One year old waking increasingly early! Nap related??

[Aimee13]

Hi! My one year old is waking earlier each morning! This morning was 5:15 and that early getting to be frighteningly common. We dropped to 1 nap a while back as he was staying up so long before and between naps that we couldn't fit in 2 anymore. At the moment, he goes to sleep around 4.5hours after waking up (though I sometimes try and stretch him a bit longer). He is often asleep or in bed by 10:30. He then sleeps anywhere from 1 hour 20 to 2.5 hours (the latter is rarer). Unless his wake up is earlier than 12:00, I try to then stretch him till 6:00/6:30 for bedtime. If he is earlier than that, I give him a catnap (often in the car so he'll go to sleep earlier as otherwise, he'd be awake another 4ish hours before settling down for another nap in his cot which results in a really late bedtime!) Is there something I should be doing differently?? Is the early wake up related to his nap? Should I stretch him longer in the morning (over time) so that he has less time in the afternoon before bed? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!! =) Thanks!!

[Martini~]

Can you post your typical day in EAS format? It will be easier to see patterns!

First look suggests that you should put you LO slightly later than you are now as she might be UT before nap and OT after (4,5h vs 6h of A time before and after nap).

[Aimee13]

Thanks for replying! Um... sorry a bit new to this.. what is EAS format?

[Martini~]

It means that you post like:

Monday
WU 7am
Nap 1pm-2:30pm
BT 7pm
no NW

Tuesday
WU 6:45
Nap 2pm-3pm
BT 7:15pm
NW 1:00am cried a little but self settled


WU

[Aimee13]

Okay!

A couple examples of past days are:

WU - 5:50am
Nap - 10:40ish (taking under 10mins to go to sleep)
WU - 12:10
BT - 6:15

or

WA - 6:00am
Nap - 11:00
WU - 1:00ish
BT - 6:30

These are aproximate timings but give you a bit of an idea. His nap length is pretty irregular (min- 1.20, max - 2:30) but basically, I try to stretch him till at least 10:30 before nap (sometimes manage 11:00 which makes the rest easier). I aim for bedtime between 6:00 and 6:30.

Does that make more sense?

[Truly Blessed]

Hi Sweetie, just popping on for extra support. I know it can be difficult when you first go to one nap, and it seems that what is missing here is some consistency, and I know from experience that when every day is different it can drive you bananas. I agree with this:

First look suggests that you should put you LO slightly later than you are now as she might be UT before nap and OT after (4,5h vs 6h of A time before and after nap).

I think what I would try, especially if he is sleeping peacefully through the night is to extend the morning. I remember going through something similar with DS, and what confused me was that he would happily go down at 4.5 hours A time, therefore I presumed it was right for him, but then I found that actually he could go longer without suffering.

So how about trying this:

WU 6 am

Nap 11.15  5 hr 15 A time. (you can get him into his cot 15 mins prior to shoot for asleep by 11.15)

Nap 11.15 until 1.15 (capped, wake him. This is in the hope that the longer A time gives you a consistent nap length)

BT 6.45 (asleep by)

So this would be a starting point, trial and error as always, in the hope that you can shift WU and achieve something like this:

WU 7 am

Nap 12.30 to 2.30

BT 7.30

Any thoughts 

Really I should have asked you these questions at the start 

Is he low/average or high sleep needs 

What wake up and BT would you ideally like to shoot for to fit in with your life/plans 

(HUGS) Honey.x.