13 month old gone crazy

[christine1414]

I have a 13 month old boy who has never been the best sleeper. He does know how to put himself to sleep, but often fights.if i rock him he will usually go down much easier but that is not the way I want to go! anyways, he has always been an early riser . usually he wakes at about 5:30am,but not to the minute.so not sure about wake to sleep.he will go to bed as early as 6pm if i want and sleep untill sometime after 5am, but everytime i try to push the day forward he shortens his secound nap and is ready for bed early again.i have been trying to move his bed time for six months!!! his basic day is up 5:30am, nap 9:00am (ready by 8am but i dont let him) nap again1 or 1:30 till anything from 1 hour to 1 hour and 45 minutes,bed at 6:30pm again usually rubbbing eyes.yesterday was the first time that he refused a secound nap and was up from 10am till 5:45 pm,woke briefly 45 minutes later then sleep till 5:30 am.also on the days when he will have a good secound nap and he goes to bed later,he is still up at 5 something.never crying.just lay there untill i come in at 6:30. with daylight saving ending i will be up at 4:30am!!

[mari]

How long is the am nap?  How does he fall asleep for naps?

[christine1414]

the am nap is one hour becausei wake him. the pm nap is now only one hour.i rock him while i read or sing and put him down drowsy but eyes open

[Layla]

Christine, 1hr is too much for alot of 13mo's. Try 45mins in the morning & pm nap 3.25-3.5hrs later.

 

[christine1414]

well, this morning he woke himself after 45 min.i put him down 3 hour and 15 minutes later and he woke after 30 minutes but went back to sleep for 30 more minutes very quickly.he was so tired when i put him down he went right to sleep.for about a week his naps have gotten shorter.is he too young for one nap?

[Layla]

Well its hard to say. He could be ready for 1 nap but alot at this age aren't

The way to transition to 1 nap is to:
* push the morning nap in increments until its close to 11/11.30am (let him sleep as long as he wants in the morning). You might have to do a catnap in the pm while in the transition & if he's not taking it then do a super early bedtime (like 5.30pm if you have to)
* continue to offer the morning nap but wake him up at 45mins & put him down for the pm nap about 3hrs later. He might not start taking a long pm nap straight away as it can take a few days to adjust so you will end up with 2 short naps
* you could also try to shorten the morning nap to 30mins & do the pm nap no more than 3hrs later. Again he might not take the long pm nap until a few days later. So you will end up with 2 short naps
*or you could go cold turkey & offer 1 nap around 11am & let him sleep as long as he wants (within limit.... no more than 3hrs)

The transition can take months & months for some or can take just a couple of weeks. If you think this 2 nap business & waking him up is NOT working then try 1 nap. To be honest, I tried to transition Jasmine to 1 nap a couple of times (just about every month after her 11 months' birthday) & everytime she got very overtired & we went back to 2 naps (even though alot of times they were 2-short naps). Jasmine, now at 17months has been on 1 nap for 2 weeks & its a hit & miss with the length of the nap. For the last 2 weeks her naps have ranged from 45mins to 2.5hrs long. I really don't know when things will settle but I do hope they do soon!!! On the crappy nap days (like today), I put her down at 5pm & she sleeps until 6am (thankfully).

You also have to consider at this age as well as the 2-1 switch they are also bothered by teething & throw in some SA into the mix & it just ends up being REALLY rough couple of months.

If you want before you go down to 1 nap, give 45mins a go for a few more days to see if his pm nap will lengthen

[christine1414]

ok, i will keep trying for two naps.the problem now is that he has a cold and cough so he is sleeping even less and very restless at night.he wakes in the morning covered in snot all over his face and doesnt eat well now.how can i stop the coughing at night?

[Layla]

You're probably better to see a doc & maybe get some meds for his cough & cold.