Support for dropping the last nap age 2-3 yrs

[Tobysmum]

THANKS FOR YOUR REPLY (WRITING IN UPPER CASE SO YOU CAN SEE MY COMMENTS!)

Is the light waking him? NO IT'S PITCH BLACK OUTSIDE

BTB  its horrid isn't it, when you've had a rough night with the little one and then a toddler up at an ungodly hour  Roll Eyes

Obviously his body clock is now set for 5 am so you'll need to reset it.  YES, THIS IS WHAT I THINK.  I AM HOPING PERHAPS THE FACT THAT WE ARE GOING AWAY ON VACATION ON WEDNESDAY WILL SHAKE THINGS UP A BIT.  I KNOW THE WAKE-UPS ON VACATION WILL MOST LIKELY BE EVEN WORSE.  HE'S GOING TO BE IN A BIG BOY BED THERE - WHICH WILL BE INTERESTING.  THE HOTEL ONLY HAVE PACK AND PLAYS AND FROM PAST EXPERIENCE I KNOW HE WON'T SLEEP IN THAT (WE HAD THAT EXPERIENCE IN FEBRUARY OF THIS YEAR).  WE WILL BE USING THE GRO CLOCK FOR THE FIRST TIME.

We dealt with those sorts of Ew's by taking him to the toilet then back to his room for play time. put toys in his cot that he LOVES and then getting him up at 6am. We say" time for play, wait till awake time, and Mummy will come get you"  Keep envouraging him and congratulating good playing in his cot.  You could even practice with him in there for 5 mins each days with favourite toys and saying "cot play time now".   After a few weeks of early morning playing he started sleeping later and later.
THE INTERESTING THING (AND ANNOYING THING) IS THAT HE HAS ABSOLUTELY NO TOYS THAT HE LOVES.  THE ONLY THING HE LOVES IS TO PLAY GOLF - AND YOU CAN'T DO THAT IN A CRIB LOL!!  SERIOUSLY,  HE DOES NOT PLAY WITH TOYS - ONLY BALLS, AND GOLF CLUBS!  HE DOES HAVE BOOKS IN HIS BED BUT HE'S NOT ALL THAT INTO THOSE EITHER.

 FOr the first three days, it seems not really worth the effort but with consistency he'll get the picture and start happily playing in his cot so at least you don't hear from him till 6am.  Hopefully his weeing gets a bit later too.

Secondly I would try to cut that nap to 45 mins for 3 days and "see" what happens.  But do it when he's happy playing in the crib in the mornings.
It also worth trying a later bedtime for 3 nights - 30 mins later to see if it makes a difference.
Its also worth trying an earlier bedtime too incase he is waking early due to OT.

I GUESS IT'S A QUESTION OF WHAT DO DO FIRST REALLY.  IF IT IS REALLY A HABIT THEN NONE OF THESE THINGS ARE GOING TO WORK I FEAR.  HE'S ALWAYS NEEDED LESS SLEEP THAN OTHER BABIES/TODDLERS - I THINK THAT'S PART OF THE PROBLEM.  I DON'T REALLY BELIEVE HE'S OVERTIRED OTHERWISE HE'D BE A MESS AND HE'S PRETTY MUCH HIS NORMAL SELF EVEN IF HE WAKES AT 5AM!  I THINK THE 45 MIN NAP OR 1HR NAP IS PROBABLY WORTH A TRY FOR A WEEK OR SO (WHEN WE GET BACK FROM VACATION).  I WOULD HAVE GUESSED I SHOULD TRY ONE THING AT A TIME - I CAN'T REDUCE THE NAP, CHANGE THE TIME AND DO A LATER BEDTIME ALL IN ONE GO.

But the best thing is to keep him in there if you can..  that is the first step to getting him to sleep later   Smiley
YES, I AGREE KEEPING IN IN HIS CRIB (AND QUIET) IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING.  THE SHOUTING AND CRYING AT THE TOP OF HIS LUNGS TO GET OUT AT 5AM IS NOT ACCEPTABLE TO ANY OF US - IT'S MISERABLE ALL ROUND.  WHIST THE GRO CLOCK MAY WORK AT KEEPING HIM IN QUIETLY IN HIS BED (I HOPE) UNTIL 6.15 OR SO, IT'S NOT REALLY FIXING THE EARLY WAKINGS REALLY (OR WILL IT?)

THOUGHTS ON STARTING OFF WITH REDUCING THE NAP?  ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS WELCOME.

[sherry lynn]

In my experience cutting to an hour doesn't usually help anything. Here it has to be 45 min cycles or less. So say 1.5 hours, 45min, 30, 20. However, cutting to an hour might help make the adjustment so he doesn't get OT. Then maybe after another 3-5 days cut to to 45 min and see if that helps.
How many no nap days does he currently have?

[Tobysmum]

He only has one nap - he's 2.5 years old.  He's been on one nap for a long time since he transitioned fairly early from what I remember.

I posted on the toddler sleep board and the suggestion there has been to move the nap earlier since he's up so early.  What are your thoughts on that? 

I'm torn as to whether to cut the nap shorter OR do the nap earlier.

[michaeljacknnugg]

He sounds a bit like my LO. Also 2.5 and pretty much on no naps at all. I logged his sleep and discovered he only needs 10-11 hours a day total. Then it was a no-brainer to start dropping the nap. We did naps days and no-nap days, reduced to one nap a week and have given up on that in the last month.

We've had the Gro-clock for a while now and it is a complete Godsend, worth every penny. It doesn't mean he sleeps any later - if he's up, he's up - but he had it before he transitioned to a BBB and still only comes out of the room whe  the clock wakes up. Oh, and bedtimes are easier now that he's not fighting them - he has to go into his room to put the clock to sleep!

