treebutt - i used this in desperation and sleep deprivation to log on to this site....i didnt realise that i would be participating with that name!! oops! its a sillly play on my surname, not the size of my....which mite i say after chasing my lo for 10 months is very very small!! pls call me beck.
fiona, re the naps - as usual its like rocket science. but we transitioned 3 - 2 by dropping his cat nap on his own....and then just slowing moving his 2 naps around. and then all of a sudden i was stuck with a small window of opportunity for a catnap in the afternoon - ie. i wouldn't let him sleep much past 4ish. bedtime is 630/ 7pm. i have been really strict w this and find it works. also i found waking him early from his morning nap disasterous - so could never get 2 equal naps. so i let him nap as long as he liked for nap 1 and then at 330 i would get him to sleep in the pram for 30 - 45 mins. and then suddenly, literally one day, this stopped working and i thought the whole neighbourhood would report me - he would scream and grizzle until i sat him up and then i went right, its one nap from now on! i guess a leap of faith that i knew my baby by now? also i noticed that when he didnt have a sleep in the arvo, and even tho OT he would sleep longer at night so that was motivation. i dont DO 430am very well.
it took a week or 2 to get him around enough into the middle of the day and a few early nights to help. actually the hardest thing, and still is sometimes, is trying to get him to have some decent lunch as by 11am, he would be approaching OT. so sometimes it was a big bottle and then lunch when he got up (too close to dinner then...) - but now its lunch first and bottle and nap. and luckily he naps for up to 2.25 hours ish. he used to be a 45 min cat napper. hope for you all!
there were days i thought am i mad? am i missign all the cues?? but like i said a leap of faith....i still have the odd morning where he goes into melt down and is v OT, has no lunch and will wake after 45 mins (but i can get him back to sleep at this stage). i guess i also realised i had no choice - he wouldnt catnap in the arvo and his morning nap wouldnt get him thru the whole day so i had to manage him. like all us mums with spirited lo.
i do take care with him tho - try and spend time with him when he gets OT , read , lie on the floor and sing etc. try and keep him calm b4 nap.
sorry its a detailed response but thats how i, well, how lo, did it!!
630 - 7am up
730 - 8am brekkie
OUT OF THE HOUSE
10.45 - 1130 - lunch of some sort
1130 - 12 - nap
2.30 snack
OUT OF THE HOUSE
5pm - dinner
6pm - bath and bottle
630 - bed
bottle at 430/ 5am and back to sleep....now....no bottle b4 this if he wakes.
beck ;o)