Walk in/Walk out with naps?

[Aromy]

Hi. My almost 14mo DD has had some pretty rocky naps lately. She's already transitioned to one nap. And for night time, by the time she was 12 months, doing walk in/out has most effective for us. But for naps, if she wakes up after 45 mins, I usually pick her up because she is screaming so loudly. And she almost falls straight asleep on my shoulder and then I can put her down right away. For the past few weeks, sleeping through the nap has been kind of random, even when I keep track of activities and A-times. So I think some nap training may be the way to go. Though she is on 1 nap, she has rarely ever done a full two hours. Should I be concerned? Has anyone done walk in/out for naps? Advice?

Here is our current EASY:

7am Wake Up (We wake her at 7:30 if she's still sleeping.)
8am Breakfast
11:30am Lunch OR Snack (Some days she's too cranky to have a full meal, so I just give her a snack)
12:30/1pm Nap (Usually 1hr30-1hr45, but lately wakes at 45min, then resettled for 45min more)
3pm Snack OR Lunch, depending on the previous meal
6:30pm Dinner
7:30-7:45pm Asleep

Some of our days are a little longer than others depending on what time she wakes up. But she usually sleeps 10.5-11.5 hrs a night, straight through, unless teething or ill of course. I'd just like a little time to myself in the afternoon! Rather than having to watch the clock every 40 mins to listen to her cry, and having to stop in the middle of something. Thank you Baby Whisperers!

[Truly Blessed]

Hi Hun,

((HUGS)) short naps are super stressful! On the whole her amount of sleep on a good nap day, which correct me if I'm wrong is around 14 hours  should be fine. But tell me in the past has she been high/average or low sleep needs 

Obviously there is a big difference for a LO between a 10.5 and 11.5 hour night, so have you noticed if the naps are shorter on the days following the shorter night  I'm wondering if they are OT nap WU's and now she has accumulated OT  A 5 hour A time is good upon switching to one nap, so that shouldn't usually be a problem, but maybe if she has had a shorter night you could bring the nap forward a touch to see if she naps better. It might also be an idea to always wake her at 7 to try and achieve better consistency at the start of the day, although I know the temptation is to allow a little extra after a later night, it does tend to work out better.

Are you trying to achieve a 12.5 hour day  If she is high or average sleep needs you could also try bringing BT forward and make her day 12 hours, even if it's just an interim solution, it may help her naps to lengthen.

Also I'm presuming there's no current signs of teething  although I would expect nights to be as if not more affected it there was anyway.

Let me know your thoughts.

Vicki.x.

[Aromy]

Thanks for the reply Vicki!

On a good nap day, the average amount of total sleep is usually 13hrs. I've never been quite sure if she is low/high sleep needs only because we've had so many sleep and nap problems in the recent past. But it figured itself out a bit when we did walk in/out for nights, and she switched to one nap. So I assume she's low sleep needs.

Sorry about the confusion, she usually gets 11-11.5hrs these nights (though right now she has a cold). And these days she has been really resisting her naps, and then she gets overtired and then wakes up 45 mins later. As you can imagine, it's quite frustrating. Her days are usually just 12.5hrs only if we can help it. And I try to put her to bed around 7:30 no matter what.

I hope it's just teething or maybe a skill that hasn't shown itself yet.

But has anyone tried walk in/out with naps?

[Truly Blessed]

Hi Hun, so sorry for the very late reply, I have been away visiting our new Granddaughter

I think 13 hours on a 12.5 hour day is good, she sounds about average to me, DS was similar. WRT the short naps, did they start when she caught the cold  and is it definitely a cold  If it is just a runny nose, this could be a sign of teething, I got caught out with that one  Sam was always congested when teeth were rumbling in the gum. Like I said before though I would expect teething to affect her just as much at night  .

I would maybe keep her nap at 5 hours A time, so if you do allow her to sleep on 30 mins in the morning, shift it forward and see if that helps it extend. I never used WI/WO with naps as DS wouldn't tolerate it until he was much older, so we always used GW for dodgy times. I do know some people do though. If she is consistently waking at 45 minutes, I would be more inclined to go in and be there for her waking, and shush and stroke her back when you see her flinch to wake up, and try and help her transition into the next sleep phase that way, what do you think 

I'm presuming that the light/noise in her room is favourable during the day and not relevant 

((HUGS))

x.

[Aromy]

Hi Vicki! Just an update in the past few weeks.

The cold definitely put our naps in a whirlwind. She seems a bit better now. But we still get short naps from OT. But her mid-day nap is always pretty short. Usually 1hr30. And at night is usually around 11hr30. So that makes for a total of 13hrs in an average day.

I'm going to try just shushing and stroking if she wakes up after 45mins, though admittedly it's harder and I usually pick her up. Thanks!

[Truly Blessed]

Hi Hun, well that sounds better anyway. 13 hours is not too bad, how often are you getting the 45 min nap WU's now  are you managing to get her back over if she wakes  What morning A time are you giving  I wonder as long as she doesn't appear OT if she actually might need that nap pushing out to lengthen  It's always a gamble whether to shorten or lengthen, but if she seems okay I might push it 15 mins at a time, what do you think 

Wow, that's a lot of question smileys I'm throwing at you there  lol.

x.