Anyone Want To Talk About the 2-1 Transition? Thread #13

[Colin Macs Mom]

Continued from http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=182336.0

[kimmbba]

Daylene, Tara and Ethan must be conspiring against us because he's been waking at 5 the last week or so as well!  I have been going in, giving him a sippy, changing his diaper, holding him while he drinks and he goes back to sleep until 7.  I don't know if I'm creating a bigger problem in the long run as I'll probably have to battle getting rid of that   BUT it gets the start to the day in the right place and we still do one nap and normal BT (6:30-7, sometimes a little later).  Ultimately, I'd like to get BT a little later which would probably make wake up later?  But he's doing 5 A/2 nap/4.5-5 A and I can't really get more than that. 

Megan, how is Ellen doing??

[lilybug25]

Well Lo only napped 40 min all of yesterday and went to bed at 6:45pm, She was up and down all night not crying but just a very very fitful sleep, woke up crying at 5:45am and I put her back to bed at 8am cause she has a baby breakdown, at 10 pm I heard her stirring and went in well she just flipped right out I tried to bring her out of the room but she started kicking and crying harder so I did a quick bum change in the room and put her back down, she passed right back out. I think being OT and getting sick AGAIN (gotta love winter)just did her in. I also think that she was awake from 2am-4am as Ikept hearing her. Today is going to be a weird day thats for sure!!!

[sianie]

Ooops my spot!  .....back later!

[Daylene]

me too

[bug_blues70]

Ugh, sounds like we are all having a mess of things right now!! Hugs to everyone!!

Ellen had a 2 hr nap after only 3hrs atime yesterday morning and then a 20 min CN. Got her in bed by 6:45 (I'm right there with you all on the EARLY wake ups lately. I thought she'd wake at 545 b/c she had 2 naps so an 11 hr night, but no. She woke at 4:30. I fed her b/c she hadn't eaten much yesterday (teething again I think) and gave her tylenol and she finally resettled at 5:45 and slept until 815!! So today is definitely a 1n day and as of right now, it looks like no earlier than a 6pm BT and she's still sleeping, so that's getting later and later. YAY!! Maybe we're out of our 5am w/u cycle!!

Mama2C - I *think* our atimes are 3:45 for the first and at least 415 (430 seems to be better) for the 2nd, so we're at the same times as you and I have to alternate days too. I don't have a set plan for the alternations (they all seem to fail) so I just play it by ear. On 2n days, I go 3:45/2ish/415ish/20/3 because after a full atime and only a 20 min nap, she'll usually settle at 3hrs atime for bed. But within the past few days I've toyed with capping the morning nap a little and it's shortened my day some (and made the 2nd nap easier) but both the shorter day and the easier 2nd nap could be just b/c she's teething so she needs less atime right now. 

Lilybug - sorry to hear she's getting sick again! Good luck getting caught up on the OT and getting over the illness!!

[LovelyLilyandJack]

Sianie - last night was pretty much OK in the end.  I keep being amazed by how well she's coping with all my mistakes and just sleeping when she needs to   We did have one NW at 3.30am ish.  I went in quite quickly, stroked her back, turned the nightlight back off and she was back to sleep.  Never managed that so quickly before!  Anyway, excluding those 10 mins, she had a 12.5 hr night.  Today I kept her up for 5 hours (feeling very mean!) and she had a lovely nap.  I had to wake her after 2.5 hours cos it was getting so we wouldn't fit in a very long A time before bed.  Hopefully a good night tonight will give her the remainder of sleep she needs, cos she's clearly been very tired today.

Mama2C - When we were stuck with 4 hrs A time, a 20 min AM nap helped us fit it all in.  We only did 2 nap days when she woke before 7 / 7.30 (with a 7.15ish bedtime).  We woke her from her morning nap after 20 mins, which then shortened her next A time to about 2.75 - 3 hrs.  We could then fit in about a 1.5 hour nap before 3.30.  I'd always make sure she was awake by then to preserve night time sleep as much as possible.

Lolas Mum - Yep, we got stuck with short one nap days, followed by a few longer 2 nap days for ages.  I thought the one nap days were making her OT, but looking back I wonder if the short days were actually making her UT and she could have handled a slightly longer one nap day.  What happened after 2-3 one nap days was she'd wake at 6.15 am or something and there'd be no choice in it.  But at least it made 2 nap days easier!  When we started getting nap refusal after 4 hrs A time following a 20 minute nap we took a chance and did one nap on an earlyish (6.45 / 7am) wakeup.  Been on one naps since!  Probably could have done it earlier, but am glad I waited til it was clear 2 nap days were no longer working cos it gave me the confidence to stick with one nap.  And even then I've been paranoid I've got it wrong!

Sorry - very long post! 

[shellsy1321]

Hey ladies - If I may jump in and join yas please!  My DS has been refusin his pm nap all wk so I think we are def on the 2:1 transition.  He is almost 11months - which is early -anyone else?  But it was the same when he dropped the 3rd nap.  Since I read up on just doing an early BT - 5:30pm has been the trick.  I wish his am nap was longer tho - its 1.5 and his A time is 3.5-4hrs.  So maybe once it increases the nap will go longer?  My main issue is since still under a year we are on formula.  I was trying to cut down to 3 bottles but with this new routine, he wasnt taking in all his ounces, until I addded the 4th back.  Two of the bottles he only takes in 4oz.  Heres what the week has looked liked....

