24 month old---OT or UT? Started not taking nap and playing in crib

[Sima]

 
   I am perplexed now.  Whether I do 5, 5.5, 6 hours---1 hour nap, rare 1.75.  So tried 6.25 Awake time before nap.  One day slept 1.75 and the next 1 hour:

A 5.58
Nap 12.20-2.05
Bedtime 7.25

A 6
Nap Put down 12.05 and called for me for 1/2 an hour until 12.30 and slept till 1.30
Bedtime 6.35

Awake today 5.22
Nap 11.35-12.40 and dh rocked her back to sleep until 2.
Bedtime 7.30

Anyone with similar experience???  I have tried clock time for 1 month and OT got real bad---did not work.    

[Aly Mac]

this is what we have been doing since she started to get OT> I was giving her too much A time as she seemed to cope ok, but then we had trouble with nap (taking nearly an hour to go down) and nw and ew.  My girl is a kid though that is better with less A time and early to bed. not all kiddos are the same.

her usual now is:

6.30/6.45 wake
12 - put down for nap, asleep no later than 12.30 for 2hours max (I wake if need be, but 1.5hr is ok)
6.30 start betime routine to be asleep by 7pm

if she has nw and/or ew than i start nap routine at around 11.30, and depending on nap lenght we go for a 6.30 bed.

i hope that helps. as I said, all kiddos seem to be different with this. just thought I would share.

[lin7604]

have you figured out what the average amount she seems to sleep in a 24 hr peroid?  I find mine will only sleep about 10 hrs so i have to figure out bedtime from that..
I also am confused as what to do with my son.  he just turned 26 months and we have been going on and off sleep issues for over 1 month now.  He is teething getting his last 2 top molars but they are all the way cut threw now, one is just about 1/4 way through and the other is about 1/2 now...... i don't know if that is just the cause of our night wakes or what?

but....this past week alone it's been 4 nights that we had night wakes, none at the same time nightly?  With those nights that he wakes he needs me to lay beside him to fall back to sleep or he just cries.  It ususally doesn't take him long to fall back to sleep but i guess just wants the secure feeling of having me there, then he will get up around 6:45 for the day.  ( which is a sleep in!!!)

I went by A times since he was about 2 months and it worked like a charm, but now that he is 2 i have tried clock times as it seemed A times weren't working and his need hours of sleep was changing again leaving me confused. Some days it seems to work and not others....  Do you think it's just his teething that is causing him to wake??? or OT???
He normally wakes between 6-6:30, nap at 12:30 ( anywhere from 1hr 15 min -2.5hr) bed 8pm. if he napped less then 1.5hrs i make sure he's sleeping by 8pm and if he napped longer then 1.5 then i get him ready at 8 so he's sleeping way before 8:30.

could yours be teething too???

sorry i'm not much help but i wanted to let you know i'm going crazy too 

[Sima]

Hi Aly, thank you for your advice.  If awake 5-6 hours before nap she sleeps only 1 hour.  But now 6+, she slept more for 1 day and then reverted to OT--EW!  If she took a good 1.5 nap at least then no problem.  But this is my problem:
Wake 5.30-6
Nap 11.30-12.30 ((((1hour)))))
Bedtime too early !!!! It would need to be at 5.30!
Anyways, since 18 months old, she went from sleeping 1.25-1.75 to 1 hour for naps. I tried moving the day forward but that is tough--leads to OT cycle.  What would you do?  May I ask how you did DLS with your lo??

Lin: I am not sure if molars like you lo? Always confused.  But have had sleep issues with lo since newborn so it just continues.  To me your lo is NW due to molars.  Does meds help--like Motrin?  Tylenol hardly works for my lo at night. 
Anyways, have you tried early bedtime when naps are shorter.  I go by the 5-5.5 "rule" after nap---it works and does cause NW and EW.  Hope this helps

[lin7604]

yes i have given him meds, some nights it helps and sleeps though and other not..... again leading me into confusion on what is the problem then.... I  am going to try again tonight as the last 2 nights i didn't give him anything and he woke. 
I have gone to the 5.5 hr A time when sleeps less then 1.5hr but it's so hard b/c he will still only sleep 10-maybe 10.5 hrs at night... very very rare will he sleep more then 10.5hrs, VERY VERY rare!!!!

I also can sympathise with you on not having a good sleeper from birth, he was the 45 min catnapper until we hit 1 nap a day!!!! he was up every 2hrs as a new born!  once i started to do A times it got better but he was never a good napper will around 14 months and that took 2 months to adjust to 1 nap, butonce on 1 nap good and strong i got those 1.5-2hr naps everyone talks about!!! my dream came true!!!!  bUT once again it was short lived due to illness or teething it all starts all over into the guessing game, etc...
i hope it's just his teeth for him but you would think since they finally have cut through that it wouldn't be a issue anymore??? right???

[Aly Mac]

i would do about 6pm for nap with lots of quiet time.

i forgot about the teeth. they also impact too.....

hugs bbl

[Aly Mac]

i mean sleep,,,sorry

[Sima]

Hi Aly,
May I ask-what did you mean 6pm for nap?
Thank you for your help!

[Aly Mac]

i meant night time sleep sorry Sima. typo!!!!

[Sima]

Ahgh.....today lo refused nap.  So strange..she went in and said bye to me and she just played there for 1/2 an hour and then started calling for me.
She woke up at 6 and I put her down at 11:40.
Is she outgrowing nap? 
So frustrating!

[Aly Mac]

she could be Sima.  for your sake i hope not! i'd just keep doing what you are doing.  and early to bed on those days of no nap..

[Sima]

Aly: Actually, that is not bad news because she has such funky sleep patterns that easier just to put her to bed one time.  We put her to bed at 6 and she went no problem.  Aly, how do we know if lo is ready to give up nap?? Is there any info out there BW?  Thanks a million!

[mari]

When Alex was almost 3 she did drop the nap sometimes, I just did an earlier bedtime to combat the OT.  It just gradually got more often until it eventually dropped.  What age is you LO exactly as you just say that she is 2?

[Aly Mac]

you'll find that it varies. and you may get some days where they have one nap and others where none. just keep an eye out for OT - nw and ew is a good sign, not to mention a crabby child!  I think if you look thru the toddler sleep faq's or sticky's there may be some info. I'll check it out for you too.

[Sima]

Hi Mari:
My lo is 2 years on the dot.  Today she took nap for 1 hour. Her day sleep is really cutting down.  And if she sleeps more during the day, she wakes up early.  Thanks!

Aly, Thanks for info. Today slept 1 hour.  I noticed that if sleeps more during the day, then night is cut short.