not sure where to put this - naps and ew?

[karendbrooks]

Hi everyone.
My DS is 9mos old (well, he will be in 4 days), and is a good sleeper.  However, we've started to have an ew again.  Thankfully it's not TOO early, but as he used to get up at 6:45 or 7, his new wake time of 6:20ish is different, and I want to start adjusting him (if need be) before it becomes a 5:45 wake time.  We have been having a 5:30am NW for a couple of days now, but I think that's a habit we are working out of due to the fact that he had an ear infection a week ago, and he was waking up all over the place.

Anyway.  My question is: is it time to start transitioning to 2-1?  Is there a sticky or thread somewhere on how to start that?  Am I doing something else in my EASY that needs to be tweaked? 

here's our day
6:20 he wakes and plays in his crib, i get him up at about 6:50 or so
7 eats 8oz bottle
play time
8:15 or so solids
play time until nap
9:30 or 9:45 naps until 11:30

11:30 awake
11:45 7oz bottle
12:45 lunch
playtime until 2:30 or 2:45
2:40 naps until 4:30

4:30 up and bottle then play time
6:15 dinner
6:30 ish bath time
7:15 8z bottle
7:45 usually asleep or on the way to sleep. 

that's our day.  thanks for looking!

[Shiv52]

Could be he is ready for a little less day time sleep.  Your routine looks great but if you start getting a consistent EW it can be one of the signs they need a little tweak.  I'd probably start by cutting the pm nap down by 10-15 minutes to give him slightly more A time before bed and its the longer nap.  Here is some info for you to have a read through:

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=145285.0

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=85130.0

Let me know how you're getting on and how things are going once you decide what is best for your LO! 

HTH xx

[karendbrooks]

Random comment: I was telling his pedi today at the 9mo check up that I think he's going to start moving to one nap soon-ish, and the doc said he wants him to stay on 2 naps until 18mos or so.  Found it a little odd.  I ran a preschool before staying home with DS, and our 1yo room was all on 1 nap.  Taking his advice with a grain of salt, especially since he doesnt wake up with my child at 5am, but it just kinda made me stop and go "huh?"

thanks for the response!  We are on day 7 now of the 5am wake up.  He's with grandma tonight, so we'll see how he did.  W2S doesnt work with him; if you touch him while he sleeps, he PINGS awake and is ready to play.  Nutty little man.

[aselby]

hey hey hey, karen! long time!

hey- jusy wanted to stop and say hi! and tell you to peak over to my thread on EASY and read what we've been going through...same boat! 5am WUs....we are now doing 630 ish...which is AWESOME! we are currently in the 2-1 transition..fun fun fun!

from looking at your EASY...i think that you def need to start cutting down on one of his naps. we are only doing 2hrs /day and it has helped dramatically with our EWs. i have shortened our days to around 12.5h, we do 1 long am nap ( 1.5h) and a short 2nd nap (45mins) and then a shorter A to bed...stil havent found the best A to bed, as they have been fairly short, but we have made a HUGE improvement in this past week. i would start with the cutting down on day sleep first and decided which nap you want to keep long...long am/short pm or vice versa. take a peak at my thread and see if you can find any info helpful! jump on board, too if you'd like! i miss chatting with you and the girls!

hope you are well and enjoying your summer!

xxx amanda

[Shiv52]

Agree with pp.  Prob time to cut down on one of the naps.  I'd start with 10-15 minutes first and not risk OT as he seems like a bub who likes his sleep!   I'd stretch out the A times as you reduce the nap, maybe 5 mins extra either side etc so you're day is the same length IYKWIM?  The hope then is the extra A time and less day sleep will lead to more night sleep! 

Am surprised at your ped!  mine has no opinion on sleep at all!  I do think a lot of LOs stay on one nap (if at home) much longer.  I know my friends LO in daycare was on 1 nap from 1 YO and now she's moving up to the next room at 2.5 and they have no nap which I think is crazy!!  My LO moved to one nap at one year old and it has worked out GREAT for us.  All depends on the LO..you know your LO best and will make the right decisions!

