2-1 nap transition

[jlheagy]

My lo will be 1 on Monday   This past week her routine has really started getting messed up.  On Mon and Tues she would only take 1/2 hr -45 min for both naps, then was very hard to put to bed because of OT.  On Wed I think she was catching up because she took 1 hr in the a.m. (I woke her) and 1 1/2 in the p.m. (which seh normally does) She also has started waking about 1/2 hr earlier in the morning.  This has been our normal day for about the past 3 months:

6:15-6:30 wake
6:45 -get out of bed and bf/bottle or cup
7:30 - breakfast
9:00 - nap for 1 hr-1hr 15 (went right to sleep)
10:30/10:45 - snack
11:30 - lunch
1:15-1:45 - nap for 1hr 30 - 1hr 45 (right to sleep or within 15 min)
3:30 - snack
5ish dinner
6:45/7 - bed

so after a rough bedtime she slept good all night, but woke about 5:45 but I still didn't get her until about 6:45 and she plays happily the entire time.  She went right to sleep at 9am today, but it is now 9:50 and she was just moving around, but can't tell if she is up or still sleeping a little longer. 

I do wake her after 1 hr a.m nap if she is not up yet and she was still taking good pm nap until this week.  So should I try moving am nap later slowly?  My biggest issue for pm nap is that I have to get her up at 3 to pick up sister from school so if am is too late, she won't get much of pm nap, so I'm not sure what to try.

At least school will be over soon and we won't have that issue any more!!!  Hopefully by the end of the summer she will be down to 1 nap so we won't have to worry about that next year!

Thanks for any suggestions   

[becky1969]

Well, the 3 pm thing puts a wrench in things. 

Typically, LO will need AM nap shortened or they will refuse PM/take super short one (like you're finding).  Also, I think she's short napping sometimes in AM because nap is too early and she's UT -- she may just be ready to move A time.  Esp. if you've been on same routine for about 3 months!  I'd probably move AM nap a good 30 minutes, and then wake her after 45-60 minutes.  Then try for PM nap 3 hours later.  What you can do, because of 3 pm thing, is limit AM nap to 30 min, which puts you not far from where you are now in terms of timing --

for ex)

6:30 awake

9:30 nap (30 min later than now; 30 min in length)

10 am wake

1 pm asleep
2:30/3 awake (hopefully!)

We're aiming for about 2.5 hours daytime sleep.

6:30 bed

The 11 hour night may be a developmental thing, or may be as a result of daytime frenzies.  Not to mention you've probably got molars making an entrance sometime soon.    So, I'd probably play with that AM nap a bit and see if EW doesn't resolve on it's own.  If it doesn't after 3-4 days of a consistent daytime rotuine, then we'll furrow our brows again and try to figure out something else to try. 

[jlheagy]

thanks for the reply!!  We had a really busy weekend and her 1st birthday party yesterday so today I'm going to try the 9:30 naptime and probably wake her at 10:15 and pm nap at 1:15-1:30ish.  Last nite was bad.  For the past week she has really been crying off and on for about 45 min before falling asleep.  Sometimes I go in when it is really bad, most of the time it is just more of a yelling/montra cry though.  She also was up off and on from about midnight until 2am (She was born at 4:30 am so maybe it was flashbacks )  Then I heard her up at a little before 6 this morning    But she seemed to fall asleep for 10 min twice before I finally got her up at 7.  She had diarreah yesterday and a this morning too, so maybe a little tummy ache also.  She has been walking for about a week too so that may be some too.  Oh so much going on for a 12 month old!!!!  I'm not too concerned about the molars yet as she only has 4 teeth right now and I don't see any more yet.  Of course she has her 1 year checkup on THursday and will be getting shots, so I'm sure that will keep things messed up too!!!  It's always something!

[jlheagy]

so this mornning I put her down at 9:30 and she cried about 1 min and was out. At 10:15 I went in to wake her and it was HARD, she did not want to get up!  I put her down at 1:30 and it is now 2 and she cried about 30 sec but is now awake rolling around and chatting to her baby doll.  So IF she does fall asleep I have to wake her at 3 to go pick up sister, either way I guess she needs an early bedtime tonight!  The thing is, during the day she is usually still very happy even with the short naps, it just hits at bedtime she cries so much more!!!  When she was taking 2 good naps I put her in bed at night and she rolled over and right to sleep. 

I think I will try the same for a couple days and if it doesn't change I may just start trying early lunch and nap around 11:30 to see how that goes.  She has her dr appt on thurs at 9:15 am and will miss her nap anyway that day

I forgot how stressful baby sleep (and lack thereof ) can be!

Can't wait for school to be out and get rid of that 3pm problem!

[becky1969]

Summer will be a nice break for sure! by the time DD#1 is back in school, DD#2 will probably be on 1 solid nap, so problem solved!

Yes, give it a good 3 days.  It can take time for their body clock to change.

[jlheagy]

so she fell asleep right at 2pm and I had to wake her at 3 Last night we put her to bed at 6:30 and she only cried/fussed for about 20 min instead of 45 so better, but she still woke at 5:45 this morning and I thought she was going back to sleep a couple times but no!  When I got her up she had pooped so I'm thinking that is also a problem lately cuz now her bottom is so red and painful so I have to get her changed right away.

Actually she is dd#3, but I only had problems (and still do) with #1 and she is 7 now!!!  #2 was a great sleeper since 3 months old, she started sleeping 12 hrs then thru the night and never looked back.  She is now 5 and still sleeps 11.5-12 hrs at night and if she doesn't get enough for a couple days, she will ask for a nap!  Well, one out of 3 is not bad!

I guess as long as she's happy during the day is the main thing, I just hate to have to hear her cry at night after she's gone to bed so easily on her own for so long!