Sarah/Anyone PLEASE HELP!!!!

[newmama12]

I'm in IL. Where are u?

Great plan. Tomorrow I will try the 4 hours 15 min and see how that goes. Ok, here's where I'm confused...do I actually put her in bed 4 hours 15 min after she wakes in the morning? Or do I put her in bed a little sooner so that she's asleep 4 hours 15 min after she wakes in the morning? Do you get what I mean? B/c it does take her some time to fall asleep. Normally, if she's up for a long chunk of time 5+ hours, she will fall asleep fairly quickly. If she goes down for a nap only after she's been up 3-4 hours, it takes her longer to settle and fall asleep.

I just noticed your ds likes to wake early too!

ETA: We do the same thing with dd when she wakes too early. We leave her in bed until she starts fussing to get out. Sometimes she will go back to sleep, other times she won't.

[coopers_mommy]

I am in TX...hot hot TX! 

What we do is that we start winddown a few minutes before the A time would be up.  Our goal is to have him in his crib at the end of A time.  I think what we're working towards (Michelle correct me if I'm wrong) is that when we place them in the crib at the end of the A time, they fall right to sleep!  In fact...a yippee moment for me today is that I really think DS was so worn out after out PG and 3.5 A time, that when I laid him down he fussed for a minute and then went right to sleep.  I think that's what we're trying to get to without causing OTness to set in! 

[newmama12]

Ugghhh! Only a 1 hour pm nap. So, total of 1.5 hours today with 2 naps. Horrible. I'm putting her to bed at 6:30 tonight. Poor dh will be a bit disappointed, but she's so ot right now. Bags under her eyes too.

Gonna try again tomorrow (depending on when she wakes) with a very short am nap and then the pm nap. I don't know why she woke so early. Don't know if it's noise of the painters outside or if she was OT when I put her down. I put her down 3 hours after waking from her 30 minute am nap. Grrr!! So frustrating!

[coopers_mommy]

Good luck with tonight.  DS took 2-1 hour naps!  If only I could get it to 1-2 hour nap!

Michelle....thanks for helping DH.  I was out and about a lot today so decided to have him post while we were talking over what to do. 

After talking a lot of "options" over and reading about what a lot of other moms are doing, I find myself getting anxious to just drop what we're trying and try something else.  BUT I really think that what we are doing (you're first suggestion to us as our LO's are similar) is working, it's just not over night results that I'm becoming okay with! ::)We are succefully increasing his A time which has been a HUGE step!  I am still fearful of limiting his first nap SO much that he refuses his second nap and then I'm stuck with a kiddo who had 1-45 minute nap.  So, I'm going to increase his A time tomorrow and be prepared for possibly a little OTness, but allow him to sleep however long he wants.  Then depending on that nap will depend on the length of A time and length of pm nap.  What do you think? 

Today was great (if I was happy with 2 naps!).  I sometimes wish I wasn't needing DS to go to 1 nap!  I start working at MDO and he will be going with me in a month.  It's only 2 days a week, but still I'd rather him be prepared for the 1 nap they will offer!  He's great at taking 2 naps though    Although i keep reminding myself that a week ago today we were dealing with horrible NW's and ever shortening naps, so I remind myself that we ARE making progress even if it doesn't feel that way sometimes!  I think after tomorrow I will post our weeks worth of days schedules.  I have them written down.  It would be great to see what your thoughts are on how DS is handling all of this. 

How is the teething?

[coopers_mommy]

Me again!   

Well today was about the same as the rest of the week.  I wanted to post our weeks worth of EASY to see what your thoughts are.  We were able to do 3:45 of A time this morning, but by this afternoon, he was just too cranky!

