Looong nws two weeks into 2-1. Go back to two naps?

[jennfl]

Hi there! LOL about the dogs.  Yes they are big and their barks are too!

I'm sorrry your LO is sick.  Has it affected sleep??

So we had a great night last night.....12 hours 5 mins!  One wake up at 4am where he coughed but laid right back down.  He was asleep at 6:20pm last night, so the EBT helped. 

However......I put him down for his nap after 5 hrs A today, and he fell asleep in less than 5 minutes.  BUT he's awake after an hour and 5 minutes!!  UGH!  What is it with the short naps?  He is over 13hrs of sleep for a 24 hour period, it's just not spread out right.  I was waking him at the same time for 4 months in the morning after his night sleep and in order to keep two naps before we went to one nap. 

12 hours at night for him is too much.  I just hate that EBT.  Will it just correct itself the closer we get to 18 months?  He'll be able to handle longer A times and the nap will get later and so will BT?  That's what happened before the 2-1.  Am I to assume this was an OT nap?  Is an hour nap sufficient?

[Truly Blessed]

I'm sorrry your LO is sick.  Has it affected sleep??

Thanks Hun, he is in a regression at the moment, I think, so it's NW galore right now 

BUT he's awake after an hour and 5 minutes!!  UGH!  What is it with the short naps?  He is over 13hrs of sleep for a 24 hour period, it's just not spread out right

I think you hit the nail on the head Hun, and the only way you can correct that is by consistently waking him the way you did when he was on 2 naps. Do you think that's achievable right now 

Will it just correct itself the closer we get to 18 months?

For lots of LO's there is an 18 month regression, so don't count on it   

(Hugs)

x.

[jennfl]

Hi there!  Well yesterday's nap was different.  He was asleep for 15 minutes then woke up coughing and crying, standing up.  We went in and gave him the royal treatment.....Sucked the snot out, rubbed on the vapor on his chest and nose, and gave him water.  He went back to sleep and slept for 1.5hrs! He was up at 2pm so BT was 7:30.  He slept 11 hrs.  Today his nap was 2hrs!  With a quick wake up at 1hr 15 mins, then right back to sleep.  He was asleep at 7:40, a tad late because we were rushing back from a birthday party.

I don't know if it will stay this way or not, but here's hoping.  If he is able to take a longer nap and shift that sleep a little more during the day we will get a later BT.  He's one of those kids that doesn't usually sleep in later if you put him down later.  But in this case, it could work in our favor.  11-11.5hrs at night will mean a bit longer nap and maybe, just maybe...............

Hope things are going better over there with your LO.  I'm so scared of that 18mo regression. 

[Truly Blessed]

That's great I will keep everything X'd even my eyes!  LOL.

18 month regression is a way of yet, don't lose sleep LOL, it may never happen anyway, it didn't for us.x.

[jennfl]

Hello again..... Just thought I'd give a quick update and ask a couple of questions again.

For the most part I think everything is going well. Wakeups anywhere between 6:30am-7am, and BT between 6:30pm-7:30pm (depending on nap length). 

Two weird things that are still going on are short naps......I'm fine with an hour nap if he's had a 12 hour night, but sometimes, like yesterday, his nap was only 1 hr 15 mins after an 11 hr night.  He did fine until BT at 6:45, his mood was good.  But I just worry about OT.  Which leads to the other weird thing...Wakeups in the night with crying. 

We went up to the mountains and stayed in a cabin a few days ago and he had a long NW again with crying.  From 12:30am-4am! UGH!  He went to bed just fine, but woke up crying and it was a huge struggle to finally get him back down.  It could have been that it was a new place, and it was very cold (the next night we closed the outdoor shutters and layered him with another set of pjs and kept the heater on a higher setting and he slept 12 hrs).
Then his nap at the cabin was weird.  He woke after 45 mins crying and I finally went in after a couple of mins since he wasn't settling like he usually does.  I comforted him and left.  He fussed off and on for 20mins but then slept another 45 mins.

Then, two nights at home here just fine, no issues.  But last night he woke at 10:30pm crying and tried to settle himself but couldn't.  I went in and held him and thought it could be his molar (even though he's not showing any fussy behavior at all), so I quickly gave him ibuprofen, but that wasn't the issue because after I held him for a min or two, I walked out and he settled down just fine and went back to sleep quickly.  Then at 6:30am he woke up crying again which he never does after a full night of sleep (he got close to 12 hrs).

I can't find the chart online for the wonder weeks, but I know there's one at 64 weeks and he's now 66.6weeks (used age calculator online).  I thought he'd be through it by now. 

Do you think it's developmental?  Or OT?  I feel like we're coming out on the other side with regard to the 2-1, as it's been over three weeks and he seems to be adapting to it well.  But maybe a touch OT?  He still never gets to a 13 hour day yet.  It's mostly 12.5 hr day. 

I feel I have been going into his room soooo much over the last 3 weeks since the 2-1 to comfort, etc.  Something that we never had to do much of at all up till this point.  I'm worried also about him developing sleep props and needing us to come into his room now. 

