Need help with 21MO who is waking early

[maisy]

Hi all,

Our nap history is looooooong so that is why I have not asked for advice before.

Ok where to start where to start,

My DD has alway been a 6am (sometimes between 6and 6.30) waker, always! this I belive is her natural waking time so we have always worked with it. I think she has slept until 7 maybe 5 times in her life.
6am we don't have a problem with, her routine for a while was 6 - 6 but now that she is older it was at 6-6.30 - 7pm.

We are still on 2 naps. She was happy and we were happy and she showed no signs of needing to change until maybe September of this year. We were also still on long AM nap and short PM nap until recently 1 hr 15 AM and 45 min PM. This worked in with our lives better, I have an older DS who needs collecting from school etc and again she was happy and we were happy so we left it. I then started doing the 2-1 transition using Tracy's method , adding 15 mins every 3 days to the first A time.

Around a month to 6 weeks ago after speaking with my girls on my old birthclub, we all decided it just wasnt working and it was recommended to me to try doing the short AM nap and long PM nap. It started at 30 mins for 1st nap and I am still in the process of reducing it.

some days things are different and I have to give her a long AM nap as we have things to do etc but mostly it has been the new way.

A couple of issues we have is that she is very sensitive to OT, OT always results in EW for us. Also she cant handle a long first A time, at the moment the longest she can manage is 3.5 hours.

Our routine on the new naps was

6am - awake
9.30 - 10 - nap
12.30 - 2pm - nap
6.30 - 7pm bed

but for the last 2 weeks she has been waking from 5 am onwards, she is waking up upset and will scream and cry until I lift her. She cannot be re-settled

She shares a room with us and this is unfortunately unavoidable until we move to a bigger house, which wont be for at least 6 months to a year and this isnt even definite.

Just wondering what to do? I am struggling as to what times to use, what she can handle with such early wakings.

Yesterday she woke at 5.30am bedtime wasnt until 6.30 as I was working and Granny didnt put her to bed at 6 like I asked and waited until I got home, I think this is what made her wake at 5am , OT!

Please help, DH and I are shattered and dont know where to go from here

x x x x

[andibig]

Maisy
not sure if this will help but here goes.Sasha always loved her AM nap even after we got rid of the early wake up.so when she was showing signs she needed to transition to one nap we went cold turkey.
its not for the faint hearted but basically what i did was put her down around 10.30 and let her sleep as long as she wanted and then moved it later every few days.
her bedtime was early to compensate for any OT.
so if shes always preferred her am nap it may help.
HTH

[maisy]

Thanks for your reply Andrea, I have decided to go for it today!! We took her out this morning to tide her over and she went down at 11.20  asleep by 11.30. I so hope she isnt going to wake quickly, she isnt known for her long 2 hour naps but I am hiding in the living room on here so the house is quiet.

Did you see any backlash at all after a few days? I am worried that OT will build up and I will only see it in a few days to a week?

thanks again

x x x x

[andibig]

TBH the 2nd week was a little hairy as she took some short naps.I think that was just a case she needed her nap earlier than we thought.
But she transitioned really well so we were very lucky

[maisy]

well yesterday was a disaster LOL she only slept for an hour  I think she needs her nap earlier too, she is down V early today as I have to go out for a dentist appointment at lunchtime so I am hoping to get a good nap in before we go. She fell asleep straight away so at least I had the AM nap as a back up today .

Will try putting her down maybe 11 or 11.30 tomorrow and see how it goes

Thanks again will let you know how we get on

x x x x

[rinajack]

Zara is not as sensitive to OT now that she is on one nap, she did used to be though, and she transitioned many months ago.

We had so many sleep problems that we went pretty much cold turkey too with the odd two nap day thrown in.

At first her nap was 40mins and her bedtimes were very very early. Over a couple of weeks she lengthened the nap on her own.

Might it be worth persevering?

[Layla]

Jasmine has been on 1 nap for a few months now... the length of the nap is still hit & miss for us. Today & yesterday was good but there are days when it can too be as short as 1hr. I would just try & compensate with an earlier bedtime.

[maisy]

Might it be worth persevering?

yep I think so Rina. Well I have no chjoice really LOL she really needs to be getting to 1 nap now.

I think the problem is that she needs a short first A time or she gets OT and struggles with her nap. I have worked for a while on lengthening her first A time but it all ended us up where we are LOL

I think cold turkey is now the only way to go , she is sooooo messed up that I am hoping wen it all eventually works out she will happily be on one nice long nap!

Thanks for sharing your experience, it is nice to hear what and how others did  

x x x x

[rinajack]

It might be an idea to watch a DVD or read some stories at the old nap time...Zara still likes some down time at the time her AM nap was when she was having two naps...she doesn't usually sleep, but the down time helps revive her for another couple of hours (either that or her mummy just plays too hard LOL)

[maisy]

Jasmine has been on 1 nap for a few months now... the length of the nap is still hit & miss for us. Today & yesterday was good but there are days when it can too be as short as 1hr. I would just try & compensate with an earlier bedtime.

will do Layla, thanks.

I put her down early last night (in bed ready to sleep by 6.15) she was still shouting at 6.45 and when we went in she had pooped   so of course she got a second wind and thought it was time to get up. Complete meltdown followed and she ended up having a massive tantrum (as she was waaaaaay OT) until almost 7.30 by which point she was headbutting anything she could get near to and almost split her lip open. Poor baby.

On the good side she did sleep until 5.45 this morning which is definite progress

today is a bust for one nap as I have to mess it up for a dentist appointment   But will be back to it tomorrow

x x x x