Author Topic: Arrrgh I think the 2-1 switch might be here! Help  (Read 673 times)

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Offline rach321

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Arrrgh I think the 2-1 switch might be here! Help
« on: December 15, 2009, 12:09:53 pm »
OK Ladies, I'm a bit stuck here and not quite sure what to do next. We have EW anywhere from about 5am onwards (I'm  happy for  a 6am start but not any earlier!).  He takes his morning nap fine (will sleep for 1-1.5hrs if I let him although I usually keep this to about an hour so he can take a decent pm nap) his afternoon nap is also fine (usually takes 1-1.5hrs) doesn't usually put up that much of a fight or anything, in the evenings he goes down fine as well (chats to himself for about 10 mins then off to sleep).  Here's yesterday's EASY

5.15am wake-up and bottle
7am breakfast
9am nap (only let him have 30 mins because we had to go out)
10.30 snack
12 lunch
13.30 nap (2hrs let him take as long as he wanted since this morning's was cut short)
4pm snack
5pm tea
6.30 bath and bottle
7pm bed

So I'm not sure if we are in the 2-1 switch or not since we don't have any nap or bedtime refusal just really EW.  He's at nursery 3 days a week and will only take 1 nap there (sometimes its a long one sometimes not - he's not good at going back to sleep if something disturbs him) so do I take the plunge and go for 1 nap at home or try to hold on to 2 naps a bit longer or does my EASY just need a tweak?
Any advice ladies?
Thanks xx
« Last Edit: December 15, 2009, 15:39:43 pm by rach321 »

Offline deckchariot

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Re: Arrrgh I think the 2-1 switch might be here! Help
« Reply #1 on: December 15, 2009, 19:36:27 pm »
I'm guessing it is the 2 to 1 switch (that's the only time we got EWs).  There are basically 2 approaches to the switch:
1) keep 1st nap at the same A time every day, but gradually shorten the length of it; at the same time, move pm nap earlier (by the same amount you shorten nap 1).  When nap 1 is <30 min, attempt to cut it out and just have 1 nap.
2) push morning A time later, allow your bub to sleep as long as they want in the am, then do a late pm catnap (can be a shorter A time than in the am, as you don't want them to take a full nap); eventually cut out pm catnap.

If he needs a longer A time before bed, then option #1 is generally better.  If he doesn't and HATES being woken from the am nap, option #2 may be better.  In both cases, you can offer an early bedtime if one/both of the naps is bad.

Whichever approach you choose - it's best to go gradually - so either cut 15 min off the am nap every 3-5 days or lengthen the am A time by 15 min every 3-5 days.  It also is helpful to know about how much day sleep is "optimal" for your son and how much A time he needs (minimum) between his last nap and bedtime - that can help you plan out the day.

You may also want to head over to the support thread for some more ideas: http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=158325.255

hth
michelle
Michelle