One other thing I was wondering is if I should use a night light?  His room has always been dark, no lights, just white noise.  He goes down for sleep just fine, and wakes up in the morning laying in bed happy just looking around (still dark in there).  Except for this morning.

Thanks again,and sorry it's so long.

[Truly Blessed]

Hello Hun, the log cabin sounds dreamy  and I wouldn't stress too much over what happened there, very few LO's go unscathed when away from home, so I would say it was probably just that.

My first thought is that he probably needs his sleep arranging differently, ie a longer nap shorter night. It isn't just the total amount of sleep that matters, so that may be causing OT. How you deal with this is another thing. IIWM I would probably try going with a consistent WU, so get him up at 6.30 every day. Can you remind me what his A time to nap is please 

I'd probably try this:

WU 6.30

Nap 12.00 (hopefully to extend but if not) 1.00 WU.

BT 7.00

It may be hard to push him though this, but if he can sleep an 11.5 hour night, the hope would be that his nap extends past the hour mark, and when that happens, you can slowly shift WU later. I think at this point he may need the consistency in order to move forward. Pushing a LO through can take a while, so I wouldn't expect miracles overnight, he may need to get more tired before his nap extends, sorry  .

There comes a point where changing BT up every day results in inconsistency, so you have to brave and stick with something like glue. We did this after around 10 days of the 2-1, and although DS was napping around 1 hr 15 then it really did help at that point to set BT and WU in order to get a consistent 11 hour night and eventually a 2 hour nap.

One other thing I was wondering is if I should use a night light?

Unless he seems to have a new found fear of the dark I wouldn't worry at this age, that usually comes later 

I'm worried also about him developing sleep props and needing us to come into his room now. 

We all fear this, believe me, but sometimes it's necessary to APOP short term, and a LO who is peviously ST can always quickly revert to IS, so don't worry, it will be fine.

What do you think  would he manage this plan 

x.

[jennfl]

Oh thank you so much!  I so appreciate your insights and help!  I think I can manage a 6:30am WU.  Tonight his nap ended at 1:15pm, 1 hour 20 mins, but he cried for a min or two at the hour mark.  Then right back to sleep. He was asleep quickly at 6:50pm, so 5.5 hrs A before BT.  His A time this am was 5hrs 20 mins after an 11 hr 40 min night, but I think 5hr A is better in the am.

  So you think these weird wakeups at night are OT?  I seem to agree.  I totally agree that his sleep needs to be redistributed.  ie, 11.5 hr night and a 1.5hr nap.  I just think I'd be pushing him to get to 12 pm as I've done that before and he seems OT.  I don't know.  He seems to wake in the middle of the nap no matter what I do.  That has gone on for ages.  He mostly always puts himself back to sleep but sometimes not.

 So it can be confusing for LOs to do different BT and nap times?  Meaning following ques and A time rather than set times?  Do  you think his short naps are UT then? 

It seems we are close.......  I'm so glad to hear that your LO seemed to have skipped past the 18mo regression.  I hope that is our case too.  And the cabin was great, lots of snow which was a nice treat living here in the desert.  Had to drive only 2 hrs to get to it which was very nice. Noah loved it!!

[Truly Blessed]

Hiya, yes I think the WU's are probably OT.

His A time this am was 5hrs 20 mins after an 11 hr 40 min night, but I think 5hr A is better in the am.

I'm sure that you are right, but the only thing is while he short naps, the idea is to dstribute the time over 2 A times as best as possible, so if he goes down for his nap after 5 Hours and naps and hour that's a very long time to BT. And of course if you give him EBT, then you're stuck in the long night/short nap cycle, so something has to give you know 

So it can be confusing for LOs to do different BT and nap times?  Meaning following ques and A time rather than set times?

Following A times, gives a LO's body a chance to know when to feel sleepy out of habit the same way set sleeps do. But they should result in set nap/BT after a short while when sleeps lengthen. If this doesn't happen it's often necessary to choose set times instead.

There is a chance that his nap WU is UT though, because 5 hours isn't that long after an 11 40 night. The thing is that LO's may look ready to sleep but it doesn't always mean they are ready to drop and they can handle more.

I hope this all makes sense to you, I know it's a lot to take in for sure. But at this stage there isn't really another way to distribute his sleep differently.

x.

[jennfl]

I see what you are saying.  I need to push him a bit more in the am before his nap.  Then hopefully even if he's a bit OT going down he'll end up taking a longer nap?  I hope so.  I guess I'll try to do that and see if this sleep can be distributed more evenly so he's not OT going down at BT.

Today he woke at 6:15am I think (he was partially awake when my alarm went off).  So I had him asleep at 11:55am.  So 5hr 40mins of A time after an 11.5hr night.  We'll see how it goes.......

Tomorrow we're giving him his nap at my dad's house since we'll be there for Christmas Eve.  I hope he does ok with all the partying going on.  We have a quiet room for him so it will hopefully be ok.

Merry Christmas!

[jenn1975]

Hi there it's jennfl but I'm on my iPhone so I'm jenn1975 on it.