Mon
6:15 -wake
9:30 - nap
10:45 - wake
2:07 - nap
3:05 wake
6:05 - bedtime winddown began, asleep by 6:40

Tues
6:20 wake
9:50 - nap
10:42 - wake
1:57 - nap
2:52 - wake
6:05 - bedtime winddown began, asleep by 6:45

Wed
5:30 - wake   
9:08 - nap
10:07 - wake
1:48 - nap
2:31 - wake (attempted WIWO till 2:45 to no success)
5:30 - bedtime winddown began, asleep at 6:25

Thurs
5:37 - wake (stayed in crib till 6:20)
9:15 - nap
10:20 - wake
2:00 - nap
3:10 - wake ( had to wake myself)
6:05 - bedtime winddown began, asleep by 6:40

Fri
5:45 - wake (stayed in crib till 6:15)
9:30 - nap
10:25 - wake (loud noises )
2:09 - nap
2:50 - wake (crying, attempted WIWO to no avail!)
5:35 - bedtime winddown began, asleep by 6:30

So what I can get from this is that he is waking up earlier and earlier, but still likes going to sleep now around 6:30 no matter what time we put him in his crib.  Tonight he was tired, but just wanted to talk a little then would be quiet and then would talk some more.  He woke up so mad today from both naps, although I think it might be because I extended his A time to 3:45.  My plan is to continue with that tomorrow as well.  DH will be home with me so I think it should go pretty well since between the 2 of us we should be able to keep him occupied!   

We tried the early bedtime tonight to fight any OTness from waking up so early.  Is this the right thing to do?  I'm thinking that maybe he's beginning to need less sleep at night though?!?!?  I'm so confused with the REALLY early waking.  We were hoping that it would begin to get later (6:30 or 7)

I'm still positive about this though!  I just can't look at the weeks worth of EASY and see anything.  I'm hoping you can! 

[deckchariot]

sorry I was MIA yesterday - I was sick.  I have to say Cooper's Mommy (and Daddy!) you guys are doing great and giving good advice!!!  I looked at your EASY's for the week, and it does look to me like you're on the right track.  As you move that morning A time to 3 hr 45, Id move the afternoon one to 4 hrs.  I'm guessing the EWs are going to hang around til the naps move closer to just 1 (guessing completely).  We really only battled EWs with teething....(so maybe that?).  If it looks like 6:30 is his preferred bedtime, I would try to keep to that if you can.  If you can get to 1 nap and eliminate the EWs, you could probably try to move that later.  Because as lo's approach 18 mos, they do need less night sleep, so with a 6:30 bedtime, you'll be looking at a 6 am wake up (as a full night!) and to me, that still feels too early

I'd go 3 - 4 days at 3 hr 45 in the am, 4 hrs in the pm, let's see if we can at least get 1 long nap and 1 more of a catnap (instead of 2 of equal-ish lengths); then push to 4 hrs in the am and 4 hr 15 in the pm.

I do really think you're making progress.  But you're right, its not overnight (oh how I wish it was!!!!!)

hang in there!!

michelle

[coopers_mommy]

Thanks for the boost of confidence!   

Today was a decent day.  DH got to see just how hard it can be to keep DS entertained after being used to putting him down so early for his am nap!   But it was great!  DS woke up at about 6ish this morning but would talk a little and then would be quiet for a few minutes then would talk some more.  I left him in there till about 6:30 (would you count his wake up time when he first made noise, or when you got him out of the crib?)  I started it at when he first made noise. 

He took an hour and 15 minute nap in the am, better than the past few days!  I didn't read your response until after we attempted the pm nap     I guess DS wasn't tired enough after 3 hours and 45 minutes of A time!  So tomorrow we shall try again. 

Since there was no pm nap, we did put him down early (6:15).  He actually fell asleep right after laying him down.  YIPPEE   Now we pray for no NW's. 

BTW - I hope you're feeling better...I dred being ill when DH really has to work as I have no close family around here so I have to get through the day while chasing after DS! 

