I need some advice

[Mom2one]

I'm really at a loss here as to what is going on with my 12 month old.

The past few days have been very confusing and I don't know what I'm doing wrong.  Yesterday, she only took a 40 min morning nap and then her afternoon nap was pretty erratic and she was up from her afternoon nap by 3:10pm.  She was looking tired, rubbing her eyes etc so we put her to bed last night at 715pm.  It took her over 1hr to fall asleep.  She wasn't upset, just babbling away.

Today, she was up for the day around 645am.  She refused the morning nap.  So, I ended up putting her down for afternoon nap at 130pm, and she was up at approx. 330 pm, but I'm not sure how well she slept as I kept hearing her coughing.  So, we put her down to bed at 730pm, and it's now 845pm and she's still awake.  Again, not upset but babbling away.

So, what am I doing wrong here or is it possible that teething is causing these sleep problems.  We've never had any issues like this when her other 4 teeth have come in. 

[momofclaire]

It could be teeth.

Is it possible she is ready for one nap. ~Gasp~ I know but mine went to one nap at 12 months. She was always a great sleeper and then all the sudden started acting crazy regarding naps and bedtime.  Could be something to think about.

Also, are there any milestone things going on?  Is she just standing or taking a few steps?  Those things can really do a number on sleep as they are excited to practice their new tricks even when they should be sleeping.
Myia

[Antoinesmom]

I also suspect that she's ready for the 2-1 nap transition. My son is there now. He goes down at 10:30 and doesn't take another nap, we did bring the bedtime earlier because of it.

[Layla]

You're not doing anything wrong. At 12 months my dd's sleep went all up in the air as well. I do think it has something to do with the 2-1 switch. I would cut the morning nap to 45mins to let her have a longer afternoon nap. If she is refusing the morning nap, bring the afternoon nap forward so that it is taken from 11.30am onwards. Keeping her up until her "normal" afternoon nap time will lead to overtiredness since she would be awake for 6hrs. On the 1-nap days or days where she has not napped that well and is clearly tired in late afternoon/early evening, I would bring the bedtime forward aywhere from 6 onwards (depending on when her nap was and how long it lasted). Don't be afraid that an early bedtime would mean she would be waking up at 5 in the morning... its usually the opposite... you'll be giving her the chance to catch up on sleep.

Taking a long time to fall asleep (when they are clearly tired) is an indication of getting overtired. I would really try to avoid that by protecting the afternoon nap (by cutting the morning nap) and offering a super early bedtime on those bad-nap days.

At 12 months, dd's day looked something like this:

6ish - wake for the day
9am - morning nap (wake her up at 45mins)
1pm - afternoon nap
6ish - bedtime

If mine was not asleep by 10am for her morning nap, I would keep her up until 11am and give her a nap then and a 5.30pm bedtime. I found that if she fell asleep in late morning then there was absolutely no chance of getting her to nap in the afternoon and that meant a looong time till bedtime. Still during the transition, whether or not she would have 2 or 1 nap would depend on how well she slept at night, how early she'd wake up in the morning and how she acted in the morning. If she clearly needed a morning nap, I always offered it to her but I always had to wake her up!

See how you go
Layla 

[Mom2one]

Thanks for the advice.

Momofclaire, no new milestones to speak of.  She's been walking now for almost 2 months, took her first steps at 10 months and there's been no stopping her since.  She'll be 1 on Wednesday.

The past few mornings, her morning naps have been 20 mins and I've put her down for an afternoon nap at 115pm.  However, I would like to add that I think she's coming down with a cold.  Last night, I think she coughed pretty much all night, and today, she's still coughing through her nap.  I think I may go to the pharmacy and ask the pharmacist if I can give her a cough suppresent as it's interfering with her sleep. 

[momofclaire]

She sounds just like my lo. Claire was taking steps at 10 mo and walking all over the place at 10.5!  I would, if the cough lasts longer than a week see your doc.  Claire had a cough in January that seemed to come and go, one day, out of the blue she spiked a fever and had RSV!     Not trying to scare you at all, my doc just said that coughs that last over a week should be examined.  I think Layla gave great advice about how to go about transitioning. You may want to start that when you are sure she is not sick.

Layla. Beautiful new avatar, simply beautiful!

[Mom2one]

Thanks momofclaire,

We actually see the Dr. this Wednesday for her 1 year checkup as well as a followup to her having bronchiolitis a few weeks ago.

She had started with a cough back in the middle of February.  Kept going back to the Dr., she said all was fine and then prescribed 2 inhalers to use (which never worked by the way).  Then, we the second week of March, over the course of 3 days she was really sick and I took her back yet again which she then had bronchiolitis and was on antibiotics.  That cleared and she seemed fine.  Now this cough has started again, so I'm a bit concerned.  She coughed so much today (and last night) that she's not getting a good sleep, so finally got a cough suppresent cough syrup today.  Gave her some at bedtime, and it seems to have done the trick as she's been asleep now for about an hour and I haven't heard a cough out of her for about 40 mins (which is great seeing as she seems to have a hacking cough every 10 mins.)

[momofclaire]

I feel your pain with the coughing.  Claire would cough and right about the time we would say "ok time to call the doc" she would stop.  She has allerigies too, thanks to Dh  so we never know if the cough is something to worry about.     So you have a birthday this wed huh?  AHHH that is sweet.  Can you beleive it's been a year?  The times really flies by.

[Mom2one]

Yes, her 1st birthday already.  And I'm back to work tomorrow (Monday) for the first time in over a year.  While I've really enjoyed being able to be home with her, part of me is looking forward to returning to work and part of me isn't, which is why I chose to return to work part-time.  So, I'll have 3 days a week of work and some adult interaction and Lauren gets the social interaction at the home daycare provider.

So the return of this nagging cough couldn't come at a better time .

[momofclaire]

I totally understand. The transition will probably take some getting used to for both of you.  It sounds as if you may be more inclined to worry about the cough because of the looming transition.  Keep me posted about the doctor appt and how work goes.  I would be happy to keep in touch while you work out the details of your new situation.

Did she sleep better last night?  Is your new caregiver willing to keep your sch and bw ways?

Myia

[Mom2one]

She did seem to sleep better last night and she actually went down for a nap this morning at 10am, which she hadn't been doing the past few days.  She did cough a bit when she woke this morning, but not much. 

I will keep you posted about how things go this week.  Our caregiver is keeping our schedule in fact, she requested that I write down our schedule so that she could keep following it.  It's proving to be a bit of a challenge because of not knowing whether to drop the morning nap or not

[momofclaire]

I would just keep a good eye on her cues over the next month or so. If she starts refusing a nap or fighting it and then only taking 20 min, it is probably time to transition.  An earlier bedtime if often key to getting through the transition without having to deal with overtiredness.