15 month old-sleeps only 40 minutes naps at times

[annielm]

Stupid me.  I somehow did not get him into the crib until 6:20pm.  He sang until 6:45pm.

Awake at 5:25am.

[nursekat]

Did you at least get your cocktail? 

Layla did I scare you away??

So what's the plan for today, Annie?

[annielm]

Early nap early bed, KATaroon. 

I gotta give this a try for three days (I mean it this time, I swear  ) and then I'll start pushing everything ahead.  His attitude is great again today, so we're getting somewhere.  I just stood at the kitchen sink last night listening to him sing away in there, tears stinging my eyes, shaking my head, knowing that I had made a bad move and our luck was not going to change in the am. 

And, yes, there WAS a cocktail involved!    Thanks for checking on me KATAKINS.

I hope Layla's not gone! 

[October]

Annie,

Just checking in on you girl. Good on you with the crinkie-poos. I find a stiff G&T helps no end when I come out of the dungeon that is my bedroom and Pasha's.....!

Good luck over the weekend.

D xxx

[Layla]

Sorry guys.. been working and all. At work atm but have a few mins to kill .

Annie... its ok that you don't push him and in fact when i was doing the pushing, i had to take a step back some days too and give the earlier nap cause she was too pooped to wait for my "ideal" nap time .

So good to hear about the long nap!!! So he slept from 11-1:45 and fell asleep at 6:45pm... thats a good thing. I would have done bedtime around 6.30pm personally. I wouldn't do bedtime 6pm if he had that good of nap and it ended close to 2pm.... or did he wake at 12:45???

Anyway.....let me know how today went

Kat - how exciting!!! So I figure things are good b/n dh&you?

[annielm]

LAYLA-You mean you don't constantly sit at your computer hitting the "refresh" button on your screen, awaiting my next exciting installment of the ew saga???     Glad to see you!! 

Yesterday:


11:10-1:30pm (  )

asleep by 6:20pm (    )

awake:

..................drumroll...................


5:05am    not even 11 hours.  I'm so hopeless. 

This said, he was EXTREMELY grouchy all of a sudden by 5pm yesterday.  Unexplainedly so.  Like, DH and I were pretty sure he needed to hit the sack rite then!?!?!? 

Hey KAT, you up with the munchies?  Did you bring any for me??    Although I can't say I have much of an appetite these days. 

DEBS, Thanks for rooting for me.  I know your nights are much harder than mine right now, so I try not to complain. 

TTFN
xxxxxxxxxxxx to all.

[annielm]

Oh and LAYLA, when you say "bedtime" at 6:30, you mean AT THAT TIME put them into the crib to be asleep for 6:45, correct?  Not bedtime ritual at 6:30 or asleep for 6:30, right??

Yes, he slept til 1:45 for his nap yesterday.

Today was another one hour and fifteen minute nap though.  I really feel like this is getting worse and worse.  First the VERY EXTREMELY early wake this am, then the short nap.  He woke at 12:20pm crying and yawning.  I will have him asleep by 5:30 god willing.  This will be the first time I have EVER tried putting him down this early.

We have company (including two four year olds) sleeping in our tiny apartment tonite and I worry (and at the same time am certain) that everyone will be woken up at 5am.  I was really hoping WEEKS AND WEEKS ago when I made these plans that I would have this sussed by now. 

I guess d-day is finally here.

This is one of my girlfriends who always gives me a jokingly hard time that a 7pm bedtime is too early, and that I focus on bedtimes too much (her daughter=ANGEL beyond comprehension).  She's gonna think I'm plum cracked when she hears what time I'm putting him down and THEN hears what time he wakes for herself!!      She'll surely think I'm a masochist by then......

Oh well, good nights (and days in Oz) all.

A.

[nursekat]

How did bedtime go there last night, Annie?  Alrightaroo, it's 5:45 where you are, wonder if you are up.  So wish I could just pop over there for a week and help out!!

So earlier you were doing early naps & bedtime you were having success for a couple days, correct?  Then what happened do you think to throw it off again?

Layla, thanks for asking!    Yes we are doing great!  Not perfect, but great...   

[October]

Annie, I'm here checking on last night too........

My nights are only harder now that we have Pasha back on Zantac 'cos the folks (oh, I have far better words to describe them that that !!) have messed up again and we can't get any Pepcid onto the island till mid-May !!

It WILL get better for us all. I just know it. If our house was built I'd get you down here for a change I really would. We'd love to have you and as we're up anyway we'd all be in it together. Haven't you got anyone to help out whil you take a nap on a weekday ?