6:30 -Wakes & plays in crib
7:30-8oz bottle
8:30- cereal & fruit
Nap - 9:30,10 for 1.5
1130ish 8oz Bottle
1-lunch
3-bottle 4oz
4:30-dinner
5 -BT routine bath story 4oz bottle
5:30 -bed

Should I tweak anything?? 

[Lola's Mum]

Sian, what you were saying to Mama2C strikes a chord. You said 1 nap works really frm when LOs are doing 4.5-5 hrs A time and that a 7am wake up would help. I thnk DD can handle 4:15 comfortably but not much more. The problem or cycle l seem to get into with 2 nap days is that BT gets later and later, as days can be 13+ hrs. If Lola goes to bed at gone 8, l hate to wake her at 7, as she likes 12 hours. But by letting her wake naturally, around 8.30 after a run of 2 naps, it means the days get really late. BB, is this a pbm for you or does your DS do okay on 11 hrs or less at night. I know waking her would make life easier with 2naps but she would less night sleep. I guess it's not the worse thing. Im also toying with the idea of changing to a short am/long pm. I hate doing it as she's always loved the am nap and it's the only nap that's easy to get her down for. I also struggle with getting the pm A time sussed. But l get the impression that short am nap helps preserve a decent bt. Lovely Lily, l thnk lola has definitely got OT on this occasion. Lots of NWs yday and a few 2nite (4 hrs since BT). I guess l'll have to alternate or do a couple of 2 nap days and then a 1 nap day until l feel l can bite the bullet and go for it. Sounds like there's quite a few poorly LOs amongst us. Sleepy vibes to them all and their mummies.

[lulunut]

my spot!

[Daylene]

If Tara sleeps past 7/7:30am, we can handle a 1-nap day.  If she wakes before 6am (which she has the past 2 days!) we go for a 2-nap day.  If she wakes between 6 and 7, I play it by ear.  The past 2 days we've had this schedule.  (ish): 3:45-4hourA / 20minS / 3:45-4hourA / 1.5-2hourS / 3:45-4:25A.  It makes for a long day, but at least sleep isn't a battle now.

Shellsy, yes there are a few moms here with LO's in the 10-11 month range.  So you're in good company!

[bug_blues70]

I'm pretty much the same with w/u time determining whether it's a 1n or 2n day. But it also depends on the w/u time from her first nap too... sometimes it's too short even with a late morning w/u and she just can't make it to a reasonable BT.

BB, is this a pbm for you or does your DS do okay on 11 hrs or less at night. I know waking her would make life easier with 2naps but she would less night sleep. I guess it's not the worse thing. Im also toying with the idea of changing to a short am/long pm.

I don't know if you were talking to me or Buntybear, but 11 hr nights are ok with Ellen. It does mean she gets less sleep overall so that's why I don't like it, but it's not really a problem for her. And I mentioned capping her first nap a little, but even so I still do long am/short pm b/c that's what works best for Ellen. Anytime I've ever tried to reverse it I've ended up seriously regretting it. I capped it to 45 min one day let her have a 45 min 2nd nap and it worked *okay* (we got a better night than the previous one) but she wasn't happy about it and so I didn't stick with it. And we've also done a 1.5 hr first nap (rather than 2 or 2h20m) and the 2nd nap was easier and the day was shorter. Good luck getting your LO figured out tho! It's all trial and error... I sure wish my T&E would yield some good results already!!

Today we did a 3:45/2:20/4:45 and BT was 7. I'm sooooo hoping we can have a few one nap days here for a while without BT getting back to 5:30 like before. Please, please, please!!!

[mamatolevi]

  hey ladies!

[Mama2C]

Lovelylily and bug_blues70 - thanks for your resplies and thoughts. Today we did wake 7:30, nap from 10:55-11:25 (woke him up), nap at 2:55 (hard to get him to calm down, had to rock with him until he relaxed) until 4:35 (woke him up) and BT at 8:25 so we shall see. He woke at the 55 min mark after BT but went back with a quick pat. We'll play around with the A times this weekend. I am relieved to know that I am not alone in this and that there are others who can not only lend an ear but also offer some advice.

I am tired so I will write more tomorrow. Hoping for no long NWs tonight (please please please please...)

[sianie]

Sophie - it is really tricky when they are doing long A times but not quite long enough to consistently cope on 1 nap a day, that's why the whole transition can take months to get through (unfortunately!!). I guess I have the benefit of hindsight from DD as I tried to transition her to 1 nap before she was 1 yo.....it went fine for a few days but then blew up in my face & we were caught in a major OT loop that took me weeks to sort out....I then put her back on 2 naps a day until she was 14/15mths old when she was able to handle the long A time more. I also do set naps times which definitely helps with the transition too. Maybe try the short AM/long PM & see if it works for you? As Daylene said, as with all these things it's a case of trial & error to figure out what works best for your LO!

lovelylily - glad you had a better night! 

Hi Shellsy!