anyone want to chat about the 2-1 nap switch , thread#3

[jmoran544]

Thank you, New Mum- again! This morning I put them down at 8:15 (3.5 hrs after waking)  and they fell asleep by 8:30. We have an appointment at the house at 9:30- which would be right at the 5hr mark. They were not happy to go so early, but they did fall asleep. They slept 30 min. I will put them down for nap 2 at 11:30, with hopes they sleep 1.5 hrs, so bedtime can be 6. I HOPE!

[sarah13h]

Hello!  I thought I'd join you, seeing as Little Man has decided to start mucking about with his naps.  He's 10mths, and started about 3 weeks ago.  I've written about it under 'Confused about 2-1 nap transition', but figure it made sense to join in the commiseration.  So far I've tried keeping a log of his A & S times, but no pattern has emerged so I've given up.  At the moment we're suffering from NW, EW as well as the occasional nap refusal (either crying or playing).  <sarcastic yippee!>

His first nap time is set at 9am regardless of when he wakes up (anywhere from 4onwards), his second nap is 3hrs after he wakes up, and bedtime varies depending on his naps.  Most of our problem is with the 2nd nap (short, refused, crying before/after - not always as 3, but often 1 or the other).  Though, we have also had the same problem with the 1st, just not as often.  Am now considering trying a 30min 1st nap, followed by his 2nd nap 3-3.5hrs later.  This will have to wait until Monday though, as Little Man is at mil's over the weekend <sarcastic lucky them!>

[amy123]

Hi all,
definitely busy on here lately!  Would like to say I've been gone due to a well-rested toddler but that couldn't be further from the truth! 
In fact, we've had bags under her eyes, sobbing at nap time that has resulted in a bloody nose, 4:50 a.m. wakings, and plenty of OT to go around.  Catching up on your posts today has been encouraging that what we are all going through is just part of the transition.  It's not meant to be smooth, and we'll all get through it. 

jmoran - doing this with two - wow! 

Personally, I'm at a loss with all the variables...  some days am thinking she needs shorter A time (e.g., morning catnap after just 2.75 or 3 hours in hopes of a good p.m. nap) and other days I think she needs longer A time (keep her up 4-5 hrs and hope for a big nap then a possibility of a catnap late in the day or early bedtime.)

uh-oh - she's up! 
amy

[lindaloulou]

We are slowlly spiraling out of control. So today after a 5:30 or earlier wake up (I woke at 5:30 she was already awake) and only about 10 hours on night sleep, my LO only took a 35 minute AM nap and is already awake (9:50AM). I will plan on putting her down for a PM nap at about 1:30. I am worried that if she does'nt sleep we are really going to be in trouble. I tried an early bedtime of 6:15 last night and she did'nt fall asleep until 7:15! What is going on? Maybe the long time to fall asleep was a fluke last night...should I plan on having her in bed befor 6PM?

Linda

[jmoran544]

I feel better when others are going through the same thing- is that twisted?

The catnap in the morning backfired. The kiddos slept from 8:30-9 am (3.75 hrs after waking at 4:45am) because we had a 9:30 appointment, which would have been right in the middle of a longer nap. They woke on their own, within minutes of each other. Then they fell asleep again just after 11:30. Well, guess what? They slept a total of 30 minutes again. I'm doing WI/WO for a while. Please, oh please, go back to sleep, kiddos!

[LauraRose]

AlyMac-- I keep Jack in his bed for naps for at least 45 minutes, and I actually don't wake him--so we don't have a max. With this plan he's had better naps than I can remember ever.  He usually has a total of at least 3 hours daytime sleep--often one 2 hr and one 1 hr nap.  Three or four times he has had one 3 or 3 1/2 hr nap. This is waaay better than he was doing (we were having trouble getting even 2 hrs. a day).  I think keeping him up until 7 was key--just dealing with fussy, if necessary.  Within days I saw results (better naps) and within weeks the mornings got later.  6:30 wake time is now pretty normal--and we had been dealing with 4:30--5:30 awake. The early bedtime helped us just for a day or so and as it became the norm everything else seemed to get out of whack. That has been our experience anyway.  Hope it helps!
--Laura

[sarah13h]

OMG!  I've just had a quick read through the last few posts...and you're all living my life!!!  Today we had a 4:30NW, 6:45 start to the day (which is a late start for him), 1.15hr nap at 9:45, crying & refusal to sleep for afternoon nap at 2:00 (I gave up) and to bed at 5:45.

Has anyone had success with a longer am nap & a short but later catnap?

[lesorl]

Hi girls,

So are now we all in sleep hell?  Dare I say things may be improving over here?

Last night, M did not go to sleep until after 6pm, though she only slept 40 mins for 2nd nap which ended at 2pm.  Then she woke at 5am, and 1 PD later, she slept til 6:35am.

Then she went down for my mom at 10:37am, and she slept til 11:47am.  YAY!

But now what do I do?  Give her a catnap later, around 3:30pm?  And if so, what time is bedtime?

HELP!

Leslie

[October]

Leslie,
I've just got Bubba down at 3.30pm after almost exactly the same am nap as you (wakeup was 5.50am here though...) I'm going to allow a 30 min. nap and aim for bed by 6.30pm latest. We still have longer nights with bedtime by 6.30pm than any later (see LauraRose who has the opposite experience).

