20 month old EW

[Jadea]

Hello again! Seems that my son's sleep issues always seem to start with EW then move to nap refusal and NW if I ignore it. We've had a few incidents of NW and nap refusal already, but so far he has been able to work through them without too much intervention.

He's waking at 5:30ish now, I've tried slowly adjusting things but just can't seem to find the right times, help would be appreciated sooo much! His wake up has been creeping earlier and earlier. The most difficult thing is that when we do EBT he either cannot fall asleep till his normal time and will just toss and turn, or if he does fall asleep early then he will wake even earlier. So frustrating.

He's 20 months and on a mostly set schedule...

w/u 5:30 (He used to sleep till 6:30 or 7am)
6:00 am breakfast
10 am snack
12:30pm Nap 2.5-3 hrs (sometimes only 2 hrs)
3pm Wake & Lunch
5:30pm dinner
7:30pm BT

[Jadea]

I forgot to mention, DS room is right next to the bathroom. DH takes a shower right near his w/u time. DH is as quiet as he can be, DS used to sleep through his shower. Now I'm not sure if he's waking just to see daddy. I'm thinking of trying a Gro-clock, but was wanting more eyes before I go spend money.

[momma.bear]

Just following along and letting you know you're not alone. My DS will b3 20 months in two weeks, and has been waking up at 5:30 for the past few weeks too. Like yours, he used to sleep until 6:30/7am, and we are doing naps at 12:30 as well, although my DS won't sleep anymore than 2 hours. BT is 6:30/7 and he has no trouble falling asleep. He is cutting his canines though, so I'm hoping the EWings are due to that. Is your DS teething at all? Not sure a Gro-clock would work at this age... my son definitely wouldn't understand the concept, but maybe in a few months?? Hope your mornings get better soon. Any chance your DH could try showering at a different time a couple days to see if it made a difference?

[HenaV]

HI there!

I think he's a little young for a geo-clock. We introduced one just after R's 2nd birthday, after the sleep shenanigans that started around 21/22 months were over. For us t was a combo of developmental and teeth. If that is the issue for you, theres not more you can do but medicate and sticks closely to your routine as your LO will allow.

Does you LO border on HSN? I only ask because a 2.5/3h nap is quite long at this age. I think were at about the 2-2.5h mark. Do you cap the nap?

Looking at your day, with a 5.30am start, I am wondering if it might be worth trying something like this for a few days:

WU: 5.30
nap: 12noon (capped 2.5h - you might find a 2h nap is where you need to be but if your LO is used to 3h you may need to cap gradually to avoid him getting OT))
BT: 6.30

Your day is rather long at 14h which may not be helping the EW. I would try and keep the day to 13h max. So hopefully your morning pushes out, you can push BT later.

What do you think?

Hena

[Jadea]

Does you LO border on HSN?

What does this mean?

He's taking a nap just now and has slept almost 3 hours. He ranges anywhere from 1.75 hours on up to 3.5 hours occasionally. Usually he is least grumpy after a nap if he sleeps 2.5 hours or so, more or less and he's a grumpy lil man when he gets up.

[HenaV]

HSN = high sleep needs

How did he go last night?

[Jadea]

Hena,

Thanks for the advice. I will implement it. TBH I haven't had a chance to try. I'm currently working a temporary job from 6pm - 12am at night, so his long naps have been my salvation (I have to get up at 5:15am no matter if DS does or not) I've been using his super long naps for my own nap time and catching up around the house as we're potty training at the same time, so I have 0 time to myself other than his naps.

Now that I know its his long naps that may be the problem I'll give it a go as soon as I can.

Thanks for your help! I'll let you know how it goes once I'm in a better place to try it. (about 2 weeks from now)

[HenaV]

Bless you my lovely, that's sounds like a tough gig.

I hope things ease up for you soon. Big ((((hugs)))) in the meantime xxx