I am so desperate, can someone help me?

[RACHPEM]

Maya slept for 3 hrs then i woke her to preserve bedtime, not sure if i did the right thing or not?

[RACHPEM]

Nap finished at 2.30 what should i do about bedtime? She does appear tired so I could go with normal time or do i take advantage of the later nap?

[lesorl]

hi rach-

i'd err on the side of caution and go with usual bed time.  we always get screwed when we move forward too quickly.

[RACHPEM]

Cheers Leslie, I did go with the norm in the end, gosh it is so hard trying to get it right isnt it?  I cant believe we are still facing sleep problems nearly 2 yrs on.
Rachale x

[RACHPEM]

AFTER THE GOOD NAP, MAYA FELL ASLEEP AT 6.45 AND WOKE AT 5.20 THIS AM,

[nike]

Hi Rachael.  Sorry I've been MIA. 

Do you think there's a pattern emerging of longer nap = later wakeup?  I haven't had time to go back through this thread (it's getting mighty long now ) but do you think that might be the case?  If it is, on short nap days you could try a bit earlier bedtime and see if that might help with wakeup next morning.  It's just I do recall recently seeing a short nap after going down earlier in the day, and then it was a really long stretch til bedtime, like 6.5 hours.  The only other thing is to work at lengthening those naps.  My little guy on occasions will have a bit of a cry/whinge at about the 1/2 way point of his nap and 99% of the time he'll resettle if I leave him.  Could it be possible you're going to her too early?  I think we have covered this already and sorry if it's rehashing old ground.

But you're doing really well    And remember that the 5.20 a.m. is really 6.20 a.m. pre the time change

[lesorl]

5:20am is better than 4:50am, right?  That's (minor) progress, no?

[becky1969]

I sort of remember from the last time you went thru this that your naps got better first, and then after a few days the wake-ups started to get better! I think a few more days of decent naps will get you the waking you want!    Doing awesome!

[RACHPEM]

We got an hr and 20 mins again today so now what do i do? do i go back to early bedtimes or stick with the 6.45 time?
Yes Nike you are right longer naps are equalling later wake ups but it is vry rare i manage to extend her naps, i do leave her and only very occasionally she will drop back off with or without intervention. I am just very confused again now to what i should be going for. Early bedtimes mean more overall sleep but early mornings so i wonder how we will ever get later starts, but later bedtimes also equal even earlier mornings. Help, help, help, I am so fed up with early mornings, i really dont mind the short naps if she would tag onto night but i just feel like it is never ending.
Any thoughts?

[NiknLily]

Rachel, you seem to be getting longer naps on days when you have long A times in the am.  If you keep the pm A time shorter then you might find you get the later wake ups your after.  You seem to be getting shorter naps after a later wake up, which suggests not enough A time to give a long nap.  I'm guessing here, so ignore me if you don't agree but thats just what I thought seemed to be happening.

[RACHPEM]

Hi Nik, I really appreciate your input as always.  Sometimes it is hard to see the wood for the trees if you know what i mean.  I thought i could see that pattern emerging however i am now not so sure, as it is still hit and miss and sometimes she is up 7hrs before a good nap does that not seem to long?

[lesorl]

Rach-

I'm going to echo what Nik said- longer A time in the am seems to give you a longer nap (I think that may be the case with my lo too, but she shows tired signs sooo early).  If 7 hours A time gave you a 3 hour nap, and 6 hours A time gave you 1 hour 20 min nap, I'd be inclined to go for > 6 hours A time pre nap. 

It also sounds like she needs considerably less A time post nap- about 5 hours or so.

What do you think?

[nike]

Sounds like these ladies have hit the nail on the head re. longer A time in the a.m. and shorter A time in the p.m.  I was going to suggest in last reply that early wakings can also be associated with not enough A time in the morning, although wasn't sure if this was the case with Maya.  Maybe it is though?  Why don't you try getting her as close as you can to a midday nap - easier said than done, I know, with a really early waking -  then hopefully she'll give you a decent nap, push the day out later and then a shorter A time before bedtime, say only 5 hours from waking. 

Remember, too, if she's waking early but happy and well-rested, that's a clear sign she can manage longer A time in the morning.  If she's waking still clearly tired then I'd take it slowly

[RACHPEM]

Hi guys, thanks for your support again.  We went for a 6pm bedtime last night and got a 5am waking so 11hrs !! I am going to push nap out like suggested and see where that leads.  Maya also shows tired signs very early Leslie then she seems to get a second wind , fingers crossed we may get a longer nap today.
love to you all,
Rachael x

[RACHPEM]

Ok thought i would try this "new method", after a 11 hr night I put Maya down at 11.45 and she fell asleep at 12pm and we are nearly coming up to the 2hrs mark! I dont want to count my chickens before they hatch but whoop! what about bedtime? any suggestions ithink my body clock is ok at 5am now (although still want it later) but dont want it any earlier that is for sure.
Suggestions always welcome.
Rachael x