[newmama12]

AHHH....45 minute nap. That's all dd did today!!! Again, AHHHH!! LOL! She actually napped 30 minutes in bed and then 15 minutes in the car later on in the day. BOO! The past 2 days I've done 2 naps. 1, 30 minute nap in the am after 4 hours of A time. Then she was doing about 1.5 hours for the pm nap, going down 3 hours after the am nap. This was throwing bedtime off just a tad b/c she was waking from the pm nap around 3 and wasn't all that tired by her normal 7:15pm (or so) bedtime. So, she's been going down closer to 8pm for the past few nights.
Today's nap was weird b/c she woke at 6:50am and I put her down for a nap at 11:45am and she fell right to sleep. Then by 12:15pm she was up and crying and would not go back down. Just so strange.
What went wrong today??? Well, first of all, I decided to go back to one nap. Do you think it was too soon?? Should I continue with the short am nap, longer pm nap? How do I know when to stop that and go to only one nap/day. Also, I have to add that two of her eye teeth are about to break thru and she is just miserable. Cranky, crabby, drooly, runny nose, congested...all of this for the past 2 days or so. Could be the reason for short nap today??

Coopersmommy, we also leave dd in bed in the morning when she wakes early (6am). She just talks and plays and turns on her music thingy in her crib. Occasionally, she will go back to sleep, but most often I get her up around 6:30 too. Good luck with naps tomorrow!

[coopers_mommy]

Hey newmama12....from the advice I've gotten from Michelle, we do a longer am nap, extending out that A time every few days and then depending on the am nap, we either allow for a long pm nap or a shortened one (we try to add both naps up to make 2 hours of nap time!).  We did this mainly after Michelle adviced that the "what ifs" of DS only taking a 30-45 minute am nap and then none at all for the pm!  That would be horrid!  So we stopped limiting his am nap.  If he sleeps an hour then we know what we're aiming for the pm nap!  I'm not sure what I would do yet if he would take a 2 hour am nap for the pm nap...hmmmm!   

As for your other questions....I don't have those answers!  Teething might be the reason...do you do orajel, tylenol, or teething tablets?  We do orajel and teething tablets if we think the teeth are bothering DS too much! 

Good luck for you tomorrow!

[newmama12]

^^I think the reason I was doing short am nap, long pm nap was b/c dd can handle 4-4.5 hours of A time. If she's up at 6am, she's not ready for a nap till about 10. Most likely, she will not nap 2 hours at this point. The most she ever has is 1.5. If I let her sleep till 11:30, she won't want to go down again till around 3:30 and that will definetly interfer with bedtime. If I do a short am nap (30 min max). I can put her down again 2.5-3 hours later, which puts me around 1pm. Sometimes a little later and that's when it messes bedtime. Ah well! The fun of trying to figure all this out again!

I think I'm going to try for 2 naps again today. She slept horrible naps yesterday and only about 10.5 hours last night. So, we'll just have to see how she is in 4 hours or so. How was your night?

[deckchariot]

cooper's mom - sounds like you are definitely making progress - 1 hr 15 is GREAT!!  And I'm guessing as that am A time continues to increase, so will that am nap   I do count her awake time from when she first makes awake noises, not when I get her up (today, she started making noise at 7:20, dh got her at 7:45 - she loves to play in her crib, so we often leave her in there for 30 min or so in the am).

new mama - I'm guessing the 30 min am nap was OT - she had 5 hrs of A time, and you mention that she usually does 4 - 4.5, so 5 may have been too much for her. 

