently (taking ages o settle for naps etc) and like you we just hit horrendous over tiredness, naps getting shorter and shorter, wake up earlier and earlier and long time to settle at bedtime as so overtired!!

Current rough schedule is:wake at 5am :( :( then morning nap at 9ish (though she is crying with tiredness by 7...) til 9.30, lunchtime nap at 12.30ish until 2ish and bed at 7. This was working great until I tried to drop the morning nap (and/or let her watch too much tv!!)

Thanks TheBitchIsResting and Jontastique, feel a bit less guilty about the tv plonking nw :)

FYI today I only put her in front of tv for 20 mins and avoided it before bedtime and she settled like a dream... I bet she will still be awake at 5am though :(

[CityDweller]

Yes, this 2 to 1 nap transition is a fucking pain. Part of me can't wait until she's routinely on 1, although the other part of me will miss the double 'break' that two naps gives us.

Sounds like dropping the evening telly might be the trick to bedtime. Early waking is trickier. Things I've read, like pushing morning nap later or dropping it, you've tried without success. Have you tried just leaving her in her cot to see if she drops back off? Or, if you bf, bringing her into bed with you for a feed and perhaps she might have a boob snooze?