Confused about 10 month olds nap routine

[skatty]

My DD has for the last few days been taking naps at 10am and 3pm on the dot!! It just seems like her A time has suddenly increased probably due to new exciting things she's discovering like pulling up and walking holding our hands. The problem is she has started waking up crying from her naps which are 1hr -1hr 30 mins which sugggests she's still tired but with a 6.45/7pm bedtime waking at 4.30pm just seems too late (and a few times we have had to wake her at 4.30pm!) She has woken at 5.45am the last 2 mornings which is not so early as we normally get up at 6/6.15am but psychologically feels extremely early! Tonight we aim to have her in bed asleep by 7.15pm, a little later than normal but now it is 18.40 and she is getting a bit ratty and wanted to get out of the bath. we are also having night wakings but I think these could be due to a tooth she has coming through and we can settle her with her dummy and a pat. I actually posted last week for reassurrance because my LO wouldn't want to nap and now she can't seem to get enough once she finally sleeps! This morning I spent 45 mins from her tired cues to get her asleep and this afternoon we tried putting her down at 2pm and then 2.30pm but she wouldn't go down until 3pm! How are you supposed to let them have 2 naps when their A time increases? I have tried cutting the am nap before and instead of increasing the afternoon she get OT and ends up having a rubbish PM nap. Here is our schedule from today:

5.45 awake
10.00-11.10 nap
15.00-16.30 nap
18.50 (now!) Bottle and then bed so will probably be in bed asleep by 7.15pm, she is really ratty and didn't want her songs and massage, she just came for her goodnight cuddle and her eyes were shutting so I guess DH is going to have trouble getting her to stay awake fo the bottle too.

Well sorry to have waffled on but any advice please?? Perhaps it will all change again tomorrow but I am not sure what I should be doing with consideration to heading for one nap (In understand this can take months!)

[Layla]

I think you need to cut the morning nap to about 45mins so that the afternoon nap is sooner. When you said you tried to cut her nap before, how long did you try that for? She might not have been ready when she was younger. She is certainly heading towards the 1 nap transition (around 12months is the av, but most have to start cutting the morning nap at this age). Do you wait to see her tired cues or do you put her down at about the same time in the morning? Maybe try something like this:

6am - wakes
9:30 - morning nap (put her down 10-15mins earlier so she can play around & fall asleep by 9:30)
10:15 - wake her from nap
1:30/1:45 - afternoon nap
3ish pm - afternoon nap ends
7pm - bedtime

How are you supposed to let them have 2 naps when their A time increases?

This is why alot are cutting morning naps so that the afternoon nap can still be taken. She is probably a little young & might not be ready for 1 nap yet so I would try to work with A times to try & fit 2 in.

She sounds overtired to me, if she's waking up earlier for the day & if she's getting ratty through her bedtime routine.

hth
Layla

[skatty]

Thanks Layla, I am going to try this today because I am sure you are right about the OT because she woke at 5.25am today  Now I think about it I have recently had my mum stay 10 days and we had a lot of naps taken in the car or elsewhere which meant they were cut short so I am guessing the OT has caught up.

I usually wait for her tired cues for her naps and until about a week ago this would always be about 9.15am and then she'd be asleep by 9.30. Now when I put her for her naps at 9.15 she wont sleep until 10am though today I am guessing she will be tired much earlier. The last time I tried cutting the morning nap was less than a month ago and I only tried one day because she got so OT she only napped 30 mins in the PM.

Thanks for your help, I will let you know how it goes, Katt 

[Layla]

She might not have been ready for the short morning nap last month. OT probably has caught up with her but thats ok, she'll get back into her routine.

I usually put Jasmine down at the same time every day. She might play a little longer one day than the other but generally she is asleep within 15mins. She could very well be extending her A time naturally. If she's waking up at 5:30ish then I would probably put her in the cot for the morning nap at around 9:15am so that she is hopefully asleep by 9:30am. Try to keep the last 20mins fairly low key & quiet & maybe do a longer wind down so she is not too hyped up to sleep. Then if you wake her at 45mins, try for the afternoon nap about 3ish hours later. No more than 3.5hrs (that is in the cot & hopefully asleep by 3.5hrs).

If I wait for Jasmine's tired sign, I would be waiting for a long time . Some bubs don't show tired signs when they really are tired & for some tired signs could be bored signs.

See how you go & let me know

Layla

[skatty]

Thanks Layla 

Leorah naps in her pram which is usual here in Denmark. As she was up so early this morning and was showing tired signs I put her in her pram at 8.30am and we went to the garden for our usual winddown. She acted very excitable for almost 30 mins and then suddenly was asleep for 9am. She woke herself after 40 mins, this is usual unless I am poised ready to stroke her cheek or reinsert her dummy , so I have got her up and she seems happy. My DH who is on night duty while he's on holiday said she had multiple NW from 9pm until midnight and then slept until 5am where he managed to get her to sleep again for just 25 minutes so she is definitely showing all the signs of being OT. On the bright side she has been OT before and we have come through it and started getting wakings nearer 6.30am 

Thank you for our help, I really do appreciate it 

[skatty]

Hello Layla, I just thought I'd update! Leorah was asleep by 13.15 and slept almost two hours, HOORAY!!! I will keep an eye on her until bedtime and if she still seems tired will get her in bed a little early. Today she has woken from her naps happy. Thank you, I can't believe we are seeing an improvement already 

[Layla]

Thats great to hear. Let me know if you need any further help

[skatty]

Thanks Layla, I already have more questions!! Firstly I am so happy she didn't wake for the day until after 6.00! BUT she woke 4 times from midnight which I don't think were from OT, do you know what usually causes after midnight wake ups? She has just has 2 teeth through but was still rubbing her jaw and ear through teatime last night so we are wondering if she's teething yet again. She also was asleep by 18.20 last night  , she wanted out of the bath as soon as she was in and whinged until she had her pyjamas on and Woof Woof (her bedtime pal) in hand and then fell asleep 3 times during her bottle. Do you think she was catching up on sleep? We will stick with the short am nap and longer pm today as it seems to have improved things already 

[Layla]

It might be that she is teething but has this only happened last night?

How short is her morning nap & how soon after is the afternoon nap? She could be getting used to the new A times. Everytime Ive cut the morning nap, took Jasmine a few days to get the hang of things.... but the NW's are not really a good indication..... did she rub her ear & jaw in the past with teething?

[skatty]

Yesterday was the first day of short am nap and that was 9-9.40 and then pm nap was 13.15 until 15.10. She does grab her ears and rub her jaw when teething and she also has a very runny nose and is being clingy this morning but she only just had 2 teeth pop through last week. I am going to try and get a look in her mouth!

I am already worrying about Thursday, we have an important meeting at 2pm, my DH and I both need to go which means Leorah does too, I have no idea what to do about her pm nap 

Thanks, Katt

[Layla]

You might have to let her have  long morning nap then & try to give her a catnap when you get back home.

Don't stress about it, she'll get back into her old routine in a few days after than

[skatty]

Thanks, will do that