Support and Chat thread for moms of early waking toddlers

[katemom]

Hello Deb and Sami!

I wanted to write with the celebratory news that I stuck to the same schedule you suggested and I got a 30 min. a.m. nap and a 1:35 p.m. nap without any mid nap crying/screaming!  Then she slept in the following morning until 7:00!  I was so happy - she woke up happy from everything!

So I stuck with the same routine today, just with everything a bit later obviously because she woke up later.  So I put her down for her a.m. nap 3:50 after wake-up, but she didn't fall asleep until 30 minutes later.  That put the day a little out of sync from the prior days, but I still woke her at 30 minutes, and then put her in her crib 2:15 later.  I should have waited until closer to 2:30, but there were circumstances happening today that made it so I either had to put her down early, or later, so I chose early.  She was quiet for a half an hour, but not asleep, then started whimpering here and there, but I left her on her own because it sounded like she was trying to sleep, and not really upset yet.  But after being in the crib an HOUR without falling asleep, she DID get upset!  So we got her up, stayed mellow and tried again 30 minutes later.  She laid down peacefully and tried to sleep for another 30 minutes, and then got frustrated again, and cried hard again.  Now it's too late for trying another nap.  So we plan to put her to bed WAY early tonight, but my goodness, today was such a disaster!  Only 30 min. of nap the whole day.

So, this routine worked really well to help with her OT, but I wonder if she can't do it everyday?  I'll still give it more time, and hope it works out, but I wanted to see if you had any thoughts in the meantime?

I'm always confused!

thanks, katemom

[samijoe]

katemom

what might have happened too, is that once you fix the ot, A times might change again.

if a lo is ot, they can only do sooo much A time.
if they aren't tired anymore, it is possible that the Awake times will change with more restful sleep.

or, it is possible that today should have been a one nap day.  remember, you can do two - two nap days, then a one nap day.  until she is really ready to make the full switch.

sorry today was sucky.
some days are.
i've had a pretty horrible day today myself.

but....

tomorrow is a new day.
it might suck too.
or....
it might be great!

hang in there!

sami


ps--early to bed is always your bestfriend.  if you don't get the results from the day that you'd like, putting to bed early will be your saviour!

[debo620]

Katemom, sounds like she got about 1hr extra sleep last night-----so probably a 1nap day today would have been all she needed--even at 1.5hrs--then bed at 6:30/7.

oh well, tommorow is  a new day as Sami said.

[debo620]

well finally Noah is getting his 4th molar! 

unfortunately this has royally screwed us up this w/e--with odd NW lasting up to 2hrs of him talking , fussing etc.----and naps are back at 2hrs because of the poor sleep the night before etc.

so yesterday, he woke 6:15--but he had been awake in the night,
napped 11:30-1:30 I was hopeing this earlier nap wouldn't interfere with his night too much
bed at 7------asleep by 7:30
woke at 5am

what a vicous cycle---MIL is babysitting today and then staying for supper---so I said give him the 2hr nap at 11:30---knowing if she wakes him he'll be grumpy and over excited by his papa--and falling asleep a little earlier will be impossible.

so I'll deal with the EW crap tommorow and go back to limiting his nap---since really then his night gets longer and gets more sleep overall.

[katemom]

deb - I can't imagine getting to the 4th molar - my lo's only finished one!  I hope it isn't overly bothersome for too long.

To both deb and Sami, I just wanted to say thanks again for the advice.  We're currently bouncing back and forth between 1 and 2 naps pretty well.  If my lo wakes up at 6am, then we do 2 naps, if its closer to 7am then we do 1.  So far it seems to be working!  thanks again,

katemom

[debo620]

katemom, thats fantastic!

LOL, I am so glad the 2nd year molars are almost all done--at least the 4th has now totally cut! we get a year break now!

[lindaloulou]

Hi guys. I am new to this thread and hoping someone can offer some advice:

My DD is almost 18 months old. She has never been the sleeper that my son was and I have struggled since the get go with her sleep. She transitioned from 2 naps to 1 about 2.5 months ago and that was a good 6-8 week transition. Her schedule looks like this:

5:45-6:45 wake-up and BF
7:30 bkst
11:30ish nap (anywhere from 1.25-2+ hours)
7PM bedtime

I am so discouraged/frustrated becasue her wake-time is so inconsistant. One night she will get 10.5 hours and wake befoe 6 and another she will get 11.5 and wake at 6:30/6:45. I will have several days of before 6 wake-up and then several days of after 6. Naptime and bedtime are pretty consistant although I will put her to bed a bit later (11:45 or so) if she sleeps past 6:30. I am finding it impossible to believe that this is just her way, especially when she is so erratic.

Any thoughts would be appreciated!!!

Linda

[dancingbear]

Right-o!

Think i need to join this thread. My daughter Millie is 18 mo and has never been a great sleeper. The last few months have been all over the place due to cutting her 4 'fangs' and a few colds. She was waking loads in the night and was v unsettled, she was also switching from 2-1 naps. It all settled down an she was going through the night for a few weeks and sleeping 7pm - 6am ish and then having 1 nap around 12 - 1.30ish. She had another cold and is now waking at 5-5.15am every day. UGGGG!!! 6am i can handle but 5 is not so fun.

