Finger Sucking and Sleeping Issues

I have two issues and I'm not sure if they are related or not. For the past couple of weeks, Annelise has been having sleeping issues. We put her to bed at 7:30 p.m. and she normally sleeps until I wake her up for daycare at 6:30 a.m. On weekends she'd sleep till 7 or 7:30, so she was averaging 11-12 hours a night. She also would take a t 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon. For the past two weeks, she stays awake at night for up to 2 hours: talking, laughing, playing, taking off her p.j.'s, "yodeling"...you name it. She's happy, just not sleeping. So she's going to sleep around 9 or 9:30 p.m. She is doing the same thing at naptime and only getting about an hour nap. Needless to say, awake time is tough because she is tired all the time.

I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out why she isn't sleeping and hoping it is a phase and she'll start sleeping again. Then last night, it hit me. I can't remember the last time I saw her sucking her fingers. She has always sucked the index finger and middle finger of her right hand. I asked DH and he can't remember seeing her suck her fingers for the past week or two either. I think she just stopped. Could this be why she isn't sleeping? I'm not sure why she stopped sucking her fingers, but maybe now that she isn't, she doesn't know how to soothe herself to sleep.

Has anyone else had a kid who just stopped sucking their fingers/thumb? Does anyone have ideas of how I can help her. I don't want her to start sucking fingers again (it seems we might have lucked out with ending that habit), but I want her to sleep well so she's happy and her little brain develops properly. BTW, Annelise is 26 months old (24 months adjusted...still not quite meeting milestones unless I adjust age).

Any thoughts?

 

My DD stopped sucking her thumb on her own, but it was kinda forced on her by circumstance. She has a callus on her thumb from sucking it and got an infection. The doctor drained it and put a bandaid on. I figured as soon as the bandaid was gone the thumb would go back in the mouth, but it didn't. She had trouble sleeping the first couple of nights, but certainly wasn't happy! She was a cranky little booger! After a few days she was fine, but it never effected her sleepiness.

What you are describing sounds more like a schedule issue to me. Maybe adjusting bedtime or nap time a little might help. My kids seem to need their schedules altered at least once a year and after they've had a growth spurt. Around here, talking and playing at bedtime is often a clue that it is time for a change.

 

We really can't change her schedule. We have to get the girls up in the morning by 6:30 so we can get to daycare by 7:30. I put them to bed at 7:30 so they can get 11 hours of sleep. Nap at daycare is at noon. We have a little more flexibility in the summer, but it's a long time until June.

 

I could be that, as she is getting older, she needs a little less sleep. Moving bedtime back even just 15-30 minutes may make a world of difference.