Support for dropping the nap part 11

[PineapplePrincess]

I Don't know if tonight was just one off day, but it's 9:28 and my lo is still up. I let him eat some cake after dinner and maybe the sugar is keeping him up. I am not sure. If this continues, I think we are leaning more towards doing more nnds. He handles them a lot better now and doesn't have meltdowns at the end of the day which shows me he seems ready. We'll see. But gosh this the latest he has ever pushed bedtime.

[Khadija]

Good to hear his handling NND better 👍

I've been giving DD naps at the moment. I think she was starting to get really OT so we started 40mins naps and after a few days we got no NW, but now I'm getting short NW but EW 😓. I guess it's just a phase some children go through. I really envy those who make it seem so easy! Lol

[rachsk8]

Thanks for the support ladies.  This really is hard.  We have had a really grouchy, fracious week, which began (irinically) after our last nap day (last Sunday). Whether we put him down too early I don't know, but getting to the point that the rare 'catch up' naps we have seem to be a bit counter-productive, as we get short ONS afterwards.  (10hrs).  We have also had a 10.25hr night this week, and a couple of 11hrs so I thought we were definately getting into OT-land... (plus behaviour fitted OT) but still total nap refusal.  So, what can I do really!?  Last night I thought we were in for a awful night, as he was REAL grumpy about it being bedtime, all the stalling techniques under the sun, got him into bed at 6.15pm and he was asleep by 6.45pm - that's pretty quick for DS!!  Waiting for the night terrors/NW's to happen, but not a peep until about 5.30 this morning! (That's a good night for us!) Then he went back to sleep until 6.45am!  So 12hrs ONS.  Practically unheard of!

Not sure what to from here. I keep offering a nap, incase he needs a catch-up.  But he's so hard to read - even when I think  he will go out for sure, he often refuses still - even a car-nap is failing most times now.  So, what would you guys do from here?  Put up with some crankiness and keep on trucking?  Keep offering nap everyday?  We are day 9 post-nap now, which is the longest we've been (bar last week, and when he finally did nap, I'm not sure it made things better or not...)

PP: that's great your LO is handling NND's better!  I think that is a big sign (IMO) as most of the time my DS handles the day without a nap quite well.  If anything, he is grouchiest in the morning, and picks up in the late morning/afternoon.... weird huh? What time did DS wake after last night's late night?

[rachsk8]

Sigh.  We are well and truly in OT-land today.  10.5hrs ONS (super grouch/OT last night) and a 5.30am EW.  Took him ages to settle down last night.

IF (and I am hoping with everything I have) he has a nap today, would you let him wake on his own accord, given he's soooo OT?  Or still cap?  And then, what about BT?  I was thinking of trying a 7.30pm BT after a nap day, but given he's this OT now, maybe not a good idea?  Should I keep it at 7pm as I have been on nap days for a while now?

And then there's the "what to do with my overtired toddler" question.  Everything is such a struggle when he's OT.

Breathe.  This too shall pass.

[PineapplePrincess]

Rachsk8, been there done that with this LO... ugh.. It seems like your LO needs a bit more sleep than my LO though. I wouldn't necessarily call 10 ONS low ONS with a nap though. Pretty much ONS will shrink shorter in the process of the 1-0. Some moms even hold onto the nap if LO sleeps like 9 ONS. Advice on this board seems to follow a bit differently than BBcenter though, so I don't know. The advice I got there was to keep offering naps till BT gets pushed way late and ONS is down to 9 with a nap. Then for sure a nap is just robbing sleep way too much, but if you can still get a one hour nap with 10 ONS, then it's still fine on catch up days. That's just my opinion.

My LO has been sleeping in till 7:30 these days with a 9;15/9:30 BT on nap days and 8:15 on no nap days. No nap days give us about 15-30 min more of sleep, but nap days give us about 10.75-11 TS, which is low but my LO still functions ok as long as ONS is 10. I may need to start shifting him back to a 7 am wake up when school starts. The earliest they let kids in is 8 am but pretty much 8-9 am is free play till there is circle time at 9 am. We live 4 blocks away, so if he still decides to wake later, then I might just aim to have him dropped off by 8:30 a.m. or something.

Yes, he definitely handles NNDs way better these days. He did another today because he was up later. He slept 8:15-7:30 last night with NN. I'll see how he does tonight. if we get EWU, then I know OT is kicking in.

