PD Walk Out V PD Stay Put

[Lou'sMum]

Hi Ladies, im hoping someone out there can help me with my (current) sleep problem. 

My LO (spirited, 12mths, almost walking) has over the past week or two been really difficult to put down to sleep for both naps and bed. We go through the same routine as we always have (book, cuddle then bed) but even though he is definitely tired as soon as I walk away from the cot he bounces up. If I get close to or out the door he screams blue murder. If we were to stay with him until we think he's sleeping then leave the slightest noise rouses him and it starts again. We find ourselves crawling out the room, dodging squeaky floorboards and holding our breath. Not so good!

I tried PD, Walk Out for 2 nights. I layed him down, told him it was sleepy time, gave him his kiss and walked out the door. 1st night i was in and out for 40mins, second it was 50 and then we got a super EW so tried it in the morning and gave it 50 mins again. After which he blessed me with another 15mins of sleep. Woo!! 

I know I should have stuck it last night too but the crying really wears me down and I couldn't bring myself to, so I just stood by the cot until he was asleep and managed to sneak out. He then woke at 10pm and we couldn't get him to settle at all without holding him.

I think we are in the throws of routine tweak, but how do I deal with this while we sort this out? Should I PD and stay with him. Most times when we have done this he stirs when we try to leave (on the floor turning blue!).

Before this happened it went something like the below... now it is haywire...

Wake - 5 - resettle til 7ish
E   7.30 - bottle
E   8 - breckie
A   7 - 10.15
S   10.15 - 11

E   12.30 - lunch
A   11 - 2.30pm
S   2.30 - 4pm

E   4pm - snack (milk)
E   5.30pm - dinner
A   4 - 7.30pm
6.46 - bath, bottle
S   7.30pm


Ta. x

[sianie]

Hi there...

Will see if I can help! So it looks like you've already started the 2:1 transition by doing a short AM/long PM nap, is this right?

The link below might help you with WI/WO & GW....

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=80750.0

Is there anything else going on like teething etc?

It does sound like he's got into a bit of an OT cycle over the last week or so, but prior to this it may have been that his A times needed tweaking a bit.

[Lou'sMum]

Hi Sian, thanks for helping!

I know his A time are a little short for his age, but cant seem to get my head around pushing this up and staying in the 12hr day... I feel like the afternoon nap is getting later and therefore BT troublesome IYKWIM? I know we need a tweak, just not sure how to go about it. Also, when he won't settle to sleep / NW / EW he really seems wide awake.

I do think there might be some teething troubles which tends to aggrivate his reflux, but we are medicated and most of the time are ok.

If he is OT, how do I break this cycle? If I struggle to get him to bed at his usual time should I APOP to get him down sooner? Or am I struggling because he is OT IYKWIM?

He gets super wound up very easily so think we need to take the more gentle approach with him and use the gradual method. He has been an independent sleeper in the past, but I don't think we've had a consistent 2-3 months since he was born sleep-wise, so always having to roll with the punches!

Thanks for listening... x

btw, your children are beautiful!! x

[sianie]

Aww, thank you! 

Check out this link...it might help to explain 2:1 process a bit more.

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=145285.0

One of the tricky parts of transitioning to 1 nap is trying to fit everything into a 12hr day. TBH, I wouldn't worry too much if you're going a bit over (my DS who is around the same age as your LO usually has 13hr days ATM). You just need to gradually cut back one of the naps until his A times are long enough to handle 1 nap (usually they need to be comfortably handling 4.5/5hrs A time to manage 1 nap days).

TBH your routine before things went haywire looks ok & not too dis-similar to my DS's (except we do long AM/short PM). So that does point to something else going on (teeth & or reflux...I assume he's still on reflux meds?)

What's a 'normal' day look like currently?

[abaker89]

I vote for PD then walk out, neither of my kids did well if I stayed, then I was just a prop to them.  I did tons of sneaking out tho when they had bad problems and it stinks.  Our old house had super creaky floors.  I even laid on the floor by the crib thru entire naps at times, yuck!  That said, pd walk out was best for us.  Just wondering about you a times, maybe they are a bit long.  My 14 mth old does 2:45 before first nap, 3:30 before second nap and 3:45 before bedtime.  Not sure if that helps at all, maybe she is odd?