Confused about WI/WO, GW or nothing at all?

[Helentracey]

Our nearly 16 mo has, since 7 weeks old, been a good sleeper, sleeping through the night. We know how lucky we have been, and aside from when he is poorly or going through a leap, his sleep has continued to be good. For the last approx 4 weeks however, his sleep has been extremely inconsistent. I posted on the boards at the beginning of this period, and was advised to drop from 2-1 naps in the day. He was doing this at nursery anyway, so we have pretty much moved to this now, with his day looking like this:
7am awake
12.30/1-2/2.30 nap
7.30 bed

However, since returning from holiday last week (which was only a 2 hr plane journey so I would expect his sleep to have gone back to normal by now?), he has been really disrupted. He typically wakes once per night, but it can take 1.5hrs to get him back to sleep by holding his hand, having my hand on his back, and occasionally picking him up (which we have tried to avoid as we were trying to follow GW). The time required to settle him hasn't decreased and we are often resorting to nurofen in the end to rule out teething pain. He does have teeth coming through but it is unusual for him to be this distressed for this long due to teeth. On some mornings he is also waking earlier than normal (6am). Having re-read the sleep info on here, I wonder whether WI/WO is the best method or whether I am being too hasty in using this, and whether the after-effects of the holiday may still be running their course? This inconsistent sleep has been going on for approx 4 weeks now (although he slept fairly well on holiday), so we are all feeling increasingly exhausted. Any advice welcome, thanks.

[Martini~]

It seems like an OT wake ups to me. Does have problems with settling in the evening and for the nap? Or is it only during NW when you use wiwo?

[Helentracey]

the early morning waking has only been happening this week so i am certain it is due to OT, so i think if i can get his night sleep sorted that will sort itself too. at night he usually has bath, bottle then bed and is sleepy but not asleep when we put him down. however for the past few weeks if he is too awake when he is put in his cot he has been putting up a fight. some nights are easier than others. for naps, he usually holds my hand v briefly then i walk out and he gets himself to sleep although this past week has been more tricky (and his naps at nursery have been shorter, with yesterdays being 45 mins in total for the whole day-aaah!). Last night was the worst night so far, as he woke at 22.30 and didn't go back to sleep until 12.30/1.00am. i gave him nurofen at 11 so this clearly didn't have any effect, which suggests to me it is sep anxiety and/or OT. So, would wi/wo work here and if so i am guessing we are in for a bit of ride first?!!

[Martini~]

I would firstly try some ideas to cover OT. No amount on wiwo will help if he wakes out of OT. So what about earlier BT? He is showing you some hiperactivity in the evening now, so if you try earlier it could be a good way to solve OT issue. Other ideas would be to help him make his naps longer. I guess that 1.5h would be a must for as 16mo and such a long day. On 45min one he is probably very tired and the vicious cycle starts again.

[Helentracey]

I totally agree with the OT theory. Usually, pre-holiday, he would have 1-1.15hrs naps in the middle of the day at nursery, and anything between 1.5-2hrs naps at lunchtime on a day at home (which is 4 days out of 7). I think he can cope with a shorter than ideal nap on a nursery day ordinarily as he has enough sleep in the bank from the nighttime, but because it is all out of sync he can't cope due to overall sleep debt. I think this is also why his naps at nursery this week have been so short, as he hasn't been able to get himself back to sleep between sleep cycles in the day (i.e. after 40 mins). Yesterday he had 2 hour nap at home and then slept from 7.30-6, so that is a massive improvement and would support the OT theory. He did wake crying at 9.30pm but settled himself, so that could be because he had a better sleep in the day? The EW can be shifted in time I guess, as I think it is more important that he gets a better night overall. This morning I went in at 6am and held his hand and then eventualy picked him up but didn't turn the light on/get his milk until 7, so to indicate it wasn't morning time yet (any advice on managing an early waking welcome!). I am hoping if it is OT that a build up of better sleep will help, and then he will gradually shift his WU time to 7 as before. I also agree that starting the bedtime routine earlier is important. I often don't get him home until 6.15pm on a nursery day, but perhaps i need to offer a small snack and then pretty much take him straight upstairs to do bath etc. I assume if we can get back to some sort of routine but the NW continue, then that would be the point at which to begin WIWO? Thanks.

[Martini~]

Hey, that was a better night! Still seems a bit OT to me, as 10.5h of sleep but I am sure slowly step will help. It is possible that the settling will solve out when you rule out OT, but yes I agree that try to manage OT and keep it at bay and you can go for wiwo if when not tired, he cannot cope.