Well it's 4:45am and Noah woke crying at 4:10am. He stopped crying but was just sitting up looking around. Ahh video monitors. He began crying again so I went in and laid him down and rubbed his back and shhh. He stayed down and calmed which he hasn't done with these nws lately. He'll usually stand and cry and ill pick him up.

I left and he cried for a min then just sat looking around again. It's been about 45 mins sice he woke. He's now laying down quiet and still but I can't see if he's asleep.

Today was his first 13 hr day since the 2-1. It was actually 13 hr 10 min day. I should have put him down sooner? He was asleep at 7:25. So first A was 5 hr 40 min with a 1 hr 35 min nap (11 hr 30 min night). Second A to by was 6 hrs. Should I have kept that one to 5.5 hrs too?

We're just shy of a month, 3 weeks plus, into this 2-1. Is it normal for them to take awhile to get used to it? This long? We haven't had to deal with nws since he was 4 months old! Hes been great! Just here and there but very rare. So to us this seems really hard.

I don't think he's quite ready for a 13 hr day. Is that ok? His molar has still not come out it just barely showing through still and he's fine during the day. I am wondering about an ear infection though. He was congested and snotty for a few days and has been tugging at his ear. I will get it checked maybe tomorrow if I can.

He's still awake in there but still snd quiet. It's 5:05am. Almost up an hour now. What on earth??? I know hes tired. Ugh!

[jenn1975]

I'm holding my breath but he seems to be back to sleep. At 5:15. So up about an hour which has been his shortest nw so far. I feel like a crazy person in here being on the board so late. Hubby works late long hours so I deal with all of the nws. This board has always been my lifeline! Now if I could just get back to sleep.

[*Becky*]

Hi hun,
Just wanted to pop by and give some hugs. We are in the same position and although I have not figured it out at all there are some things that stand out.
Firstly 13 hours is a guide and tbh I have found that it only works once lo is properly established on 1 nap, not in the place you and I are atm. We don't make 13 hours any day as M's naps are too short. We get a lot of 1-1.5 naps, that is the norm so she does a lot of EBT's atm.
Yesterday when lo napped 1.35 I would have had him in bed much earlier for sure. If he had napped 2 hours and was pretty consistently doing good nights too then many be he could have coped with a later BT but for now I would be keeping BT earlier. So if he did 5.40 and then a 1.35 nap I would aim for 5 hours MAX after that.
Yes it is normal for some to take a while to get used to it. We are on week 5 and still shaky, probably because I do keep trying to get to a later BT rather than just accepting this is where we are for now.
2 nights ago we did a 6.45pm BT and got a 6am wake up with a few short NWings thrown in. Last night we did a 6.15pm BT and got a 6.45am wake up....

So I guess what I am trying to say is don't push for a 13 hour day. Just aim for a good am A time, see how the nap goes and then adjust BT accordingly. Def give meds if you are worried about pain too.

Good luck and happy xmas!

[jenn1975]

Becky thank you. I feel for you as we'll and I completely agree with everything you said. For some reason I'm feeling like he should have adjusted so I push too much. Also family is zero help. They wonder why I need to get him to bed so early and give me a hard time. Hence why he was in bed a bit later last night. I should have called them at his 4am waking and asked them to come over and get him back to sleep. Ha ha!

I pretty much reject their protests and stick to my guns most of the time but they think I'm nuts. I don't let it bother me as much now.

I'm fine accepting this us where we are but then I wonder when/how to push him forward a bit. Is it ot, ut? Drives you crazy sometimes. And I see from your posts you're in the same boat. We got a better nap today with a longer A so maybe he's actually loner am A snd shorter pm A right now. His by should have been earlier I agree. He's asleep still with a quick cry out a few min ago then back down. And I was just dozing off then too.

Thank you again. And I'll be sending positive thoughts your way in hopes of improvement on your end as well!
Merry Christmas!

[Truly Blessed]

Hi Jenn, for some reason all of my posts I made today are now not there    . I agree with Becky, it is so hard to push them through a long day when they're on a new schedule and trying to adjust  I would just say that if things don't improve long term, sometimes the only way to get to where you want to go IME is to lengthen those A times, and wait it our until OT makes LO submit into more sleep. The reason I suggested it was only because he isn't happy with the status quo and it seems he needs to distribute his sleep differently to be happy, so if he isn't coping now, maybe it is the change you need to make  That route however is the hardest, and it can take some time. So having said all of that, it is up to you to decide if you have it in you to go down that road.  Couple that with the ever important 'Mother's Instinct' and I am sure you will make the right decision on his behalf 

Lots of Love.x.

[jennfl]

  :)Thank you Sammysmammy!  You have been a huge help too.  Yesterday I pushed him a bit for that first A and we did get a better nap.  I just pushed him too hard for the second A I guess.  I'm fine taking a little more time.  Maybe pushing the first A a bit and keeping the second one around the same, 5.5hrs, a little less maybe, but not more.  I know it will work it out and I can't tell you how much I have needed and appreciated all of this support!  I'm sure I'll be back........