One-year-old still waking early after DSL

[October]

Hi there,
My one-year-old (and almost one month !) bucked his pm nap on Saturday last weekend (ain't that just typical ?!) and since he's woken at 4.45am, 4am, 5am, 5.30am, 5.35am...blah blah. He did have a 1.5hr sleep yesterday am and bucked his pm nap but slept virtually 12hrs overnight.

Guess I'm having a hard time moving his wakeup time forward with naps out of "routine" (we don't really have a set routine other than me trying to keep the pm nap so occasionally I shorten the am nap). Sometimes it works with my spirited guy and sometimes not.

He sleeps bt. 1hr 40-2hrs 20 over typically 2 naps and goes to bed by 6.30pm to avoid risk of O/T. Mostly his night sleep is 11-12 hrs, depends on naps.

Any ideas how to move him forward as I'm preggers and we're all getting v. tired of hearing the chatter/shouting from 5.30am.....!

Thx
Deb   

[andibig]

whats his routine at the mo?
if his AM nap is usually 1.5 hours then it probably needs shortening so he is tired enough for his PM nap but can get more of an idea after seeing his routine.

[October]

Hi Andrea,
Well, based on a 5.30am wakeup I can give you his routine this week.....before that wakeup was 6.30am so bear that in mind :-

Awake 5.30am
Nap 9.37-10.17am (I woke him today to try to preserve his pm nap !)
Nap attempted at 2pm/2.30pm and 3.10pm - all failed
Bedtime 5.15pm - he crashed out as soon as he hit the mattress (last night was 5.45pm).

Tomorrow he can sleep as long as he wants in the am. Based on his early wakeup shouldn't I just push the nap forward and keep bedtime early focusing on one good nap a day now ? Who knows if this is THE switch but I have to do something to preserve my sanity.

He really yells instead of settling in the pm now. There's no quiet playing in his crib with our guy !!

The 5.30am wakeup is a killer. If his bedtime stays so early to avoid O/T how can I move his wakeup forward ? He won't likely feed and go back to sleep. When he's up he's usually UP !

Thoughts ?
Thx
Deb   

[Layla]

Deb, what about trying for the pm nap earlier than 2pm? On a 40-45min am nap we could do 3.5hrs max...

Its typical of them to go through the swtich at this age so if you want to let him sleep all he wants in the morning you can... & then try for an afternoon catnap in the pm. Over a couple of weeks I would then look at pushing out the nap closer to 11am so that he is not awake for such a long time in the evening & doesn't go to bed so early (hence having to wake up early too).

[October]

Hi,
Well now we're back on 2 naps (naturally !) and he's still not waking later than 5.35am. Today it was 5am again but a week on from DSL surely that can't be it ?

He's going down at the 4-hr mark unless his nap is short but I can hear him right now in his crib at 9.05am and complaining.

He's got lots going on with increasing confidence at standing (not on his own yet) and cruising and most days he wakes with lots of happy, then increasingly loud, chatter turning into yelling !!

He has slept 40 mins. the last 3 days in the am and 1 hr-ish in the pm with a 4hr then a 3.5hr A time. Bedtime has been 6.45-6.55pm by the time he's asleep (in the crib at 6.30pm).

Am I going in the wrong direction to eliminate these EWs or could it be developmental ? His A times are noticeably longer than 2-3 weeks ago that's for sure.

Thx
Deb     

[andibig]

if he is getting roughly around 11 hours at night then he might just be "done sleeping".11 hours is pretty average at this age.
if his sleep is pretty solid overall then i think you could try moving his routine forward in 10-15min increments so you can get the later wake up.

[October]

Andrea,

Thx for the tip. I wouldn't say he sleeps 11 hrs every night. Last night was more like 10 hrs. He has yet to really get used to bedtimes at 7pm or later, doesn't seem to catch up or lay in after going down at that time.

Yesterday was a good day/bad night. He slept (we let him try to catch up) 1hr 18 mins. 9.20-10.38am (he was awake at 5am) then again at 1.40pm for 1 hr (he fell asleep in the car after lunch out and we detoured to keep him down). Bedtime was due to be 6.30pm and he took 30 mins. to settle.