[karendbrooks]

Hey Amanda!  It HAS been a while, and I'm glad you found me.  I was thinking of you the other day and wondering how things were going. 
With us, we are still working on the new EW as well as the occasional NW.  I know a lot of it has to do with the developmental leaps he's been making (pulling up, cruising, getting ready to walk :O! )  but I think day sleep is most likely the biggest factor.  I know by a year, 18mos at the oldest, I want him on 1 nap a day, but I didnt think we would get there this early.  For now, I am making his am nap an hour and half and leaving his pm nap at 1hr45min or 2hrs.  He has a later bed time so he has a little Daddy time before bed, but he's out no later than 7:45. 
Thanks also to Shiv for your thoughts.  Yeah, I as a bit taken back by my pedi's advice.  He's normally really cool about whatever works for the kiddos, but this one was such a deviation from "whatever works for Ian."  He had no issue with my child eating tiny peices of homemade meatballs and spaghetti, though
Today was a weird day, nap wise, as he was out with my mom and me all during his pm nap, so he only slept for like 45 min in his car seat (bad mommy) so I am expecting an interesting night. 

Thanks everyone for the input, and Amanda, can you send me a link to your EASY post?  I am terrible at finding things on this board

[aselby]

hey karen!

sounds like a lot is going on over there! glad to know that i am not the only one with an ACTIVE little boy! so, i am not ry tech savy when it comes to copying a link...but the headline of my post reads " long A and EWs with a 9 month old" or something along those lines....its an active post so it should be close-ish to the top. we are def on a bumpy ride with this 2-1 business. not sure if we are going about the "right" way, but i cant get C down any earlier than what i have been doing lately. i am learning to just follow his lead and trust that he knows what he needs! ack! its already starting!

[Shiv52]

Here you go:

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=174181.msg1972948#msg1972948

[karendbrooks]

thanks shiv, you rock! 
took an hour and 45 min nap this morning, and same thing this pm.  he was up at 5:45 this morning, so I wanted to make sure he got an ok set of naps to ward of OT.  Got my alarm set for 4:30am tonight.  going to try W2S.  He gets up every day at 5:30-5:45ish, so I'm wondering if this will work.  It's been a habit now for almost 12 days.  Mommy is tired.  If W2S doesnt work, going the nap route.  All of this EW stuff started with an ear infection, so that's why I'm hesitant to start 2-1 right off the bat.  Got to rule everything else out.   
Off to bed so I can wake the monster at 4am!
Night!

[karendbrooks]

thought....
After reading some of your post Amanda, someone asked if your was waking up happy. 
Ian is NOT!  He wakes up whiney and crying, standing up, so I go in and lay him back down and give him lovey.  I sit in the dark while he "goes back to sleep" and I head back to bed, but then 10 minutes later he's back up.  THAT'S when he gets happy and talkative.  Maybe I'm waking him up more?  But I feel like if I dont go in and help him out, he'll stand there and get REALLY worked up. 
Maybe I should let him work out his issues?  He's not really crying with zest at that point, just kinda calling out in that whiney cry-ish voice. 
Maybe I'm the issue

[aselby]

hhhmmm...has he JUST learned how to pull to standing?

[Shiv52]

We'd an awful time when DD first pulled to standing.  Was a nightmare for about 3 weeks.  She used to just stand up in her sleep (it was the weirdest looking thing).  I happened to be in her room one day and she was fast asleep and next she was just standing and then woke and cried as she was all disorientated.  Am sure she couldn't work out why she was standing there.

In the end I tucked her in nice and tight with a blanket (towels between cot bars and mattress) so that when that happened she couldn't get up as easily and tended to just keep sleeping rather than waking up.  Maybe thats whats happening?  Especially if he's upset and whiny when you go in?  If you think it is I would definately resettle.

Developmental leaps can cause a real mess in sleep! 

[karendbrooks]

Update! 
W2S WORKED!!  YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I went in at 4:15 and rubbed his back and turned him over from tummy to back and he sorta woke and put himself back out.  And slept until... (drumroll) 6:45!  I am a happy mommy.  Tonight and tomorrow night to go to make sure, but hopefully we'll get back on track.

And no, he hasnt just learned to pull up.  He's been doing that for almost a month now.  Started crawling, belly off the floor, at 6 mos, pulling up at 8mos. 

And today is his 9 month-day.    Getting so big and grown up!   

So, I think that his 5am moments were really a habit that formed after his ear infection.  He was so miserable.  He'd wake up in pain and I would go in and we would snuggle.   

Fingers crossed that tonight goes as well.

[Shiv52]

Great news on W2S!!  Hope it continues!!!