In terms of how to know whether to do 1 nap or 2 - for me when we were doing the switch, it all depended on the day.  I knew roughly how much night sleep and how much day sleep Abby needs for the day (11.5 at night 2.5 in the day - minimum).  So then I'd just see how the day went....For example, I know that she needs to make it til 12:30 for her nap now to make it a 1 nap, regular bedtime day (provided she sleeps at least 2.5 hrs for that nap).  So during the switch, say she gets up at 7:30, by 11, she's melting down, so I put her down for a nap, she sleeps 1.5 hrs - its a 2 nap day.  Another example - up at 7:30, down for nap at noon, sleeps 3 hrs - up by 3, not enough time to offer another nap, but I know she'll not make it to 7:30 bedtime, so 1 nap day, early bedtime.  Next day - up at 7:30, ready for nap at 11:30, sleeps til 1:30 - 2 nap day, but with a catnap around 4 (til 4:30), then bedtime at 7:30.  I also know that if she's up no later than 4:30, I can still do a 7:30 bedtime.  So its all a matter of figuring out how much sleep your lo needs and how late they can sleep in the day and still get to bed at a decent hour.  Then that helps me plan out the day.  When she was in the midst of the switch, I'd say we'd have maybe 1-2 1 nap days a week when we started.  Then gradually, we got more 1 nap days until they were all 1 nap days.  She started the switch around 11 mos and was finally settled into 1 nap around 14 mos.  Does that help?

[coopers_mommy]

Today was better.  Tell me though if we did this kind of out of order   

6 wake
9:55 nap
11 wake 
3:15 nap (he was in his crib by 2:50, but talked a little)
3:45 wake (we woke him)
7:02 bedtime (in crib by 6:50, just talked for a bit)

So we did great with doing 3:45 of A time this morning, although he only took a little over an hour nap!  UGH!  Then we went for 4 hours of A time to wear him out.  It worked and he finally fell asleep about 25 minutes after putting him in the crib.  Although we woke him.  My reasons for this was that I didn't want him to sleep too long and then push his bedtime back too drastically.  Also, we want him to learn that the am nap is the dominant nap, not the pm one.  Are these good reasons for waking him? 

We were planning on a 6:30 bedtime, although our afternoon activities kept us out a little too late, so we were still feeding and winding down at this point.  He did go to sleep easily though.

So was I premature in waking him from his pm nap?   
I think I'm going to begin 4 hours of A time in the am tomorrow....yes? 
We'll still be shooting for a bedtime of 6:30 or 7.  Maybe we'll even get a later wake up in the morning!   

newmama12, how was today?  how was the nap? 

Have a wonderful Monday! I'm off to bed....DS is sleeping pretty well, but I just can't...UGH 

[newmama12]

Coopersmommy, you guys had a pretty good day yesterday!

Yesterday, dd woke at 6:45am. Then didn't nap till 12:00 and fell right asleep, but only slept about an hour and 20 minutes. I had her in bed at 6:45 and she was asleep by 7pm and slept till 6am this morning. Do you think 6:45pm was too late?? Saturday, she nappped horribly..only 45 minutes all day long. I think today I'm going to go back to 2 naps (short/long) to try and catch her up a bit on sleep. Doesn't help that she's getting 2 eye teeth right now and isn't feeling well.

[coopers_mommy]

Well today was a pretty decent day, again "if I was okay with 2 naps!"    DS woke at 5:30 this morning and had a restless night, although we didn't have to go in there, he frequently made noises (and I expected this because of our absent mindedness when we put him down so late after waking him from his pm nap yesterday!   

So since he was so tired, I had wanted to go for 4 hours of A time, but didn't get there.  Although he fell asleep around 9:30, we just got him to the crib a little before 4 hours were up.  He had a great 1 hour nap....wish it could be longer.  Maybe I'll go ahead and really try for 4 hours tomorrow and se ehow it goes...maybe he's already ready for more than 4 hours??!?!?! 

Then he was up for a ltitle over 4 hours of A time before his catnap which was 45 minutes long.  He had an earlier bedtime tonight since he was so OT last night and woke so early.  I pray for a later wake up in the morning so we can be on a good track for A time!   

[coopers_mommy]

Quick question....how can I get DS to wake up later?  I'm so tired of the 5:30 wake up and this is not going to go well when we do go to 1 nap!  Should I begin with continueing to push his bedtime back? 

We're trying 4.5 hours of A time today.  Do you think I'm jumping too far ahead of what he can handle?