2-1 transition - short am/long pm naps with chronic EWer

[sianie]

Or would you suggest I go down the more gentle route of cutting the AM nap to 30mins for a week & trying to get him down at 10am every day consistently & then 1.30pm for his PM nap & see what happens before I do anything more drastic?

This is probably what I would do. Looks like you're getting closer to 1 nap tho!

[clairebear79]

O was at his grandparents for the day & naps weren't the best.  Major nap resistance at the times I'd told MIL to put him down. 

Wake:  6.30
Nap:    10.30 - 11.15  (I asked her to PD at 10am & he didn't settle til 10.30.  She woke him from nap at 45mins)
Nap:    3.30 - 4.00    (I asked her to PD at 3.25hrs after WU from AM nap.  She tried to PD for 2.30pm but he was having none of it so she got him back up & tried again a while later. He finally settled at 3.30pm & of course did an OT nap.  Woke grumpy)
BT:     6.45              (PD at 6.35pm - slightly early due to the rubbish PM nap)

Siigh.  So it looks like even the plan to cut his AM nap to 30mins as from tomorrow might not work as he'd NEED to go down for it at 10am & he seems like he's not ready to do that now.  I totally struggled the last few days to get him down at 10am though I will try again tomorrow, just incase he's built up some OT from today.  So if it aint happening, then what do I do?  Do I just need to bite the bullet with 1 nap  

[Mama_Mia]

Claire, I really wouldnt go to 1 nap yet, I think that is just too big of a jump in his A times and will cause major OT issues. I am also thinking that with set naps, he is not having consistent A times, so he doesnt get a chance to adjust to a certain amount of A time, IYSWIM. I think maybe you should try set A times instead of set naps so that he can adjust to it. And from looking at his schedule from today I would do something like this...

WU
4hr A
Nap 30-45 min
3hr A
Nap 1.5-2 hrs
3hr A
BT

That will make your day between 12 and 12.45 OR are you trying for a certain BT and thats why you have been doing set naps? I really think in order to get through this without poor O being totally shattered you need to be flexible with your times for a little while and once you have his A times just right so he isnt getting OT and he isnt refusing naps, then you can always work on moving the day if he is still waking early. I would move his day, by just shifting everything by 10min every 3 days instead of forcing him to stay awake longer than he really wants to. By keeping him awake longer than he handle he will be OT and wake early anyway. Unless he gets to the point where he is shattered and sleeps out of sheer exhaustion.

[clairebear79]

Thanks Mama_C

Its so tricky to know which is the best way to do it.  Idea of set naps being he gets used to going down at the same time each day - but if he wakes at 6.30am he just isn't ready for sleep at 10 now.  And trying to get the PM nap even 3.5hrs after a 45min AM nap is proving difficult.I like the idea of set A times, it's just tricky when he wakes at a different time each day b/c that makes the naps & BT at different times & we end up all over the place.  He never self regulates!!!

Yes we do try to keep BT at 7pm, 6.30pm at the absolute earliest.  I will be flexible & go a little later if its absolutely needed eg the other day when he woke from his pm nap we did BT at 7.15 asleep 7.30.  I don't like to do it regularly b/c I do agree with what you've said previously - day longer than 13hrs just adds to OT.

I think the reason I'm wondering about 1 nap is b/c he has done a decent 1 nap day on 4.75hrs 1st A time however yes it IS a big jump to do it every day.  I would much rather cut the AM nap down a little more first, its just getting hard to do!!!

The sample routine is actually fairly similar to what we've been doing some days.  45min AM & 1.5hr PM.  I'd never let him go 2hrs for the PM nap though as he'd not be ready for bed!!!  Plus that's a touch too much day sleep & leads to a shorter night.  2h 15 seems to be about right for a 2 nap day & we get 11.5hr nights which is fab.

He woke at 5.50am so 11h 5mins sleep - this I think is due to a little OT today following his awful naps at the IL's yesterday.  So I'm hoping he settles down OK for his naps today.

[clairebear79]

Hi Ladies

Our last few days have gone:
24/8 - tired today due to bust naps yesterday so easy to get down for both naps for once!
Wake: 5.50
Nap:   9.45 - 10.30   (I woke him)
Nap:   2.05 - 3.35     (I woke him)
BT:    7.05

25/8
NW:  5.45/6 - 6.15  (I heard him at 6 but DH says he was up at 5.45 - went quiet again at 6.15 - back to sleep)
Wake: 7.20
Nap: 12.00 - 2.40  (he stirred/cried out at 40mins but straight back to sleep.  He woke naturally)
BT:    7.00           (think maybe he wasn't *quite* tired enough for BT

26/8 - today
Wake: 6.30          (woke briefly at 5.30)
Nap:  11.30 - 1.30 (he stirred/cried out at 40mins but straight back to sleep.  He woke naturally)
BT:     6.45

So he did a great 11.5hr night last night, but I think maybe he woke a little earlier due to the long nap & possibly not enough A to BT.  So today I aimed for PD at 11.15 to keep A the same as yesterday but he seemed OK so I did 11.30am (5hrs A).  Of course b/c WU was earlier today AND he napped a shorter nap, his A to BT was a lot longer than yesterday.  Hoping this gives us a good night.

I think each time we've done 1 nap days, he seems to do his longest nap if the AM A time is 4.75hrs, so I may try that again tomorrow.

Shiv - I saw on another thread you are now doing some 1 nap days with your LO - do you do this at a set time or after a set amount of A time?  Or is it one & the same b/c she wakes at the same time every day?  Just wondering b/c we are still having quite varied WU's with O, despite doing pretty much the same BT every day (unless naps are a total bust) & so this is really varying the time of our nap.  I'm wondering if his bodyclock is ever going to get used to it, b/c if I stick with set AM A times, then his PM A time might be short one day & then v long the next leading to OT by BT IYSWIM?  I can't face having to adjust A times here there & everywhere anymore its too much of a guessing game for me as I have really no idea how long he can do. So I was thinking of maybe doing a set nap of 12 midday & seeing how we go.  Or is that risky as if he wakes earlier than 7am we have a very long A time to his nap