What went wrong?

[deckchariot]

{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}} sounds like it's really rough right now!  I'm afraid if you put him to bed at 5/5:30 he'll be up super early!  Even a 12 hr night at that has him up at 5 am.  I know he'll be OT - I might try for a catnap around 3:30/4 - just for 30-45 min and then go with whatever you want his regular bedtime to be.

Then for the morning, if you want to keep trying w2s, go in 1 hr before his usual wake time to do it (that's when the moms I know have done it for EWs).  I'd say his first nap really does need to be pushed out past 10 to get you over the EW hump - the 9ish nap is so early, I'm afraid you'll just continue in the cycle you're in now.

I'm wondering if the early bedtime is not working for him (which is odd, but every bub is different).  When you do early bedtime, how much earlier is it?  I never did more than 45 min earlier (bedtime is 7:30ish, so never to bed before 6:45 and usually 7 was the earliest I went).

This morning, if he played for an hour, I"m guessing he wasn't ready for a nap when you put him down at 10.  It's normal for them to play a bit, but an hour is pretty excessive.

hang in there!!! Abby just woke early, so I'm off, but I'll try to check in later.....

[nolejen]

Good point. I didn't do the 12 hour math. Sigh.

Usually bedtime is 7:30. The earliest we have put him down has been 6:00. That time is usually when he has had no nap all day. This taking an hour to go down doesn't seem to matter with bedtime. He takes and hour with a 7:30 bedtime or a 6:00 or 6:30 bedtime.

I went in his room this morning at 5am. His average wake up is 6. It varies from 5:30-6:30 but most days it is right around 6. I am going to keep trying it for a couple days. Hopefully it will work.

He was getting really hyper, so I put him down for a cat nap. I can still hear him in there playing. If he naps for 30-45 minutes, should I still aim for a 7:30 bedtime? Or should I try earlier since his naps today have been not so great?

[nolejen]

He has been in his crib for almost 45 minutes now. He is still not asleep. He was screaming for 20 minutes with WI/WO. Was quiet for a few. And is now screaming again. I don't get it. He is tired, overtired. Every time I go in there, he is rubbing his eyes or is yawning. I even tried the shhh/pat and that made it worse.

So now what do I do? Do I am for an early bedtime, say 6:30 or do I go with 7:30 (his normal bedtime)?

Forgot to mention, he isn't sick. We went to the Dr. yesterday and he was fine, no ear infection, no sinus issues.

[deckchariot]

it's probably too late now for you....sorry....just put Abby down and popped on to check.  With the catnap, I'd only try for maybe 30 min and if it's a no-go, then it's early bedtime.  But I'd say to limit his early bedtime to 6:45/7  - again, I'm wondering if the early bedtime is contributing to the EW (because he's had 12 hrs and he's done).  Going through the transition to 1 nap can be really awful.  We had days where Abby would have 30 min of naps all day.  And even on those days, I didn't put her down earlier than 6:45 (honestly, I was too afraid she'd wake up at 5 and be ready for the day - I'd rather deal with super clingy crabby OT baby before bed than wide awake at 5!)

I find that shh/pat makes it worse at this age.  We do wi/wo - and I've done it for 3+ hours at night a few times (that's really awful!).  For naps, I would probably only try it for 30 min, then call that nap a wash and try for a better afternoon nap (if it was a morning bust nap) or do early bedtime (if it was an afternoon bust nap).

If his am wake up time varies a lot, I"m guessing w2s will be a bit more of a challenge then, and also that seems more likely that it's not a habit but due to the early bedtimes.  That being said, you may want to keep trying it if naps are bad and bedtime is early - though I'd try to push out bedtime a bit and see if that helps any.

He's so OT at this point, I'm not sure you'll see any quick change, I'd say pick a plan and stick to it for 3-5 days and see if the OT will sort out.  Definitely try for 2 nap days - does he seem to prefer the am or the pm nap or neither?  I'd say if it's neither, go with a longer am nap (if you can) because you can always try to make up for it in the pm if it's bad; but if you limit the am nap and the pm one is bad too, then it's just all bad.  So try for around 4ish hrs of A time in the am if you think he can handle it.

hang in there!!!  You may want to check out this thread just for some additional support from moms who are there right now (not that I'm leaving you -- I'm not!):   http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=129650.0

{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}} and vibes for a good night!!!!

[nolejen]

Tonight went much better. I put him down about 6:45. He fussed for 20 minutes and then gave up and went to sleep. Ha-ha. He fought the good fight though.

His EW doesn't fluctuate that frequently.  Most days I'd give or take a couple minutes. There have been those that he will get up at 5:30 and those that he will sleep to 6:30. But it is usually 6ish.

He hates to be woken up from his morning nap. He is a major grouch if I wake him up. So to limit a nap, it has to be the afternoon one.

My plan is to let him take his morning nap, then give A time and then limit the afternoon nap. If he takes one, if he doesn't, then it is a 6:45 bedtime. I'll see how this goes. He usually likes to throw kinks in my plans. Ha-ha.