Aly, sorry you've felt the need to join us but I think you'll find this group helpful. Bubba (and I !) has a cold too so I don't quite know what he can really do but we are sticking on 2 naps for now. Once the am one gets longer and later we'll see how it goes w/o a catnap. Those EWs need to get outta here soon though. They really mess up the transition....

Good luck with your w/es ladies. Mine always seem to get messed up with outings with DH, etc.......sound familiar anyone

Deb 

[NiknLily]

Hi all, goodness it is busy, never a good sign 

Jmoran, I think I would of tried a long am nap and a late catnap as they are getting used to having their nap at 4.5hrs A time, then catnap 4.5hrs later, maybe try it that way next time    I really hope those kiddos of yours went back to sleep for you.

Sarah - several of the mums have done really well with this approach, although the catnap phases out quite quickly and changes to an early bedtime.  The trouble is what works for some, doesn't work for others and there are lots of extremes going through this transition, it can be hard to know what the best approach is for your LO.  OT is the biggest problem and getting over it can be so hard to do, and generally leaves your routine in shatters.  But what I believe is key is once you don't have extreme OT, work out a plan and stick with it, the consistency of naps a certain times (roughly) really seems to help as the more they shake things up, sleep wise, the more confused they seem to get.  I went through hell, personally I think I took the wrong option and offered catnaps in am instead of a long nap in am, but when I got to the point where I just stuck her on 1 nap come hell or high water, things started to improve.  That said DD was about 16m when I did that so coped with just 1 nap better than a younger LO would.  So many of the ladies on here at present have got LO's transitioning before they are 1yr old 

Amy - I think the message of the day is make a plan and stick with it, if it really is the wrong plan you will know within a week or so, then make another one and stick with that, don't be afraid that if you commit to something you must see it through to the death.  Personally I think if you try the short am catnap first if this fails you haven't got them used to long A times and can then stretch A time to try long am nap.

Linda - sounds like an OT spiral, personally I would still go  for an early night tonight, after just 10hrs last night she was already OT when she started today hence the 35min nap.  Hope she had a good nap this pm and goes down OK tonight.

I don't know if this is any consolation to you ladies, but know that if your LO hits rock bottom on the sleep chart, this is just my experience, but when they do, suddenly they will pull some good naps and a solid night out of the bag all by themselves.  Now I know you don't want it to get that far, for us it was the first time she took 0 NAP at all one day.  But at a certain point really the only way is up 

[lesorl]

October- thank you for the quick response.  You were right- asleep at 3:32pm.  I think I'm going to follow your lead, and let her sleep about 30 mins, and shoot for a 6:30pm bedtime.  Thank you again!!!!

Leslie

[lindaloulou]

Anyone not have the early bedtimes work? The past 2 nights I have had Ana in bed at 6:30 and 6PM. It has taken her 45 and 35 mintes respectively to fall asleep. What does the long time to fall asleep mean? So how in the world to I get her out of the OT cycle if she won't make up the lost sleep at the front end of the night? I can put her down earlier, but I am not convinced it will get her "extra" sleep....any ideas?

Linda

[lesorl]

lindaloulou- the last few days early bedtime hasn't been working for us (and it usually does).  It's taking more than an hour the last 2 nights... not sure what it means, but wanted you to know you're not alone

October- how was your night?  M only slept 32 mins at 3:30pm, so I got her too late.  I actually put M down for bed at 5:50pm, and she didn't get to sleep until 7pm- Aaarrrggghhh. 

So we were up at 5:45am, with 1 PD b2s until 6:30am.  How do I get rid of the EWs?

Leslie

[laurencopenhaver]

Hi ladies, have had multiple posts and haven't had any success.  I cry every day b/c I don't know what else to do, and no one can seem to come up w/ any ideas that have  worked.  He's almost 17 months, been working on one nap steady for close to 4 weeks.  The first problem is early 5-5:30 wakeup.  When the time changed it was 6 am wakeup like clockwork.  Then I started putting him to bed earlier (5:45-6)b/c I'm lucky if I get an hour nap around 10-10:30.  Earlier bedtime hasn't seemed to help, instead he's wide awake now and usually doesn't even cry when he wakes up, and doesn't have bad nw like he used to when he got ot.  So I usually think he's not tired in the morning.  But that's too early of a wakeup here.  If he woke at 7, he could easily make it till 11:30-12 for nap.  He's generally happy throughout the day as well, but has last molar coming in.  PLEASE HELP, I need to figure out how to extend wakeup time.  I don't think w2s would work b/c he usually sleeps VERY light in am and wakes  a few times (4:30, 5:00...) before he wakes up for good.  I'm desperate for some help, as he's never been a good napper or slept through the night until 15 months.

Lauren

[lindaloulou]

Leslie- What time do you put your LO's down with a 5:45 wake up? Do you give them 2 naps...will they take 2 naps?

Lauren-I feel for you so much. I too find myself depressed with this whole lack of sleep thing. To make matters worse, I keep comparing my daughter to my perfect sleeper son. He is 5 now and we never had ANY sleep issues. Nap transitions were seemless, EW never existed.... I wish I had a suggestion for you, but I too am in a similar boat. How much total sleep in a 24 hour period does your son get?

LInda