Your 3 hours are amazing, Lara's NEVER (well not since she's been more than a new born) slept for that long in the day. 1.5 hours is pretty much her max.
we never had a single nap that long until we went to 1 nap. most of our naps are 2 - 2 1/2 hours now.
How can a lo go from 6ish thru til midday?? As long as I'm not being cruel by keeping her up. It's also bad on the odd days when she'll only go down for 30 mins!
in our case - Liv always used to get overtired if we kept her up too late, but with this it seemed there is another window for her- the "extremely tired / beyond overtired i just want to sleep" window. i woudl bet money that if we tried to put her down at 4hrs she might be cranky, but keeping her up this long seems to work easier than the old days of stretching her to 3+ hours. i really don't know if it is just Liv or lots of lo are like that
i think since we have been doing it for over 3 months now she has adapted even further and that is why she can now go from 6:30 - 1 with ease. if your lo wakes around 6, maybe try for 12 or so and see what happens. do you think she sill needs that long windown of walking around until drowsy - i woudl think that after being awake for so long she woudl just want to pass out (Liv does not even want me to sing my one verse of rockabye baby half the time - she is leaning to get into the cot so i just sing 1-2 lines and say night night)
when I've tried PU/PD (or more just PD as she's been mobile for many months) she just gets worse and more frustrated and cries harder! Sorry to ask, but any suggestions on dealing with that and correcting some of the bad stuff I'm having to do??
i have never don straight PU/PD. everything i have read and experienced with spirited children tells me it is a losing battle - they are too persistent (will not give in and just go to sleep) and get worked up very easily by the frustration of it all so you wind them UP instead of DOWN. i have used shh/pat with liv with huge success, i have used every variation of it (just shh, just pat, shh/pat, just holding her down, etc) when i have even attempted a variation on PU/PD it is only if she is crying and getting upset (vs. just fussing, sitting/standing, refusing to nap) where i will pick her up and calm her in my arms and re-do our routine of me singing rock a bye baby, putting he rin cot and saying "night night sleepytime" trying to basically hit the restart button to diffuse the crying. i know a few people on the boards have had PD success with spiriteds but i think it is rare and needs to bea certain kind of spirited IYKWIM
Also, sorry, another question.....Lara has 7 teeth already and I've started brushing them. What sort of routine did you do for your lo when you had to bring teeth brushing into the bedtime routine?
LOL this is where a big sister is handy. liv only got teeth at 11mo + (we are fast incrasing numbers and she got #6 + 7 and possibly more this week) and had spent those months seeng big sis brush her teeth every night (they have their bath together) so when we introduced a toothbrush a couple of weeks ago when she got tooth #4 she was thrilled - we brush them in the bath and give her the toothbrush to try to do it herself and then Dh finishes it off (he does baths) - she actually wants both her toothbrish and dd1
and screams for it too - so she actually llikes the whole thing.
Just to fill you in completely, if I can, here's our general day and the bad bits!
i reviewed your routine and thought i woudl share ours as i really think you might want to adjust slightly. i think you need to get the lunch calories in before the nap - she could be unsettled / short naps due to hunger of she only has a small snack before nap.
we do:
wakes 6:15-7:00 usually (mostly 6:30- 6:45 window but occasionally 7-7:15 window)
7/7:30 breakfast (if wakes late this can be as late as 7:45/8am)
8:30 bottle of milk (currently weaning off - some days wants it and some doesn't)
10 ish usually fusses from toiredness and / or hunger and asks for food so i give her a small snack to recharge her batteries - it ALWAYS DOES THE TRICK and she peps right up
11 ish lunch
12:30 bottle
1pm nap
3:30 average wake up
4ish - same as 10, she gets fussy and hungry and needs fuel so she has a snack of crackers, rice cakes or fruit
5/5:30 dinner
6:45 bath
7ish bottle (later if in bath longer)
7:15 bed usually
about your routine notes -
the 3pm bottle was the one olivia dropped and it was after she went through aperiod like yours of sometimes downing the whole thing and other days not wanting it.
as above, do you think she might be ready to change your windown routine? just a thought
Now to add to the above problems, the little monkey wants to fiddle with my fingers all the time, I've tried every soft toy she's got to replace my hand but she then cries and sits up.
Fortunately she generally sleeps through the night, but there are the odd occasions when she won't go back easily and I know its because of the holding my fingers thing. I think that must have started when she holds my hands around her bottle and not hold the bottle herself.
Liv started holding the bottle just before her first birthday (2 weeks before when we were on a trip and gave her the bottle in her car seat
) i am ot sure about the fingers thing or the soft toys... I woudl work on getting her to sef-settle/soothe without any additional items but i just don't have any experience with comforters etc Neither girl took a pacifier and i never thought to try to introduce a lovey / toy. both my girls self soothe the same way strangely enough - they hold onto the front of their shirt and play with the fabric (and alex "sucks" as if on a pacifier but with nothing in her mouth) These days Liv will take her arm out of her sleeping bag and pull it inside the bag to access her shirt. maybea props mod can help with that one
Bet you wished you'd never asked now!!!! In mine and Lara's defence though, she is a lovely, lively, very happy little cherub and very cheeky and funny and with her going through the night since 3 months, I thought, and everyone told me 'you can't have everything' when I would have the odd moan about naps and getting her off to sleep. However she started waking at night again at around 6 months and I thought 'this isn't funny now its day and night!' Also, I used to be able to put her down awake and she'd go off to sleep until around 6 months and for some reason she started to fight and turn over and then came standing and here we are.....!
this is all Liv too. Dh was just commenting yesterday how in the last 3 months she has been so happy, funny, cheeky etc she has a real personality and is fiesty but adorable. we also had issues at the milestones of turning over, standing and then walking. is she walking yet - Liv started that at the same time as 1 nap so 11 mo old was huge for us (1 nap, walking, first tooth
all in a 1-2 week period) once she was wlaking though she seemed to be so thrilled with her true independence and that is when all these personality traits really started to shine as positives - although i am still drained of all my energy most days, she makes me laugh so much.
ask me anythign anytime and i will try to help as best i can - feel free to pM me as you go through this period if you want!