Thinking of you, MWAH !
Deb xxxxxx

[annielm]

SO he did a twelve hour night last night (up at 5:45am  ) wow!!! 

AND a two and a half hour nap this afternoon (woke at 1:50pm!!     )  double wow!!
 
He is in a very BAAAAAAD mood this pm, though.  Hmmmmm.

Last night bedtime was 5:45, what do I do tonite??

Try to have him asleep for 6:30pm??

This is where things go wrong, KAT.  He gets caught up a little, does 14 hours of sleep one day, and then the next night I seem to get the bedtime wrong (either too late, or too early I can't decide).  Then we get a 5am wake.  It starts all over again.

I think the problems started again when I was trying to extend a-times to get a later nap and later bedtime without ever letting him really fully catch up for a few solid days ( KAT, you know how you told DEBS once they usually catch up in one day at this age??).  He would get one great day and I would think, OK, I can start pushing again.  But I think he needs a few straight days in a row to really feel better.  I don't think this boy gets caught up in one day like a lot of the lo's  his age do.

So I may try an early-ish bedtime (6:30?) and see what he does tomorrow.  This is where I can never get him to do a solid 11 hours at night consecutively.    But then, it's hard to tell, if he only does 10 hours tonite, is it because he got so much sleep last night and today?? (14 hours) kwim??

Only thing is, I've tried a 6:30 bedtime before after a day like this, and he sings in his crib til after 7pm, then wakes at five.    I almost wonder if I should do a 6pm bedtime one more night, it's something I haven't tried yet (two super early bedtimes in a row), also  because he is still acting so cranky.

Anyway.  Hope I'm making any sense.
Hi to everyone for me, please KAT and DEBS 
LAYLA, hope you're not working too hard!! 

Thanks for your time guys.  I really appreciate any input.

xxxx
A.

[annielm]

OK, so down for the count at 6pm. 

Hope I did the right thing.  If he wakes at 4am ( ), I'll offer 2 naps I guess.

[Layla]

Hey Annie... when I say bedtime I guess I mean have the routine finished by then and for him to be in the cot and lights out by that time.

Sorry to hear things are up and down.... it really does suck!

Hope he sleeps until at least 6am

[annielm]

5:15am.

 

Ooops. 

[nursekat]

How did I miss yesterday's posts??  Glad he had one good day of catching up...yes, LOs can often catch up in one day at this age, BUT that's if you are at the very beginning of OTness...he's been battling it for a while now so my guess is he'll need several days of catching up to get corrected. 

Can you tell when he fights sleep if he's fighting it b/c of the adrenaline rush from being OT or from being not ready to sleep yet?  That has been key on helping me figure out when Bethany is caught up - I put her down early early early always until she starts fighting it as in, "Mommy I'm not sleepy yet!" 

6pm to 5:15am is still better than 10 hrs!! 

I had another crazy thought...what about a day with two naps and get his bedtime pushed back in one day?  The scary thing is what if he doesn't take a second nap, but you could try...lately does he get grumpy at a similar time each evening, like 4pm or so?  If he gets grumpy then, you could try dropping him down for a catnap (20-30mins) and then keep him up until 7:30 or something really wild and crazy like that.  We did it on accident one day when Bethany was doing her wild and wooley thing a few weeks ago and it actually worked, she was up until 9pm (YAWN) but kind of got her shifted back to later times, kwim?

[annielm]

Yes, KAT I do know what you mean.  I think I might try two naps when I get the guts and think I have him back on track moodwise. 

I do think he is singing in the crib when he is OT, it happens EVERY single time I try to push that nap past 5.5 hrs.  Like, literally EVERY time.

The ONLY time  I can be ABSOLUTELY sure that he will be grouchy lately is at 8am.  That's weird, right?  He can wake up all smiles and sweetness, and I think, hmmmm, maybe today will be a great day with him, then by 8am, I'm thinking, OK, I need some help here (the xanax kind, lol).  He threw himself onto the ground/hardwood floor today (head bonk and all) like, 3-4 times by 9am.

He woke up at an hour and twenty minutes very grouchy today (after singing in the crib for 45 minutes=total 6 1/2 hrs a-time by the time he fell asleep).

Even my hubby is on board that's it's OT (that's saying a lot, he's a firm member of the "maybe it's teething" club, and "why don't you try putting him down at 9pm already, to see if he sleeps later?" 
  ).

If it all weren't so exhausting, it might be interesting. 

Nope, it's not.

 

Luv to all. so glad to have people here that care. 
xoxoxox
A.