Clock times or A times????

[Deb_in_oz]

personally i woudl not let her sleep past 7 - even 15-30 min shortening is an improvement.  then as i said earlier i woudl stick with 5hrs from wake up to try for the 1 nap.  many days you keep offering it at 4hrs and most times it comes up as a 30-40 min nap (although yesterday was 1hr+ so who knows if i am right - kids!).  i just think that mostly she takes the shorter nap because she does not have a chance to get tired enough to warrant longer ones and then when the short naps get to her a little she just sleeps it off overnight and starts again. 

you say you want a few 1hr+ nap days before attempting it, but there is no way to predict if she will do 3 or 4 in a row anyway.  if you want to aim for consistency i woudl wake her up in the am - try maxing it out at 12 hrs night time sleep and that gives you a time to wake her up and try to do 5hrs A time straight away and give it at least 3-4 days to see how it goes.  that is what i recommend at least.

[Peek-a-boo]

I agree with Deb. 

[lesorl]

OK, I'll give it a go today.  Last night she slept 7:05pm-6:55am, so today's a perfect day to attempt it.

I expect her to sleep only 35 mins however- I assume a catnap around 4pm-4:30pm is in order then, so bedtime is no earlier than 7:15pm?

Thank you both for following my saga- it's given me renewed hope that she may take a decent nap yet!

[Deb_in_oz]

positive thinking love - go into the situation hopeful and tell her what a great long and refreshing nap she will have "see you in 90 minutes" etc!!  so put her down at noon today !!  will check on you when i get up in the am as it is 10:30 pm Wednesday here already

[lesorl]

Well she only made it til 11:42am, and slept 40 mins     I rocked her a little and she slept another 30 mins, til about 12:54pm.

My plan is a catnap around 4:15pm, which I suspect she'll refuse.  If so, bedtime at 6:30pm and wake up at 7am.  Another long night... sigh.

[Peek-a-boo]

Help me understand, "she only made it until 11:42."   

Is she passing out on the sofa?  Is she yawning and rubbing her eyes so violently that you feel like it's cruel to keep her up another 18 minutes?  What is her pre-nap behavior like and at what time are you seeing the beginning of sleepy signs?


I hate to bring this up, but I have to ask . . .  have you ever tried doing an intentionally very short morning cat nap (20 minutes) and then shooting for a longer nap mid day?

[lesorl]

When I say she only made it until 11:42am, I mean she fell asleep during wind down while reading books.

Her first yawn is usually around 4 hours A time.  Today the 2nd yawn was at 4 hours 25 mins A time.  It can vary from rubbing nose and eyes.

It feels like we've tried it all- short morning nap (30 mins) and longer pm nap, but the pm nap was never longer!

[Peek-a-boo]

I know you've mentioned she doesn't handle OT well.  What happens when she gets OT?  Do you immediately get lots of night wakings?  Early wakings?  Does it take a few days to set in?

[lesorl]

It happens pretty quickly- the other night after she only took 1 65 min nap, bed was 6+ hours later, and she woke 1x 1.5 hours after bed, but went right b2s.  It gets worse if we don't nip it in the bud quickly.

I was debating pushing bedtime til 6:45pm, and waking her at 7am.

[Deb_in_oz]

sounds like a good idea

[lesorl]

She was asleep about 6:40pm, and I heard her about 1 hour later, and again 3 hours later, but she settled herself.  I went to wake her at 7am, but she was already up when I opened her door- she just hadn't called for me yet.

She did wake with a cold this morning, and that has happened before when I'm shooting for 1 nap.  Inevitably we go back to 2 naps, and we're right back where we started- 2 x 30-40 min naps.

[lesorl]

She was CRANKY this morning, but we didn't get home til 12pm, and she went right 2 sleep at 12:07pm, and woke 40 mins later.  I rocked her again for another 30 mins as I don't think she'll take another nap today.

Maybe when she's 15 she'll take a long nap?

[lesorl]

VERY tired around 5:45pm tonight, bed at 6:45pm.  I'm expecting some NWs...

[Deb_in_oz]

hugs hon - not sure what to say - all i can think is to stick with the plan for 2 weeks and be consistent (ie don't let her sleep more than 12 hours at night each night, waking in the am if necessary and AIM for 5hrs A time in the morning) and trust that she will slowly shift some of that night sleep into the single 11:30/noon nap slot.

[skatty]

Hi Leslie, it seems that you are trying all the same things you have tried in the past and don't work  As you know L is a habitual long nighter and short napper but I have learned to rejoice it and actually most peeps I know are quite envious that we get such a lot of Y time in the evening and a late  morning. Did you read the section on irregularity in RYSC? For your own sanity it may be worth just accepting you will never get 2 hour naps and when they do come they are a lovely gift - I have had 2 this week but they have come at a price of a teething monster! As you have said you have been working on this for 16 months, do you really want this taking over the next 16 months too? If she is happy and now wakes after 7 (after all those EWs wow she's doing fab!) with no NWs (remember all those wakings not so long ago, it would be a few hours before she'd settle for bed and then wake again in the night!) I think a 12 hour night and 2 hour nap is the Baby Whisperer dream but we can't all have it but if she is happy on a 13 hour night and an hours daytime sleep then that is also pretty dreamy after all the probs you have had in the past. I also tried to move some  L's night sleep to day to make it more conventional but she just got OT so wasn't worth it, I just go with her body rythms now, I also like more sleep at night than average so I can understand 

Anyway I hope this has reminded you of how far little M as come, what a star! Hope everything else is good with you, Katt