Help with EASY (2-1 nap transition?)

[HenaV]

Hi!

That is an improvement, good work! I would push that nap out a tad if you're consistently getting nearly 12h nights. My only reservation looking at your day is that the afternoon is über long. It maybe the multiple NW are down to OT?

Re: pushing the nap out, I would only do it by 15m hold for 3-4days, and then by another 15m if you think your LO needs it. If the naps are still short giving you a long afternoon I would consider EBT. It might help reduce the NW?

What do you think?

H

[Jadea]

I will give it a go. How long of a nap should I be looking for to avoid too long of afternoon awake time? 2 hours nap or EBT?

[HenaV]

I would say so. The only reason why i'm suggesting it, is because a 7h afternoon is really long. Im not sure my DD would  manage it consistently without getting OT and shes 25m old.

When you've managed to push the nap out and the days more balanced you'll probably be able to work on EBT only if the nap's 1.5 or under but for the moment, i think perhaps go with 2h.

Do you think OT might be the problem - hows your LO been handling the long afternoons?

H

[Jadea]

I think you're absolutely right. He was doing fine with them at first, but he's been getting progressively more grouchy and difficult.

He did better today after sleeping in (sort of) and with the longer morning awake he took 1:35 nap, he's such a good boy when he is rested.

Today's EASY :

NW: 3, 6am (he fought returning to sleep from 6-7am but went back to sleep just as I was about to give up)

w/u 8am

E
A 8-12:45
S 12:45- 2:20

E
A 2:20 - 7:20 (5 hour A. Is this short enough do you think? Or should I make it shorter?)
S 7:20 BT (planned)

[HenaV]

I think that is short enough. A few days like that and fingers xd he'll have caught up. Doesn't it make such a difference when they're sleeping properly?!!?

Good luck x

[Jadea]

I'm so frustrated!

After 3 days on 4:45 morning A DS was taking only 1:15hr naps and his BT and w/u were creeping earlier and earlier. He refused to sleep more than 12 hours so putting him to bed earlier to make up for the short nap was just making his day earlier.

So yesterday (after 3 days of being on the old schedule) I bumped his A time up by 15 min... he only took a 1 hour nap. 2 hours later he was so tired that I opted to try for a second nap. He went to sleep and slept another hour. Last night seemed better, he only woke up once at 2am. Unfortunately, he only slept 11 hours and then woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep!

w/u 6:00
E
A 6:00-11:00
S 11:00 - 12:00
E
A 12:00 - 2:00
S 2:00 - 3:00
E
A 3:00 - 7:00
S 7:00 BT

I cannot seem to get any extra sleep into this child! He just won't catch up. On one nap he sleeps 1:40 DTS (if I'm lucky) and 12 hours at night. On 2 naps he sleeps 2 hr DTS but only 11 hours at night. He's up again today at 6am and I'm afraid that we're going to keep creeping earlier.

Plan for today:
w/u 6am
E
A 6 - 11am
S 11 nap ... pray to God that he sleeps at least 2 hours.

[HenaV]

I  praying! Tbh if it were me, I'd stick with it based on how things have improved. I know it doesn't feel like it when you're in the middle if the sleep deprived craziness BUT if you look at your 1st post, you will see how well things have come on.

That said, of because of the short naps you don't think what you're doing in going to worry for your LO, then you could consider set naps/BT, see link as below:

Set naps for toddlers: Why, How and When

It maybe something that helps you? We've not tried this as R is susceptible to OT as so pushing her too far/hard would have not worked for us, and I was lucky in that she wasn't a short napper so could work the day out iykwim? It works for lots of people though. Might be worth a look to see what you think? X

[Jadea]

Thanks for the info. I think set naps might be a good idea for us in the future, but I agree with you that pushing that on him now would exacerbate the OT problem. I'm going to follow your advice and see this out till we can get to a good schedule. Once we're on a comfortable schedule I think I will lock him in to that schedule and go with set naps.

[Jadea]

Ok, I'm ready to do set naps now I think?

I've tried to be consistent with a 5 hour schedule, but its really not working out at all. Some days he gets to 5 hours and he's falling asleep before I can even get him in bed. One day I had him in the car and he fell asleep at 4:30 A time and slept 2 hours. Other days he seems not tired at all and sleeps short UT naps after being up for 5 hours. One day he had a 45 min nap and absolutely refused to take a second, that day he didn't even seem tired!

I'm thinking that its varying on his NW, when he's well rested 5hr A isn't enough, but if he's not well rested 5 hr A is just too much! The biggest problem with his night sleep is that he won't sleep more than 12 hours at night on a one nap schedule, and no more than 11 hours at night on 2 naps. He has only broken this rule one time in the last month.

So I'm thinking that I need to push through the OT, be 100% consistent and get him used to a set schedule. The only thing is that I can't figure out when his nap should be!

It hurts my heart to see him so tired. Please help!

[HenaV]

I know it us heartbreaking. My DD is 25m and it still makes me upset to see her OT. I think you're doing really well pushing through the way you have been going. I know you've still had bumps along the way, but it does sound to me as though there has been some improvement?

Ok, so what have your days looked like for the past few days?

H x

[Jadea]

Saturday
w/u 7am
E
A 7 - 11:30 --DS fell asleep in the car after a trip to the zoo
S 11:30 - 12pm in car
S 12:05 - 1:20 at home
E
A 1:20 - 6:30
S 6:30 BT

Sunday
w/u 8:00 DS woke at 6am then fell back to sleep at 7 and slept till 8am
E
A 8:00 - 1:00
S 1:00 - 3:00
E
A 3:00 - 7:30 pm
S 7:30 pm BT

Monday
w/u 7am
E
A 7 - 12:00
S 12:00 - 12:45
E
A 12:45 - 6pm (Tried for CN, but he wouldn't even try to sleep)
S 6pm BT

Tuesday
w/u 7am -- w/u at 5am, but went back to sleep at 6 and slept till 7
E
A 7:00 - 11:30 -- boy was falling asleep on my shoulder
S 11:30 - 1pm
E
A 1pm - 6:30
S 6:30 BT

Today
w/u 5:50 -- wouldn't go back to sleep

[HenaV]

Tbh hon, it looks like things have been going well. If it were me, is stick with it. If you're as ring to go with the set nap and BT then how about 12noon nap and 7pm BT. I'm basing that on your average WU of 7amish.

What do you think?

H

[Jadea]

Day 5 after starting set naps and all is fantastic! DS has STTN 3 days in a row now, and is taking (mostly) 1:45 naps. YAY!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

[HenaV]

Woohoo! That's fab. I'm really pleased for you. Good work!!!! X