It means that if we go out in the morning she often falls asleep around 10ish and let her have 20 mins she will then have 30mins-1hr more at about 1-1.30. Or she will stay up till 11.30ish and then have 1.5 hrs sleep. She's in bed and asleep at the mo by 6.45pm or 7 at the latest, but still wakes at 5.

Any suggestions???

emma x

[Layla]

Linda, is your DD happy during the day? Does she cry out for you when she wakes in the mroning? Some babies are just inconsistent.. my Jasmine is like that. One day she might have a 2.5hr nap & still do 11hrs at night & the nect day she'll have a 1hr nap & 10hr night. I try to put her to bed earlier if her nap has been short & I try not to have her in bed any later than 5.5hrs A time.

Emma - I think its time to ditch the morning nap & go to 1 nap. So I would do nap at 11.30 with a 6.30pm bedtime for about a week to see if her wake up time will get better & then slowly push the nap out to midday

[lindaloulou]

Jasmine's Mom...

For the most part DD is content during the day, but in the past couple weeks since her sleep has dropped some she is starting to get cranky at times which is NOT typical for her. Also, she wakes happy and not crying, BUT she is often yawning and rubbing her eyes. I have considered pushing bedtime back to 7:30, but that is right when I am putting my 5 year old to bed. Have you played with bedtime with Jasmine? Did is help?

Linda

[Layla]

The latest we have done for bedtime is 7pm.. she might fall asleep almost straight away or she will lay around until she does fall asleep. Today she had a 3hr nap (poor girl has been sleep deprived as we are in the middle of a big bed transition with DD1) & DD1 keeps waking up before 6am & waking Jasmine along as well.

What I usually do is an earlier nap & bedtime if it seems like she's getting overtired..... so if she's cranky in the morning, rubbing her eyes & yawning then I put 2&2 together & realise she was woken up super early by her sister. So nap is then around 11:45am (about 15-20mins before her real naptime) & bedtime is between 6.15-6.30pm... (I shorten the A time before bed as well & make sure its no more than 5hrs)

So maybe try an earlier bedtime (i personally wouldn't recommend a later one) .... 15mins earlier for about 3 days or so & see where that gets you with the wake up time. Then you could try to push her nap to 12pm (slowly, 10mins or so every couple of days) & bedtime back to 7pm. Her A time is quiet long... considering some days she sleeps only 1.25hrs...

[AgnieszkaBZ]

Hi! My son's just turned 16 months. In December we started GW because of multiple NWs. In the past 2 months the situation has changed massively and now he wakes only once or twice in the night (thanks to BW!!!) But at the same time he started to wake up earlier than before. It is quite understandable taking into consideration that the quality of his sleep is better now, nevertheless he often wakes up at 5.30 am nowadays and it's too early for me (he used to wake up at 6.30-7 or even 7.30). His schedule is:
5.30-6.00 wake up
6 hours A-time
11.30-12.00 nap (usually about 2hrs-2hrs15min)
5.30 - 6 hours of A-time
8 pm bedtime (is asleep within 15min)
We tried an earlier bedtime before but the result were earlier wake-ups so we pushed the bedtime back to 8pm.
When he wakes up he doesn't cry but he doesn't look happy either, he's yawning, yet he doesn't want to sleep anymore and he starts fussing when I insist too long on him staying in his crib.
Is there any help for us?
Agnieszka

[Layla]

Agnieszka

I think the A times are quiet long, especially the one before bedtime. My dd at 16months could only do 5hrs A time & even now she's at max 5.5hrs A time. She's always been quiet good at A time before nap (6hrs) but not before bedtime.

So I would try:

5.30-6am - wake
11.30-1.30 - nap
6.30/7pm (latest) - bedtime

And then look at pushing the nap out to 12-12.30pm with a 7-7.30pm bedtime.

If he doesn't look happy and he's yawning & in general looks tired during the day then he probably needs a little more sleep than he's getting.

just a though

[AgnieszkaBZ]

Thank you a lot!
I must have jinxed the situation with the last post :-( My son woke up 4 times in the night and as a result he got up not until 7 am. Well, it only prooves, that the quality of his sleep affects the lenght of it. I just wonder what the cause of this NWs may be...
My son could always  cope better with longer afternoon A-times than before nap. In the morning he can hardly play longer than 5-5.30 hours while in the afternoon this period can be easier extended to 6 hours. Yet, he looked very tired yesterday, indeed, after 6 hours of activity.
Don't you think that such an early bedtime can only cause earlier wake up? This is the thing I'm afraid of... Wouldn't this only reinforce the pattern "early bedtime - early morning"? (which I wouldn't like to) My son sleeps usually about 12-12,5 hours a day (10 hours night sleep and 2-2,5 hours nap).
Thanks a lot in advance for any suggestion.

[Layla]

With us, an earlier bedtime hasn't caused an earlier wake up (unless my dd has already reached her max sleep requirements, like if she was to take a 3hr nap & put to bed for 11hr night, she just wouldn't do it!)... but if she sleeps 1.5-2hrs during the day, she will usually do 11-11.5hrs at night

But you need to work out if 12-12.5hrs is indeed his max and if thats the case then you could try a later bedtime for about 3-4 days & see where that gets you???

Personally I think the nightwakings are from the long A times... well thats what I would put it down to if my dd was waking up at night up to 4times.

How do you respond to him at night? If you rock him or help him with every nightwaking then it could be that you are a prop & you need to take yourself away by sleep training.

Its just that you mentioned that he still seems tired so I would put that down to not enough sleep