22 month old train wreck

[Girlstar28]

Not sure if any of you saw my post a few weeks ago about 21.5 month old separation anxiety early wake ups and crap naps.  We had about 2 weeks in between where it went back to "normal" and she slept past 6 and even 7 and napped 1.5 hr which is all acceptable in my books.

Then yesterday like a switch wen to off again and she's a train wreck again waking at 6:15 and 5:40 and not even an hour nap.  Yelling pee pee poo poo and has dry diapers in aM and we take her to pee I. Am and she will empty her bladder but she isn't officially trained and pees fine in the day. 

Friday she had dozed off in the car with my parents for 2 min and Ben had a train wreck nap.  Slept fine at night but Saturday is when the 5 am wake ups started when all week we were even going to 7.  Could that derail a child in a day?

Now wakes after not even an hour of a nap losing her mind yelling for daddy and pee pee poo poo but we know she doesn't need to poo. 

Wake up prior to Saturday:  6-7
Nap 1-2.30
Bt:  8:30 asleep

Saturday and today
Wake up 5:15/5:40
Nap:  1 -w
Bt:  8:20

In the past tweaking her schedule shifting early has only backfired on us.  I'm at a loss with my train wreck child please help

[creations]

Friday she had dozed off in the car with my parents for 2 min and Ben had a train wreck nap.  Slept fine at night but Saturday is when the 5 am wake ups started

That car nap then not having a proper nap could easily explain the following morning EW and even taking a few days to get back on track for a some LOs.  When my DS was around 5.5yo we had a day trip and got stuck in traffic, unavoidable delay, he napped on me on a bus and train because it was getting near BT.  In the end BT was only about an hour or so late I think and he'd had that sleep on me, but the night was horrific. Multiple night wakings screaming with OT many times and wet the bed, he had been dry at night for 3 years by that point! So I would say, yes, one day can de-rail but equally you can get them back on track too. And you will!
I would just stick to your routine help her sleep if needed.

Sounds like your LO wants to potty train or at least practice and work towards it. Sometimes these skill developments can cause disturbance to sleep.
I'm not sure I understood your post correctly, it looks like she is waking in the early hours saying she needs to wee and still has a dry diaper, is that right?  If so I would put the EW down to developmental reasons.  Had the same here and if I took DS to the bathroom it was bright sun so no going back to sleep afterwards but i put a potty in his room so we could treat as a NW, wee in the dark with minimal chat, just a little whisper "I are you finished? OK back to bed, night night" and he'd go back to bed sometimes he didn't sleep but stayed quiet, sometimes he went back to sleep.
Maybe offering the potty before BT could help?  And before nap time?
There are lots of LOs this age ready to PT.

[Girlstar28]

Thank you creations.  We aren't sure if she's playing us with the pee pee poo poo cause she knows it gets a direct response.  She sits on the toilet after brushing her teeth right before going into bed.  I'm in a bind as she gets milk after dinner (6:30ish) and then a bit at bedtime.  She's a horrible eater and needs the milk for protein.  I can't offer more at Other times in the day because she doesn't eat her food and isn't hungry enough

Her room has blackout shades with a layer of shutters on top.  Very dim night light.  Do you turn on any light to let them pee in the night?  I'm just concerned if I go in to help her pee, the light from the hall will come in and she'll see it and assume wake up. 

She cried out at 4:58 but settled till 6 and we didn't get her until 6:20 today but apparently she just fell asleep on a walk with my parents (her caregivers while I work).  She seems in a OT rut.  My parents are not diligent at keeping her awake in the car

[creations]

If she's at the stage of being almost dry or sometimes dry I'd suggest double voiding at BT if you don't already.  One wee before her bath/teeth/story whatever you do, and then a second wee roughly half hour later right before going to sleep.  This way she has weed before sleep and the hormone which stops production can kick in when she falls to sleep. There is a chance of getting a better WU time this way - it's not guaranteed of course and I found with my DS's EW it wasn't because he *couldn't* wait until morning (as actually he had done 12hr nights and not needed to wee) but it was because in the early hours if he stirred he had a little panic because he wanted to stay dry so he would fully wake himself to wee - it was because it was more on his mind as something he wanted. Part of it you just have to roll with because it's part of learning. Part of it (possibly she is too young but who knows) is they need to realise that when/if they wake they can actually just go back to sleep and their body knows how to hold that wee until proper WU time. It's not necessarily just a case of explaining that although explaining it might help.  Of course she is on the younger side of being dry at night so you expect the accidents etc but I also feel if you respond now when she really seems to want to stay dry then it will be worth while.
Amazingly too, some LOs are night dry before they are day dry - it's possible.

We have a night light although I don't think we used it when my DS was asking for the potty in the night,  not totally sure, think I put a low light on outside his room and left the door ajar.  He could eventually pull his nappy down (like pants) to wee but couldn't get it back up/on so called for help with that.
She may be playing you a bit on the pee pee thing but really its something you want her to learn so it's worth the attention in my opinion. If she's just done a wee and asks again I might be tempted to let her have a second go but then after that say "you've already been, go to sleep".

The milk at night, yeah, probably doesn't help if it's right before BT.  It's also not great for her teeth though to be having milk after brushing teeth, honestly I would really consider moving it earlier.  Maybe an extra block of cheese during the day?  She won't take any other proteins?  Beans? Lentils? fish fingers? pate?  humus?  My DS was low on protein intake too, I switched his breakfast to an egg omelet which worked a miracle.
If she is taking too much milk it could be impacting on her appetite and motivation to eat solids and protein so it's kind of catch 22 in some cases.

do you usually try EBT 9early bed time) if she has a rubbish nap or neds a catch up sleep?  Or do you usually stick to the set bed time?

[Girlstar28]

Thank you creations.

Unfortunately when these vicious OT cycles have hit us before and tweaking bedtime by shifting early because everything says do early bedtime to avoid EW it backfires ok her and doesn't improve so we keep bedtime more or less the same time (aim for 5.5 hrs after waking).

We do brush her teeth after the bedtime milk.  Seeing a dentist on Wednesday for the first time :

What is double voiding?  Our nighttime routine is go upstairs, she'll sit on the toilet to try and pee or poo.  Bath.  Story.  Milk.  Brush teeth.  Sit on toilet again.  She does lie to try and stall and say she has to poo but doesn't. Bedtime milk is 3 oz.  she's the worst eater ever doesn't touch cheese or eggs like she used to.  Beans and lentils are a no.  Meat a definite no unless they're lamb skewers from this noodle restaurant we take her to sometimes or fried calamari.  She's the biggest challenge on all fronts!

Looks like she only napped an hour today again

I'd like to get her to pee and go back to bed but worried that opening he door to go in will let in too much light from the hallway skylight (can't blackout too high) will tell her it's wake up time

[creations]

Double voiding is what I've described above and what you have described above, the two wees before BT. TBH though the milk probably comes too close to BT for her to have chance to wee.  As she's so young you might want to just leave it as it is for now.
And you're offering a chance to wee before nap time too? So you know she is comfortable to sleep.

Set BTs and nap times are generally good for LOs this age. It could just be that she needs slightly less sleep now and that's why she's doing the call backs etc.  Mine needed a good 2hr nap at this age but some LOs drop the nap completely at 24 months so it wouldn't be unheard of to need less sleep.

[Girlstar28]

Thank you creations ❤️