Massive increase in A times/less sleep needed at 15 months?

[munzle]

DS is all over the place at the moment. EWs, nap refusal, taking ages to go to sleep. I'm really confused. All of those things suggest OT to me, and the other day I put him back to sleep at 9.30am after an EW and I woke him after 2.5 hrs, but still couldn't get a catnap into him before bed. He was on one nap for a while where he'd sleep 3 hours, but then I thought OT was creeping in so I tried some 2 nap days and now we are all over the place.

Today:
Woke 6.30am (I think - that's when I heard him)
Nap 10.15-10.45. Later than I 'd want to do a morning catnap but had an errand to do after pre-school drop-off and he seemed shattered so didn't want to push to one nap.
Screamed all the way back from pre-school at 12pm so thought he just wanted to go back to sleep. Checked on him at 12.20 and he seemed asleep but was awake 20 mins later (had he not quite drifted off?)
Back into bed at 2.20pm. Still playing up there now at 2.50pm. Not crying, just rolling, banging, moaning (dummy in so doesn't talk but sure he would be if he could!)

I hate feeling so confused and playing the UT/OT guessing game. Hated it with dd and thought I'd handled DSs 2-1 better, but back here again now

[jackman]

Hi
Sorry to hear about your situation. Is your DS teething at the moment? 1st yr molars can cause havoc with routines, EWs, naps and BT refusal. You are right to say that your DS is OT as nap/BT refusal is a sure sign.

What does a typical EASY look like for you? What is an EW for you as for us it is usually 4-5am? What do you do when your DS has an EW? I usually leave DS to fall back to sleep unless he is crying which then I'll lie next to him until he falls back to sleep. I will not start our day until 7am.

[munzle]

same - we leave him until at least 6.45am unless he cries, but he doesn't - just talks. Loudly  EW for us is 5.30am so not terrible - endured some in the 4s with DD and they are no fun.

Teething - don't know. In happy mood when awake, no signs other than nappies but tbh they've been non-solid for about 4 months now 

There is no typical EASY at the moment. Prior to this blip we were kind of on

Wake - 7.30
Nap - 12 - 3ish
Bed - 7pm

Now we're all over the place. Today he finally fell asleep at 2.50 and I let him sleep until 4.30, so if it has been OT I bet he falls straight to sleep at 7 tonight and has a decent night. If we have a terrible BT it's probably UT

[jackman]

Hmmm. How much DT sleep and NT sleep would you say your lo is getting on average during a 24hr period? My DS is averaging 12.5hrs with 10-11hrs at night and 1.5-2hrs during the day. When we were doing 2 naps, it was mostly 10hrs at night. Now with one nap days, he sometimes has longer nights if his one nap for the day is short. Could this be happening with your lo?

If your DS is fighting that second nap, it might be worth a try for a one nap day and with a 6:45am WU you could shoot for a 11:30/11:45am nap. Up until this week, my DS was napping at 11:30am as our WU were 6:30am and he was doing 2hrs. Then our BT was 5.5-6hrs from his nap. This might be a bit long for your lo as he is 15mo where my DS is 16mo.

Was the nap at 2:50pm his only  nap for the day or the 2nd one?

[sianie]

Hi

2:1 transition can be tricky, as Oanh said this is also the time for 1st year molars coming through which just throws a spanner in the works with sleep 

You mentioned that you had transitioned to 1 nap before, how long ago? Going back to 2 naps may have thrown things a bit if he had adjusted to just the 1 nap.

I would also try & stick to the 1 nap, do this for a few days & see if things even out (if he short naps do an early BT). If you suspect teeth then give meds before sleeps & also consider doing a meds dream feed in the early hours (this really helped my DS who is a similar age to your LO & has just gotten his 1st year molars through).

What do you think?

[munzle]

I'm not sure - really confused! Yesterday, after me waking him at 4.30pm he went straight to sleep at 7pm without a murmur, so am thinking he was catching up on some OT. He woke at 5.50am but had lost his dummy (very unusual) so not sure what time he would have slept until normally.

Couldn't get him to nap until 12pm but then he slept for 3 hours! I'm thinking that once this boy falls asleep he just loves his sleep! Woke him at 3pm and of course he didn't go straight to sleep at 7 tonight. Wondering if I'm going to have to start waking him from his afternoon nap? ANyone else have to do that - such a different experience from DD - waking from a nap?!?

[sianie]

Both my LO's are totally different sleepers. I've always had to wake DD from her naps, not the case with DS!

You do tend to find that LO's are either good nappers or good night sleepers (some of course are both but  more of an exception to the norm).

I guess you need to weigh up whether you would rather he had long naps & shorter nights or vice versa.

I guess you have a couple of options 1/ Cap his nap at around 2/2.5hrs & do a 7/7.30pm BT or just let him nap as long as he wants but be prepared to do a later BT if he takes a really long nap.

[munzle]

hmm, tricky - just when dd stops napping and we can go out for the day, DS takes to sleeping all afternoon 

Think I'll start capping his nap - guess it will just take some experimentation to his A time post nap. Thank you

[sianie]

Yes, as with all these things it's a case of trial & error!

FWIW, my DS is around the same age as yours & he usually wakes around 6.30/7am; naps from 12-2pm & then BT is at 7pm (5hrs A time).

Let us know how you get on! 

[munzle]

that sounds like the perfect routine to me. Will try being consistent with a 12pm naptime for a while and wake at 2 to see if we can get some sense of order back!

[sianie]

Try it for a few days to allow your DS time to adjust.....let me know how it goes!

[jackman]

Good luck Louise!!