first ever EW. How to tweak routine for tonight?

[Jann]

i got my first ew 5.10am.  we are on a pretty good daytime routine.  although since the weather is starting to get really nice we spend alot of time outside and i think because of this his A time has gotten shorter, from 3.10hrs to 2.45hrs.  his sleeping cues have become easy to read again. yeah!!!!!  his wake up has changed from 7is to 6ish since he had a fever last week.  i just went with it and adjusted his bedtime to 6ish.

usual routine
6 wake
6.30 bf
8 solids
9ish sleep 1.5hours
11 bottle
12 ,30 solids
1,30 sleep 1.5
5 solids
5.45 solids
6 bath story top off bf and bed by 6.30
sleeps till 6 the next morning


yesterdays routine

6 awake
6,30 bf
8 solids
8.40 nap
10,10 awake
10.30 bottle
11.45 solids
12.45 nap
3 awake
bottle
4 bath cause we went to mil for supper
5 solids
6 bf right before bed
6.15 asleep

we didn't do our usual bedtime routine because we had plans, he may have been os before bed and a bit ot so that could have been the cause. 

the only difference yesterday was the long afternoon nap and the end of the day routine. could this have affected his nightsleep and gave me an ew?  also, how do i adjust my routine for tonight, i don't want to put him in bed at 5?  he usually sleeps an average of 11 to 11 1/2 hrs so maybe it wasn't an ew since he was in bed by 6.15pm last night he did sleep 11 hrs. 

he is 8 months in 2 days


help anyone

Jann

[*Nicola*]

how did things go?

We have found with our 8 month old, that a long afternoon nap can hinder night sleep.  Saying that, we are still having a NW so don't pay too much attention to me

I think if your LO is sleeping 11-11.5 hours at this stage then he is doing great.  It is likely that the long nap and change of routine put him slightly out of sorts.

x

[Jann]

I agree.  yesterday i wasn't sure how to go about his routine without making things worse.  today he woke up at 5.15 again.  i left him in his crib till 6am in hopes that he would get back to sleep, but he stands up and hangs on to the rails till i get him.  so this is what happened yesterday. 

5.10 awake
5.45 bf
7,30 solids
8.49 nap
10.25 awake
10.45 bottle
11.30 solids
12.25 nap
1.45 awake
2 bottle
4.45 cat nap 20 min
5.10 solids
6.00 bf and bed
took 30 min to settle to sleep
awake 5.15



So tonight do i put him to bed early or catnap.  if catnap, how long should the catnap be relative to awake time.  i am tempted to put him to bed at 6 ish with a catnap.  i didn't think a simple change in routine can mess things up, but i guess that was it.  do u think he will get back on track on his own or do i need to so something else?

thanks for your insight.
Jann

[*Nicola*]

Just reading through your routine from yesterday ...

I would be trying to extend his A times back to the 3 hour mark to make sure that he is tired enough to take a good nap.  The first nap looks like a good 1.5 hours ish but then you only have 2 hours A time before the next nap resulting in a shortish nap.  Ideally, you would have 3 hours A time here and then another 1.5 hour nap...

So second cycle would be

E 1045 ish
A 1030-130
S 130-3

Can your LO then go 3.5 hours before bed?  If so that would then bring you to a 6.30 bedtime and hopefully a 11.5 or 12 hour night

If you find that the EW becomes habitual then I would use W2S to try and get rid of it

HTH xx

[Jann]

thanks Nicola for looking over my routine but i made an error. 

5.10 awake
5.45 bf
7,15 solids
7.49 nap  1st mistake  not 8.49
9.25 awake this also is fixed not 10.25
10.00 bottle this also is fixed not 10.45
11.30 solids
12.25 nap
1.45 awake
2 bottle
4.45 cat nap 20 min
5.10 solids
6.00 bf and bed
took 30 min to settle to sleep
awake 5.15

sorry for the error.  so he is doing appr 3 hr A time.  today we are exactly on the same routine almost to the minute.  so tonight once again i will have to give him a cat nap at 4.45.  how long should it be?  i also would like to push his bed time back to 6.30-7. should i give him a 30 min cat nap and hold him out till 6.30 or will that make him ot?

thanks for your help i really need guidence especially with catnaps, i never know how long.

Jann

[*Nicola*]

So, first of all the EW .. is anything physical causing it?  Light, noise, birds, heating coming on, dirty nappy etc? 

DD2 hardly ever took a catnap.  I think I could count the times on one hand, so they are not really an area I am familiar with.  But ... here's what I am thinking ...

1) Do the catnap and keep it short.  But instead of having him wake from catnap and then go to bed an hour later, could you extend bedtime that way.  If he wakes at 5 can you keep him up until maybe 645?  If he is taking 30 mins to settle at 6pm then likely he is not ready for bed anyway, kwim?

2) Work on extending that pm nap ... W2S/pat shh to get him to 1.5 hours so that he has had a good restorative nap. 

3) I would see how the wake up goes this morning and if he is up at the same time again then use W2S an hour earlier to try and sort that out

When Callie wakes early in the morning, I don't change the time of the first nap accordingly.  That way the day stays on track and bedtime doesn't move earlier.  For Callie an earlier bedtime no longer solves EW's so I try to keep bedtime the same.  So if she wakes at 550am, I feed her at 7am and she naps at 10am.  It doesn't cause her any difficulties, no OT nightmares .. but I don't know if the same would work for you?

x

[Jann]

thanks a bunch.  i really didn't know if i should follow his lead of keep the routine the same.  so if he wakes at 5... feed as i would normally at 6.30 and and nap at 9.  what if he can't make it till 9....which he probably couldn't.  I will stretch it out as much as possible.  and maybe his feet are cold, cause for the last 2 days i haven't put socks on him, so tonight i will put socks on.  i will try to keep him up tonight till 6.30.  i will let you know what happens.

thanks

Jann