only 1 NW left to fix

[mari]

ok, you could use the PUPD method if you really want to but what about only if she is really crying pick up just to help calm her, then, if just being there is enough to calm her I wouldn't pick her up.

Also, why do you say that she probably won't nap? are you having problems with naps too, how do you get her to sleep for these.
(sorry if I'm repeating questions here)

[jcjc205]

Ok, that "conditional" PU/PD sounds good.

Yes, I'm also gonna do naps. Currently she only naps with bottle/paci so I'll break that habit too. So I'm assuming that the first day (Wed) she's probably not gonna nap at 12pm coz of the sleep training.
I was asking if I should modify the bedtime if this is the case, or should I just stick to the new routine no matter what?

[mari]

Well, if she doesn't nap I would bring the bedtime earlier so that she can catch up a little and try to combat the overtiredness to a degree.

[jcjc205]

But wouldn't moving the bed time just confuse her? I thought if I just stick to the bedtime no matter what, then the next day she'll still wake up at the same time.
Please correct me if I'm wrong

[Layla]

By putting her down at the same time, she's only going to get more overtired. So to help keep her rested, you put her down earlier for the night. Allow for 12hr night... so if she's waking around 6am, put her down for the night at 6pm

Also you wrote in your routine that nap is from 12-2 and then put her to bed is 8.30pm... you probably want to make bedtime earlier than that cause she's not going to do too well on 6.5hrs A time before bed. So either bump up the bedtime OR do nap later than 12pm... so that its more in the middle of her day.... if she's waking around 8am then nap would be 1-3 and bedtime would be 8pm.

Good luck!

[mari]

When Alex was that age i tried to work around no more than 5.5 hours of activity time between naps and bedtime.  It was a good guide for me.

[jcjc205]

ok, got it. Move nap to 1-3

But do I move bedtime if the first day she doesn't nap, or she naps later or earlier?

I don't wanna put her down too early coz then she probably will wake up early, but I wanna do this right.

[mari]

Well, your ideal routine would be 5.5 hours of activity and that is your aim.  If, however she doesn't nap she will have more chance of a better night's sleep if she goes to bed early as overtiredness is the cause of nightwakings and early wakings. 

The reasons for your daughter's nightwakings is due to a combination of overtiredness and the inability to resettle after awakening during the night.  This was the trouble that I had with Alex too, she was overtired and I was giving her milk to resettle her back to sleep, by sleep training her (WIWO) she is now able to resettle herself when she wakes during the night, which she still does, we all do to a certain extent.

[jcjc205]

mari,

Ok, got it. Thank you soooooo much for all your answers and support. I think I'm ready to start with the training now.

Tonight is the night... wish me luck.

I'll post again tomorrow and let you know how it went.

Thanks to everyone else as well

PS. I have to say that this website loads extremely well on my blackberry.

[mari]

Great.  Now you have a plan that should be suitable for both of you I wish you so much luck.  Please give it a couple of weeks, psyche yourself up for not giving in and when I got to that frame of mind I did well although it was hard. (I will help as much as I can and I will guarantee the support of other members here, they will be your rock)

Get as many early nights as possible, it will help you to cope with the nights.  I mean really early, like 8-9pm some nights until you are over the worst.

GOOD LUCK

[jcjc205]

sorry, one more question:

how long do I try to get her down for a nap before I give up? do I just keep going or do I stop at some point?

[Lissybits]

Hello!
If towards the end of the 'normal' nap time she still hasn't gone to sleep, you should get her up - BUT bring bedtime earlier to compensate for the missed sleep!

I really wish you lots of luck tonight - it is hard in the beginning (I've done it with a 2yr old!) but the results do soo pay off - the key is consistency!
Don't forget, we are here to support you through the tough times!
Lis 

[jcjc205]

what do I do now !!!!

I came home to find that she took a nap at 5:30 and was still naping when I got home at 6:15, she woke up soon afterwards, tho.

Do I still stick to my plan? She had about 2 hrs sleep total during the day

[jcjc205]

Well... I did it. We started the routine at 7:50 and I put her down at 8:20.

I did PU/PD 20 times, and now I know why you said she was too heavy. She cried soooo much  , I couldn't believe it...
After the 20th time, I got inside the crib with her (I'v done that before) and just held her and when she stoped criying, I put her down again. This worked really great.

It took 25 PDs total, but she finally fell asleep at around 9:15pm

I'll let you know how the rest of the night went tomorrow

[jcjc205]

Well, she slept from 9:15 to about 2am.
I did PU/PD too many times to count, and again she cried soooo much   

She finally fell asleep around 4am, and she woke up around 7:30. At that point I didn't know what to do so I got her some milk in her cup and she drank it really fast, meaning she was probably really hungry. Then we just sat quietly in the rocking chair until 8am when we officially started our day.

She looks pretty tired and I'm not sure if she'll make it until 1pm. Should I modify to two naps one 11-12 and 3-4?

She'll probably fight me on those too.

Well, we'll see how the rest of the day goes. I'll keep you posted