So, maybe he really does need less daytime sleep but I'm lost as to how to get to one nap. If he continues to wake at 5am it's a long day even with bedtime at 5.30pm.

This is proving tricky and increasingly tiring !!

I don't know if he's getting O/T or not. He's def. on less sleep than he may need overall.

Deb   

[October]

Today is even weirder than most other days lately.
Bubba woke at 5.25am so I tried settling him at 9.10am expecting him to be out fot he count by 9.30am. He refused to sleep until 11am (my 3rd attempt !).

He is now up again at 12.20pm and catnaps don't go over too well in this house BUT I guess I should try for one today ? If I do, should I make it over and done with by 4pm if at all poss. Then, what time would bedtime be to try to move up his waking time ?

This is proving REALLY tricky stuff...
D 

[andibig]

if he refuses the catnap do a mega early bedtime.
if he continues to refuse the AM nap then it would be a sign of needing to go to one nap.
Let me know how you got on

[October]

Hey Andrea,

I know it's a bit late in the day but he's just gone down at 4.25pm (he was mega upset at 4.05pm when he went in the crib but he obviously wanted a nap). I'll let him go 30 mins. and aim for bed at 7.30pm.

That too early/late ? His pre-bedtime A time is usually his shortest.
Deb x

[October]

Hi,
Well my LO slept till 4.55pm and went to sleep again at 7.40pm for the night. I heard him babbling at 1am for a short while and then he woke us talking at 5am as usual, well, it's getting to be "usual" these days.

Doesn't seem to matter what I try he still wakes far too early. He's always woken before 6.30pm but this is getting very tiring very fast !

Any thoughts ? Should I try longer naps again or just stop at one ?
Deb x

[andibig]

If you don't mind me asking what do you do when he wakes in the morning? Is he happy to stay in his cot until you get him?

Is he now consistently fighting his 2nd nap?If so i'd try and limit the AM nap to more than 30 mins.

Is he teething at the moment?
sorry for the Ques

[debo620]

hi there, just wanted to share that we were going through DSL and the start of the 2-1 switch at around the same time,

I would honestly limit the am nap and aim for a good pm nap---limit the total day sleep to 2hrs-2.25hrs and then you should be able to have 11-11.5 at night.

I think pick  a set time for the am nap.

so he is waking 5/5:30
nap 1 9:30----limit it to 30min,I know sounds crazy but...
then bed 2.5hrs after that
so 12:30---my son typically played and fell asleep around 1pm---and then slept til 2:30----or I woke him after 1.5hrs.
bed at 6:30

so yes I think he will probably only sleep 11hrs and be up at 5:30---but with having a set time for the am nap, you then have something to be moved forward, as Andrea said, 15min at a time. morning wake-up and bestime should stabalize with a consistant am nap/pm nap.

HTH

[October]

He does stay in his crib for up to 1.75 hrs after he wakes at 5am but I'm awake the whole time (our room is near his and he is LOUD !). He isn't consistently fighting the pm nap...today he had 1 hr (9.50-10.50am) because I woke him and then another 1 hr 10 mins. at 2.20pm.

DH is putting him to bed now at about 6.20pm.

Like Aleesa (Aly Mac) we don't have much success shortening the am nap. Oftentimes he's only slept 40 mins. on those days during his curtailed am nap.

He seems to need sleep over 2 naps at present.

Who the heck knows what tomorrow will bring save the likely 5am waking for us all !!!!!!!

Ggggrrrrrrrrrrr.
Deb x 

 

[October]

So, not wanting to bore you with the detail BUT,

We had another 5am waking and he actually stirred at 4.30am but went back to sleep. He also stirred twice in the night. At this rate NWs will increase and we'll be in a real pickle.

He's had 2 naps today, one at 9.12am for 1.25hrs and another at 2.06 for 41 mins. Both times I let him go as long as he could. He's been ratty since he woke this pm but that could be hunger/devpt.

Is it possible he's waking early to talk ? He isn't saying any words but he babbles like crazy in the early am. Just wondering. No teething that I know of.

Deb