Too much daytime sleep? EW and no consistent wake up time!

[melloyello]

Hi there,

Wondering if someone can take a look at my EASY and see if anything sticks out. DS is just over 6 months olds.

My main concern is that we cannot seem to get a consistent wake up time! Some days it's 7am, other days 6am and lately we've been having more and more early wakings around 5:15 with DS refusing to go back to sleep! This means each day is different for nap times etc and it's getting quite frustrating! Also, he rarely sleeps more than 10 hours at night and I know at 6 months it should be more like 11-12 hours.

He can only manage about 2.15 hours A time (2.5 hours max) during the day but then seems to want a longer A before bed. Any less than 2.5 hours and he will fight bedtime and it seems like he's UT. This makes me think he may be ready to drop the CN, and he has also refused the it here and there (even went for a walk yesterday which usually puts him out no problem!) but then he ends up with too long of A before bed because he can't manage the 3 hours A earlier in the day!

Here is a typical day:

7:00 Wake and E
7:00-9:15 A
9:15-11 S (usually have to wake him)
11 E
11:00-1:15 A
1:15-3 S
3 E
3:00-5:15 A
5:15-5:45 CN (usually AP this, refuses to go down in crib)
5:45-7:45 A
7 E
7:45 BT
10:30 DF
We usually have one NW as well between 3:30-5 which we are trying to wean from feeding for.

This morning he woke at 6:10 and then has taken 2, 2 hour naps today with me having to wake him from both.

Could he be getting too much daytime sleep and this is causing the EW?

[Kruliczyca]

Hi there.
What I think your lo is getting ready for droping CN. Later BTs and EW are symptomatic here.
You wrote you wake up your lo from first nap. What if you let him sleep as long as he wants and then do earlier BT? You can also put him to micro CN (ie 15-20 mins) if he really needs it to last to BT?
Does this make sense?

Marysia.

[melloyello]

Yes, makes sense but what would be the longest I should let him sleep for? If he takes 2, 2 hour naps is this still too much daytime sleep for this age? Problem is we're stuck in this limbo where he wakes early and then goes down for a nap early. Like today he woke at 6, was down for his nap at 8:15, I let him sleep and he woke after 2 hours. He then took another 2 hour nap in the afternoon but it was only 2:30 when he woke so even with an early bedtime of say 6:30, A time is still too long so he needed a CN! Not sure how to fix this!

[katiepierce]

Just reading along because we're having exactly the same problem - you are not alone!

[Davcrow]

Me too!  I could have written this email.  I also find that because when he wakes early I try and get him back to sleep that can really confuse things.  This morning he woke at 5.30 (ouch!) was 6.50 when he went back to sleep but woke again at 6.15, back asleep at 7 so I left him till 7.15 then woke him to try keep the day on track.  So confused about what to do for the rest of the day! I agree feels like he is using the morning nap to make up for his missed night sleep? Also resisting the CN but I have been too scared to try earlier BT as he also rarely does more than 10hrs at night. Will be watching closely for tips! Good luck.

[Davcrow]

Oh BTW I tryed capping both naps at 1.5hrs, made no diff to EW.

[melloyello]

Glad to know I'm not alone! I tried capping naps too and really no difference either! Yesterday I let him sleep 2 hours for both naps and no CN and he still woke at 5am this morning! Got him back to sleep around 5:45 and woke him at 7:30. It's so tough with the EWs! He resists going back to sleep but we can't start the day at 5am! I'm really hoping this is just a phase and he'll start waking later... I don't know what else to tweak in my EASY!

[Davcrow]

I know, my EASY is pretty much identical to yours, I've no idea what to change. I think he does need to drop CN but on the occasions where he resists it he sleeps very badly at night due to OT, maybe I'll give the micro CN a go. Lots of friends have said that I shouldn't let him have more than an hour for first nap but because of EW he'd be OT all day plus it's my chance to catch up (selfish but true) My boy is just a week older than yours so hopefully you are right it's just a phase and will settle down soon. Thanks and good luck. (BTW 5.50 wake this morning, back to sleep at 6, woke at 6.30 resisted sleep until I got him up at 7, boo!)

[Kruliczyca]

Yes, makes sense but what would be the longest I should let him sleep for? If he takes 2, 2 hour naps is this still too much daytime sleep for this age? Problem is we're stuck in this limbo where he wakes early and then goes down for a nap early. Like today he woke at 6, was down for his nap at 8:15, I let him sleep and he woke after 2 hours. He then took another 2 hour nap in the afternoon but it was only 2:30 when he woke so even with an early bedtime of say 6:30, A time is still too long so he needed a CN! Not sure how to fix this!

First, sorry for not responding for such a long time. I have little time lately to spare sitting by computer :p

When I wrote to let your DS sleep for first nap as long as he wanted I meant after such nap he would be rested enough to bear longer A time. Does your DS have wide or narrow sleep window? Does he get OT easily? If sleep window is wide, why not use it to extend his A time for a bit every day?
Happy early wakings mean he wants more activity time, you know.
If he's ready to handle longer A times, it will be easier to reduce CN to 0.

Dropping CN is difficult phase indeed, so hugs, Hun. Good news is that it passes quickly ;-)

Davecrow and Katiepierce, I encourage you to start your own threads. The more eyes will see it, the better chance to get advice quickly ;-)
Also look at http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?board=103.0 when mums of babies at similar age are chatting. You will get much support and advice there.

HTH
Marysia