9 month completely off the EASY schedule

[Avamama75]

This was my Lo's schedule up until a week 1/2 ago:

6:00 - 6:30  wake up/bottle/activity time

7:00 am solids

9:00 - 9:30  nap for 1 1/2 to 2 hours

11:00 - 12:00 wake up/bottle

12:30 solids

1:00 - 2:00 nap again for 1 1/2 hours or a lil longer

3:00 - 4:00 wake up/bottle

5pm supper

6pm bath

7pm bed

She hardly strayed from this, I could've set my watch by it practically.

NOW for some reason, she waking at 5am, taking naps at 8am, and noon and having a hard time going to sleep at night.  She's still going to bed by 7:30 but she's crabby and complains while getting there.  Oh, and her naps are now one hour or sometimes shorter in the afternoon. 

Any suggestions??

[Lilysmummy]

Oh I soooo understand!! We were there not too long ago. I find that morning nap is the key to everything. She may need that to be moved out a little bit by bit movning towards it being 4 hrs awake eventually instead of 3 and then everything will shift a bit. She is probably undertired for her naps which is why they are short. I know it feels like it goes against everything you know, keeping them up longer when they seem so tired but it seems to be the key to all.... the hardest is when they wake erly and you're trying to keep them up longer as it makes for a very long awake time but over a couple of days it should start to make a difference and that morning wake time will get later again.

[Lilysmummy]

Sorry... forgot to add that some of them seem to need that morning nap shortened in order to keep the afternoon one. I know my DD can't sleep longer than 1.15 in morning (I wake him) otherwise he has NW's... so so weird. My DS was very different but I really understand how different they all are now.

[jessmum46]

Agree with pp - classic signs of needing an increase in A times  

I'd start by pushing your morning A time to 3h15, hold for a few days, then increase to 3h30 if you're still getting short naps (<1.5h).  I would also make BT much earlier than 7.30pm if you get short naps, particularly in the pm as she's probably very OT hence the BT troubles.  Even as early as 6pm if needed and hope your LO tacks on lost day sleep to the night. 

It's unlikely at this age (once you get the A times right) that you'll be able to do 2 x 1.5h naps - there just aren't enough hours in the day and you may end up needing to cap one of them.  However, I'd concentrate on getting the right A times first   HTH

[Avamama75]

Thanks so much!  Yesterday my Mom (she's my babysitter and I couldn't ask for a better situation) pushed her AM nap back a little.  She took a shorter nap in the am, a 2 hour nap in the afternoon, went to bed at 7pm with NOOOO cranky business and is still sleeping!  It's 6am here.  It wasn't terrible that she'd started getting up at 5am but I teach elementary school and am a single mama.  I get up at 5am but I like to have that time to get ready and then get her up before having to leave.  It was working great until she decided that 5am was good for her too and that threw the whole schedule off.    Thanks again!  We'll try another longer activity time this morning and see if we have another better day.

[jessmum46]

Great   Glad it worked out for you, fingers crossed she starts to settle into a nice new pattern and stops those EWs x