[oe]

I was just reading a little bit... what is a Gro-clock? I think I want one...

[Tobysmum]

OK - am going to go quiet now as we are on vacation tomorrow am for a week!  Gus will be in a big bed while we are away (uggg!) and we will be using the Gro Clock (google it and you'll see what it is - haven't got time to explain now as am trying to finish packing!)  This morning he woke at 5am as usual for a pee and then he went back to bed without too much fuss (a little, but did not have a total fit as usual).  He cried on and off and I told him that I would come in when his light came on (at 6.30am).  Well, I set my alarm for 6.28 so I could be sure to see the light come on under his door - and lo and behold, he'd obviously gone back to sleep and didn't even wake up when the light came on!!  He didn't wake until 6.50am actually!
BUT, he refused his nap today - which I was kind of expecting.  The gro clock COULD work for us - but I fear the nap may go out the window.  The only thing will be being in a big bed when we are away which may limit our chances of him staying in bed - it's going to be an interesting week!
Will check in when I get back.  He's been a bit of a monster this afternoon with no nap - not sure whether he's in one of those moods of if he's tired.

[Blandik]

Hi, I am not a native speaker, but would be grateful for your help - I have got a 24month old baby boy, who stopped to nap when he was 21month old. It was summer, we lost our daily routine and he seemed not to need to nap any more...Usually he slept in the car or pram...in the autumn he started to need to nap again, but he is not used to getting to sleep in his bed any more {as it was also changed in the summer for a "normal' childbed...I tried to stay with him till he falls asleep {it worked for 4 days]...I tried to play him some relax music and make him stay in bed with two toys of his choice - he kept coming to our bedroom where I was resting - I kept sending him back to his bed in his room...it worked maybe a week {that after some 20minutes of sending him back to his bed he finaly stayed in bed and fell asleep] - after that he started to react negatively to even mentioning that we should have a rest after luch...the last month I put him into pram and go out to make him fall asleep, then transfer him into his bed and he sleeps usually 1.5 hours, sometimes 2, 2.5 hours...depends.. but mostly 1.5 hours..I know this is not the right way with a two year old, but I am at loss what to do with his napping...Thank you for any advice. And he goes to bed at 7pm, sleeps till 5:30 - 6:30 am, and should nap around midday, sometimes later - It seemes that he needs to nap maybe some 4 days, and the fifth day he does not need to nap at all... and the sixth day he needs to nap agaon...

[babybarr]

I think if it were me and you little one is going to bed at night fine and sleeping well through the night I wouldn't worry.  It's not ideal BUT it sounds as though he won't be napping much longer anyway.  If you do want more specific advice it may be worth posting on the main toddler sleep board.

[alicia1979]

Hi everyone - sorry to jump on this thread, but having a nap dilemma!

My DS (26 months) has been really fussy with naps for about 1 month. He has a nap at nursery, no probs but WILL NOT nap at home unless shattered!

Yesterday was a no nap day, so in bed early at 6.30pm. He slept until 5.15am without waking!

Now, my dilemma is - on the days he naps, he has been waking in the night at 3,4 and 5am.

As he sleeps better at night when he has had no nap, does this mean he does not need a nap anymore?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Alicia. xx

[babybarr]

He may be OT from having nap and no nap days, it tends to catch up on the following day.
Are you doing nap time the same time as nursery?

[alicia1979]

Hi! Yes, nap times at home are same as nursery....if he ever has them!

After yesterdays no nap, we have just got back from swimming and Noah has now fallen asleep on the sofa (at normal nap time). So like you say. probably catch up from yesterdays no nap??

My gro clock has just arrived in the post so I am going to try and just 'go with it' at the minute. If he naps he naps, if not...never mind.

Not sure what else I can do really!!

Any further advice gatefully received!

Alicia

[sherry lynn]

How long are you letting him nap on nap days, you may need to limit the nap?

[alicia1979]

Hi again, and thanks so much for your reply!

On nap days he naps between 45min and 1.45min.  Today he only napped for 45 minutes on the sofa and seems bright and cheerful this afternoon.

Nursery have said thay are happy to wake him after a certain amount of sleep and do hthis for some other children. How long would you recommend letting him sleep before waking him?

Thanks,

Alicia 

[sherry lynn]

Well it depends if you keep getting those early morning wakings. I would watch it for a little while and see. Are you logging the days? If not I would start doing so, in order to see if you see a pattern. Because those early morning wakings can be OT or UT. However, I have found that if he wakes at 4am and WILL NOT even try to go back to sleep than it is an UT wakings.

Are you having a lot of no nap days, or just here and there? If he naps MOST days, then I think most moms would start with not letting him nap more than 1.5.
If you still find that his night sleep is disturbed on nap days then I would cut it even more. I think seeing how the night goes tonight with only 45 min will be helpful in seeing how to proceed.
Are you getting any bedtime resistance on nap days? Or just the EW. We are like you, we get the EW of 4/4:45. Uggg... it stinks.

[alicia1979]

Hi.
Yes I have started logging all sleep/wake up times etc. Only just started this though so haven't seen a pattern yet!

He does resist bedtime some nights and other nights goes off quite quickly. NOt sure whether they are nap days or not though - I will make a note of it when it next happens.

Tonight will be interesting after an EW and only 45min sleep today. I have just programmed our new gro clock too and Noah sees to have grasped the concept of sleepy time when the star is on and wake up with the sunshine!

I will check in tomorrow and let you know how it goes tonight!!

Alicia.