THank you for you advice. And for putting up with my stressed out self.

[nolejen]

Last night went terrible again. J was up from 2-4am. At first he was just talking to himself then he started screaming. When I went in he started signing "all done." I did Wi/wo until 4 when he stopped screaming. I fell asleep shortly after that, so I don't know how long he was actually up after that. He woke up at 5:53 am. I didnt' do w2s because I thought for sure he won't get up that early, boy was I wrong.

He went down for a nap at 10. I am going to let him sleep until he wakes up and go from there for the rest of the day depending on how long his am  nap ends up being.

[deckchariot]

so sorry for the awful night.  Kudos to you for 2 hrs of wi/wo - I've been there, and it's awful, just awful.  I always let Abby sleep as long as she wanted with her first nap and then limited the pm nap - so your plan looks really good.  If only J would be on board   If he gets a good nap in this am, YAY!!  Go for a catnap around 3ish hrs after he wakes and limit it to no more than 45 min.  If he doesn't take it, you've got your early bedtime plan.  Hopefully tonight will go better - go ahead and give w2s a try, since it looks like that EW may be more of a habit than I thought (especially since you still got one after a bad night).  Hang in there!!!!

[nolejen]

Things had gotten so much better since my last post. Jared was doing 1 of two things. He would either nap for 2 hours in the morning with no afternoon nap and an early (6:45) bedtime. Or he was taking an hour nap in the morning and about an hour in the afternoon with a 7:30ish bedtime. Either situation he would wake up around 7. Big improvement.

It has all gone to crap again. I have decided I HATE daylight savings time. For the past two days he has been up at 5am. Yesterday he took an hour nap in the morning and a 30 minute catnap in the afternoon. It took him an hour to fall asleep last night. I know he is OT. He is a cranky little man.

How do I get him back to better sleeping?

[deckchariot]

consistency is key!  The time change will work out, but you made need to stretch him a bit for that first nap - which will be hard since he's getting up super early.  I'd say take him out and about in the am to try to get his am nap back to the usual clock time that he took it before the time change (even though that will mean longer A time than usual), you can do that over the course of several days - just do 20 min extra each day.  And I'd do early bedtime every night to help get him caught up.  Hang in there!!!

[nolejen]

How long is too long for the pm nap? If he only took an hour in the morning, how long would you let them sleep in the pm?

[deckchariot]

depends on how much day sleep your bub needs.  Abby needed (at that time) 2.5 hrs min.  So if she slept 1 hr in the am, I'd try for 1.5 in the pm (which I'd almost never get,  so that meant early bedtime).

[nolejen]

I'm ready to cry again. Tonight was horrid. The day went like this.

6:20 up
10:40-12:30 nap
3:45 attempt at a catnap, did not take one
6:30 bedtime

He screamed for an hour before he went to sleep. I know he was OT. I just don't know what to do. WI/WO is miserable, I can't even make it out the door before he is screaming at the top of his lungs. H is ready to let him CIO, I just can't do that. Needless to say, its not going well.

[deckchariot]

{{{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}}  It's so hard going through the transition.  We had many days when Abby refused her catnap and was way OT at bedtime.  I would say to do an earlier bedtime on those days.  I know 6:30 seems super early already, but if she woke up at 6:20, that's already a 12 hr day, and that's just too much without the catnap.  So I'd say if the catnap is a no - go, put her down at 6 (if she's been up since 6:30), so that her day is less than 12 hrs.

wi/wo is horrible and there's LOTS of crying.  But we really did have success with it.  You could also try comforting him with your voice only while staying in the room  - as sort of a build up to wi/wo.  Hang in there!!!  You will make it through this!!!

[nolejen]

Yesterday wasn't so pretty.

6 wake up (although he didn't cry to get up until 6:20)
11-12:20 nap
4:30 attempt at a catnap that didn't happen
6:20 bedtime...went right to sleep, no fussing

 Until 2:45am. He was up from 2:45 until 5:30 and then back up again at 6:20. I did wi/wo and he would scream as soon as I started toward the door. So I would calm him down and then step back from the crib, not leave or attempt to leave, just step back and stand there. This worked after an hour and a half but then he was up again 50 minutes later.

I tried everything from the wi/wo we normally do to putting my hand on his back until he calmed down then backing away and waiting. I tried Motrin, teething tablets, milk and nothing help. He refused the milk.

He has napped today from 10:30-12:20. Sadly, I haven't.

[coopers_mommy]

With DS, we couldn't stay in the room at all.  We knew that he would scream when we were leaving (while doing WI/WO) and still does when we have to retrain....but he would then try to resettle himself.  If it went on for a little longer then we would go back in to him to calm him down and so on. 

Your DS might be used to the fact that if he screams enough before you get to the door then you won't leave.  Amazingly...they are smart like that at this age! 

Also, I haven't read everything up above, but are you sure he can handle 5 hours of A time?  He might have become too OT at that point. 

I also agree with deckchariot....even though a 6:00 bedtime is so early, during this transition it is what saved us! 

Here's to hoping for a good rest of the day and a great night!