[rachsk8]

Yes, he seems to do ok without a nap for 5-6 days, 12.5hr days and 11.5hr nights. But then he needs a catch up. I've just driven for over an hour to get him to sleep, despite the horrible OT. I think I may have to go with a late afternoon nap - i feel that is better than no nap when the dreaded OT sets in. Today he finally went out at 3pm, but not he needed it. He still seems to go to sleep at night ok even with a late nap. Maybe takes him 45-60mins instead of the usual 30. Also thinking of pushing bedtime back to 7.30pm tonight, rather than the 7pm I usually do on NND's.  Bit nervous as he's been soooo OT but will see how he is after this nap perhaps. Don't really want to wake him either, but will see how he's going.

What do you guys think?

[rachsk8]

My biggest problem is that he refuses his nap so often!! If only he would accept a nap happily, I don't think I'd be on this thread yet! :-(

[rachsk8]

Been sitting thinking PP, maybe my kid will be one that can do a late afternoon nap - he's always done longer A time in the mornings, and his last 2 catch-up naps have been around 3pm. Maybe that's just something I should accept and not worry til it really robs ONS or makes BT super late.....

[PineapplePrincess]

I agree with you, rachsk8. If he will do a late nap and it doesn't affect bedtime, then you ought to try and hold on to it. For us, my lo needs a long last waketime so I have to put him down by 1:30 and wake no later than 2:15 to even get a 8:45/9 bedtime. I have to say he never refuses the nap if offered, even if he had a Nnd day the day before.

So as usual.. We got a short night after doing two no nap days in a row. 8:15-6:40 ( almost 10.5 ons), so I still think alternating is better for him. Every other day seems to bring about a more consistent wakeup time. He wouldn't have has a second Nnd if I had woken him up earlier. It's just that he slept till 7:30 and if he napped he might have gone to bed at. 9:45/10. As it is,bedtime is already 9/9:15/9:30 with a 7:00/7:15 wakeup on nap days.

[rachsk8]

Well, we did a nap yesterday from 3.05-4.30pm, and a 7.30pm BT.  He was asleep by 8pm and didn't hear anything until 5.40am.  He resettled until a bit after 6am.  The sleep was lighter/more restless between 5.40-6am but still, I couldn't have expected any better.  He is still tired today, but nothing compared to yesterday.  It would be fantastic if he had another nap today, but who knows.  Seems the late nap didn't affect BT, so I'm glad to know that, and 10hrs ONS is the best I could hope for, IMO.

Sounds like alternating is good for your LO at the moment PP.  We did really well alternating a few months back too. Doubt we can go back to that, but I will keep offering a nap late afternoon most days I think.

[PineapplePrincess]

I think we sometimes get short nights because my LO wakes up early in the morning feeling hungry. Yesterday I gave him a bedtime snack. He fell asleep around 8:45 and woke up at 7:15. This was after a 45 min nap. I really wonder if his mucking is because of that and the early waking sometimes. From now on, I am just going to offer something before bed and if he eats it, then ok. If not, then ok too.

We have to skip the nap tomorrow because we have a party to go to at it starts at 1 pm. It's an hour away so I plan to feed my LO lunch at 11:30 then drive to the party. I highly doubt he would nap in the car at 12:00 noon, so it will have to be a no nap day tomorrow.

Racksk8, how did your Lo do last night?

[rachsk8]

He's been doing 11.5hrs with one NW past few nights PP... Been out like a light at night though, not his usual restless 30-40mins. We had two 10hr nights after 2 nap days, then nap refusal. He still seems quite cranky lately too so who knows.

Hope the party goes well PP. :-)

[PineapplePrincess]

8:45-7:10 after a nap day. That is really good for him. I am really thinking that he does wake early if he doesn't eat enough throughout the day. He has a huge appetite but is a very active boy,so he works it off. I am going to try a close to 8'put down tonight, but maybe 7:45. We are on out way to the party pretty soon. I am feeding him lunch before we go so he doesn't get hungry or crabby. He always wants to eat. It's crazy. He must take after his daddy who is 6 ft. 3 inches tall.

[PineapplePrincess]

Ugh... My lo is so wake time sensitive. Yesterday was a nnd. I put down a tad too early for bed. He had a long happy night waking around 3:45 and I ignored him. He was chatting and playing. I looked at the monitor at 5 am and he was asleep. I woke at 7:15 to keep the schedule on track.i must remember our total hours awake on nap and nnd need to be 12.75-13 hours or he has undertired night wakings. This happened during the 2-1 too.

[rachsk8]

Interesting PP.  Do you think his total wake time will decrease when he does more NND's?  My LO is still doing 12hr days mostly, (and mostly NND's).  Or at least, I put him into bed at the 12hr mark, this past week he's decided to mix things up on me by going to sleep really quickly, like 10-15mins, not his usual 30mins.  So BT has been earlier by 30mins or so, and WU earlier too.  I don't know if the slightly earlier BT is why he's going out so quickly, or if there's no particular reason for it.