Tips for shifting routine when clocks go back whilst teething

[cath~]

Hi,

I'm sure this or a similar question must have been asked before but I've had a quick look around and couldn't find anything so, here goes...

Our clocks go back an hour next weekend and so I've been trying to shift my LO's routine a bit in anticipation, mostly by delaying bedtime by 15-20 mins, if possible.  The trouble is, as soon as I get it shifted by, say, 15-20 mins, she has a bad night (teething), is v tired the next day and I have to start all over again with an 'early' (i.e. usual) bedtime!

I'm not sure there's anything I'll be able to do about this other than be patient and keep trying to shift her bit by bit, but if anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them!

She is 13 mo and relatively low sleep needs (12.5-13hrs a day seems fine for her - when I was trying to get her to have more by having longer naps, she just woke really early the next day).

On a good day her routine goes:

6.15-6.30 am wake-up
12.45 nap for 1hr30  (I cap it at 1hr30 otherwise she gets up early the next day).
19.00 bed

However, if her teeth are bothering her (she has her first 4 molars coming through oh-soooo-slowly at the moment), she might only nap for just over an hour, she might get up around 6.00 and/or be awake for 30mins-1hr during the night.  Then she is exhausted by bedtime and I feel bad trying to keep her up later.

If she is particularly tired due to a bad night, I let her have a 15 min cat-nap in the buggy in the morning so she will last until after lunch for her 'proper' nap.  The last week or so this has happened once or twice a week.

Any tips on how to shift her routine when the clocks go back would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Catherine

[sianie]

Hi there...

The link below might be helpful:

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=44509.0

Generally, when clocks go back an hour you can try to gradually push your LO's day a bit later each day (e.g. nap a bit later, BT later etc) or you can leave her routine as it is & then wait for the clocks to change & then wait for her bodyclock (it generally takes a few days).

Just looking at her routine, her nap looks quite late & that's quite a long A-time for her age (unless she's lower sleep needs?), also, when LO's are teething they do tend to get tired more easily so A-times tend to 'shrink' back a bit. You might find by bringing her nap a bit earlier she might nap for longer so you can push Bt later. she also sounds a bit OT from what you've said.

Does this help?

[cath~]

Hi,
Thanks for your reply.  Yes, I will just keep trying to push her day back bit by bit.  I had read that link before, but it didn't seem to be working so well with her teething.  But I will try letting her nap a bit longer so she can go to bed later and see where that gets us the next morning..
And yes, she is low sleep needs.  When I was letting/helping her nap for longer during the day we just got really early morning wake-ups (5.30 am for ages and 4.30-5am for a month or so, with 7pm bedtime).  For ages I assumed it was because she was OT so I would APOP (e.g. go for a walk) to help her get as much sleep as possible during the day (I got a bit neurotic for a while about getting her to have more sleep..).  I was aiming for at least 2 hours of napping/day, ideally 2.5 hours.  However, it wasn't until I stopped the APOP and just accepted whatever cot naps she would take each day (i.e. less than when I APOPed naps in the buggy) that we finally got rid of the really EWs.  So yes, after months of struggling against it(!), I'm pretty certain she's on the low side in terms of her sleep needs. (sorry for the long explanation!)
I have been capping her nap at 1hr30 because otherwise we get an EW the next day.  But I will try letting her have, say 15 mins longer, put her to bed later and see what WU we get the next day..
Thanks again,
C

[sianie]

That sounds like a good plan, although it's always tricky when LO's are teething as they get tired more easily.

Good luck!