Please! - need help with early riser and naps

[brightside]

Desperately need some help today. Feel like I'm losing it. DS has been at daycare for the last 3 days. Each day he is getting maximum 1.5 hours (30 mins of which is in the car coming home. He goes to bed at 7.30 and wakes at 5.30. I do WI/WO until 7 and then get him up. He has been functioning on 11.5 hour days hence the early wake I think.

This morning he woke at 5.20 and actually went back to sleep at 6.40. I woke him at 7.15. I tried him for a nap at 9.30 and he screamed blue murder. Arching his back, rolling around, yelling. At 10.15 DH took him for a walk in the stroller to get him to sleep. Do you think he wasn't tired or overtired?

[Zaiby]

So Riyan took one nap yesterday - but for only 1hr 15min - so bedtime was 6:30 - no problem - woke up at 5:50   he woke up coughing (which he did do last night but resettled), and stayed awake..

So today he refused catnap again -
I have been putting him to nap at 12 (when he's on one nap), and it seems to be the right time sometimes where he will sleep 2.5, and sometimes not, like yesterday which was only 1hr 15..
So, should I try 11:30/45 today?   
Trouble is I really don't want to start this early bedtime thing again...

He's going back and forth - how long should I keep offering the catnap - as long as he starts refusing consistently?

This is so hard to figure out..
Z

[Zaiby]

i put him at 11:45 - he was asleep in 7 minutes...
(I wanted to do 11:30, but he pooped right after lunch and had to change him )

you are right about the set nap time - his wake up vary so much - especially now that he's staying in the crib till almost 7ish...sometimes he goes back to sleep, sometimes not...

[debo620]

hi guys, Noah is still perplexing me....

here was last night/today:

bed/asleep by 7
woke at 2am and talked til 3am no crying/or fussing, what is up with that?
woke for day at 5:50am or so
nap 1 in bed for 9:10am, asleep by 9:30
stirred at 40min mark, he may have still been sleeping but I went and got him up, so 10:10am
nap 2 attempt, in crib for 1:45pm, played til 2:20pm??? I think he is finally asleep. 

still totally seems to have varying activity time needs after a 40min nap, 4hrs is too much, some days 3.75hrs is too much, so I have settled on in crib after 3.5hrs----but playing for 35min?

[debo620]

well another weird day,

bed/asleep a little after 7
was awake 4:20-4:50 moaning in his crib
woke for day 6:35am
so did get about 11hrs of night sleep/

nap 1 9:50-10:30--38min or so
nap 2 attempt: 1:50pm, its 2:50pm and he's still in there playing and every once and a while fussing but NOT sleeping. I'm not sure if I should get him up or just persist with this nap.  He had a good 31/2 hrs of active play so why no sleep?

If he doesn't sleep in the next 20min---should I just give up and try for a catnap?
I guess I should have limited the morning nap to 30min? 

I just went in there and he looks tired so I guess I'll just keep trying.  due for snack of milk/cracker now.

I can't believe he is not tired enough to sleep at all.

[KellyC]

Deborah

Zander got to the stage where if he had any more than 15 minutes in the morning he'd really struggle to sleep again all day - sometimes I couldn't get him to go down again until dinner time.  I had to make sure he didn't go into a deep sleep at all (hence the 15 minutes - less than 20 minutes!) so he wasn't feeling too refreshed when he woke.  Sometimes he was clearly still tired but the little bit of shut eye just took the edge off it.  I actually just went to his room with him and cuddled him in the dark for that short amount of time.  His main nap was then at 12.30.

Kelly x

[debo620]

thanks Kelly,
he did end up with a 30min nap out in the stroller from 4:20-4:50pm, was in bed by 6:45pm but did not settle to sleep till closer to 7:30, he had a bit of spitup and then the hiccups---so I think that was the problem, I heard him up very briefly a few a couple times in the night, but woke for the day at 5am, out of crib at 6:15. so really poor night in terms of amount of sleep.

so now that he only had less then 10 hrs of sleep last night, I'm not sure if I should just let him sleep 1hr (probably 8:45-9:45), or limit it to 40min (8:45-9:30) and then hopefully long nap at 1pm.

He really needs a good afternoon nap to help with the night sleep and early wake-ups, so I think I will do 40min this morning, maybe depending on how he is acting.

[Zaiby]

Hi - I've started posting on the thread above for support for 16-19 mos sleep issues..

SO, yes, we are still struggling...
At least he's sleeping through again - even if it 's 10hrs...

Zaibun

[debo620]

okay, really need help today,

Noah actually slept well last night, from 6:45-6am, no wake-ups, only heard him once briefly at 5am shuffling about.

nap attempted at 9:30am, was hoping for 30min and then longer nap at 1pm

well he moaned for awhile, played and then started complaining at 10, so no morning nap.

I think I have two options now:
1. try for 20min catnap in stroller at 11, and then longer nap at 1:30 or so

2. feed lunch at 11:30 and nap at 12?, afraid that he will only sleep 1hr, and then we will have a long time till bed or we will have to have a catnap at 4 or 5pm?

[debo620]

ok thanks Stacy, he was rubbing his eyes at 10:15 and I tried again and he just cried.  He's definately getting a bit tempermental now but he won't sleep. I'm feeding him lunch--its 11am and then I'll get him to bed.

so now even if he sleeps 2hrs? so like till 1:30pm, we still have a long time till bed at 6:30/7. Is it better then to try for a 15min catnap at 5pm---if he'll take it and then bed normal time or should I just give him quiet time later on and move bedtime up till 6:30pm?

[debo620]

ok thats the plan, he was in bed by 11:20, but wasn't too happy about it. he cried and did the wiggle as soon as I put him in his crib. Gosh I hope he's not overtired now.  I put him in his growbag, hoping he won't be as inclined to stand at his crib rails and shake them. here's praying for a 2hr + nap. ok its 11:30 and he's quiet in there.

[debo620]

well he woke after 1hr 20min, so its 1pm, I've gone and told him its still nap time but I don't think he'll go back to sleep. I'll have to do a catnap now for sure. probably right at 5pm---which is conveniant,
maybe he'll take it at 4pm if he's still tired from this nap? how long? maybe 30min?
oh how I wish he would have slept 2hrs>

[debo620]

ok, I don't think there is anyway he'll take a catnap before 4pm and definately that won't be up for 3hrs before bed. I guess in that lies the problem of this nap transition. no I don't think he is really ready for 1 nap either but 2 naps seems too much as well. The other day when Noah slept 11 hrs overnight, he took the 40min am nap but refused to sleep in the afternoon.

Anyway, I am sure we will not have another 11hr night tonight due to funny naps today, so tommorow we will we back to 40min am nap and longer pm one.

you are right, good experiment....

[debo620]

I don't know what it is but he just doesn't do well with a 7:30 bedtime, it doesn't matter what time he has napped at, in the past, even if he has had a good nap that ended at 4, he is really getting cranky by 6:20 and looking to have his bath and windown,  I always just worry about the catnap effecting his night on the other end with an early wake. 7pm seems to be the golden time

[KellyC]

Deborah

For a long time we couldn't do bedtime past 7pm either, it just didn't work.  If Zander ever needed a late pm catnap I limited it to 15 minutes so he didn't go into a deep sleep and he would still go down at 7pm.

HTH
Kelly x