15 month old with nap issues?

[Evilmena]

Ouch, that would be difficult with twins, especially the BF'ing part.  I weaned Jack (well, he weaned himself really as he was refusing to feed but would take from a bottle) before a year.  Hopefully the helpful ladies will have some advice for you!  As you can see, I also followed some wrong cues and kept him on a younger schedule but he has adjusted quite well to the longer A times and is napping longer than ever before.

Well, mom put Jack down between 10 and 10:30am and woke him up a little after 30 minutes (to give him time not knowing exactly when he actually fell asleep).  He was a little disoriented but didn't cry.  I told her to put him down between 2 and 2:30pm.  I hope this works!

[becky1969]

jrmommy -- you might want to post your question on the multiples board.  Not sure how to approach it with 2! Sounds like they are now departing routines, and I'm sure the multiple mommies have lots of advice on how to handle that.  the only approach I have is to modify DS routine, but that leaves sis on a diff. one which would be very irritating for you I'm sure! So try multiples board, and come on back over here if they don't have the info you're looking for!


evilmena -- hey girl, this stuff is going to happen.  I'm curious as to why it took him an hour to fall asleep.  Do you think he was OT at bedtime? Or do you think he's stretching his A some more?  Go ahead and do 2 naps, don't beat yourself up about it.  Here's your goal: as many days as possible get a late enough wake up that you can go for 1 nap.  That means having bedtime be wtihin his sleep window AND post 7 pm.  We should gradually see the 2 nap days disappear. 

[Evilmena]

Thanks, I don't know why he took so long to be honest...maybe he just wasn't that tired??  I'm thinking it was because he woke up at almost 8am that morning...that's the only explanation I have because he wouldn't have been OT...our afternoon after being out was pretty low key and he didn't seem cranky/tired, maybe I just put him to bed too early.  Maybe he could also hear the neighbours in the back (we live on a creek and the sound carries).  I wasn't even aware they were back there until I left the front of the house to shower (my room is at the back next to Jack's) and then realized they were out there with a whack of screaming kids and ready to blow fireworks.

Still, the early waking was not welcome!     I hope he sleep better this PM so that we can do a post 7pm bedtime and hopefully a later wakeup to keep up with the 1 nap routine!  Thanks again!

[Evilmena]

Oh I'm so seething mad right now!!!

I called to see if and how long he slept for his 2nd nap - she told me he slept a little over half an hour before she woke him up so I told her to put him down at 3 hours A time after that (between 2 and 2:30pm).  Well, she put him down after 2:30pm and he fell asleep at 3pm and woke up 1/2 hour later.  Then she tells me oh we shouldn't have waken him now he's only had 1.5 hours sleep.  Wait a minute, 1/2 +1/2 = 1 hour...nope, see let him sleep close to an hour for the AM nap - how could I wake him she says if he doesn't fall asleep right away then he'd only have done 20 minutes.  So it's all messed up.

Either way, if he had 45 min. in the AM he still won't go long in the PM...is this just my child?  I bet if he had slept longer in the AM he would have probably slept in the PM but then it would be too late and then we have EW.  So should I just do the reverse and if he wakes that early, let him sleep it out in the AM and just cut his pm short??

I am just so angry that I don't have control over this!!  And after everything I did on the weekend.  I tell her even doctors suggest cutting AM nap short - apparently my child doesn't do this according to her.  But in the end, maybe she's right.   

[becky1969]

What's normal at this age is if child sleeps too long in AM they won't be tired enough for a PM nap -- they either skip it or it is ultra short.


Hey, don't get too frustrated! He's on the cusp of 1 solid nap so it's only a week or two of this craziness and then you'll be in 1 solid nap territory.  It's very hard when you're not the only one working on the naps.  Your mom has raised kids too so feels like she knows what to do.  But you're the mama so you want things to go *your* way! It's a pretty difficult situation to be in.  But don't worry: even though you've got 2 cooks in your kitchen he WILL move to 1 nap -- he won't still be taking 2 naps in college no matter what. 


I'd still really try to limit AM nap and let him sleep as long as he wants in PM (with perhaps a 4 pm cut off for waking to preserve a decent bedtime).  Unless you get a 7 am or later waking, then push for 1 nap 11:30 or so.

[Evilmena]

Well I put him to bed at 7:10pm and nary a peep...no chatting, etc.  He's out!  Let's hope for a later waking tomorrow.

So if he wakes at 7am or later then nap at noon?  Sorry, I didn't understand the "unless he wakes at 7am or later then 11:30 or later nap."

Please please please Jack just wake up later....please???

[Evilmena]

As I reported, he went down with no chatting and was doing great.  Then he cried out at 12:10am, 2:30am, 4:15am and finally awoke at 7:10am.  He cried/whimpered for a few minutes but it never escalated and I didn't have to go in there, he fell back asleep.  In the morning he had pooped and had a rash and sounded like he might be catching his dad's cold.  So I'm not sure if either of those or those darned teeth caused the wakeups or if it was his lack of sleep yesterday - don't you love the speculation??   

Anyhow, the 7:10am waking I'm pleased with - I was certain after all those wakeups he would be up at 6am.  I told mom to put him down at 11:30am or as close to it as she could providing he wasn't exhausted.  Hopefully he can make it and get some good rest.

[jrmommyx2]

Becky 1969- I was going to post on the multiples board, but I think i'll actually be ok with getting them to do the same thing at the same time. Even though DD seems to be doing her thing, she is easy and if I tweak DS schedule I know DD will be able to just follow along... That is basically how it has gone from the get go with them! So, if you would mine helping me with the tweaking, I would greatly appreciate it! I feel like I have always had pretty good control over sleep stuff, I'm just confused because the am nap isn't getting shorter, they aren't resisting the pm nap, they are sleeping great at night (I shouldn't even be saying this... I'll probably jinx myself)- but I know I am on borrowed time and I think with this playing at night stuff, they probably are ready for a change...

Evilmena- I am sorry I just barged in on your posts here... Hope you don't mind... I am just so intrigued with the help you are getting and how you are doing it! I am a crazy sleep mom too! I can't even imagine how frustrating it is to feel like you are not in control. I am luck enough to still me home with these guys. I am completely stressing about going away tomorrow- my il's are staying with the babies- I feel like all my hard work is going to be whisked away in 5 days... I agree, just from reading, it sounds like you are really close. How long have you been working through this transition?

[Evilmena]

No worries jrmommyx2, these ladies are wonderful with their support and suggestions.

Well, we've been going through this since my first post in this thread, at least a month, maybe two?  I'd have to check the date.  But we've been dealing with short naps his whole life!!  It's only during this transition that he's getting better sleep.

So he barely made it to 10:45am so she put him down and he slept until 12:15pm - so 1.5 hours.  I told her to try again at 4pm but only a catnap of 30-max. 45 minutes and not later than 5pm.

UpdateShe put him down at 4pm and he slept for a 1/2 hour...yay!  Only thing is now, he has a fever.  So again, I don't know if he's caught what his dad has (although hubby doesn't have a fever) or it really is teeth.  Hopefully this doesn't bother his sleep too much, it hasn't in the past.  He's actually quite unaffected by things like illness and teething (hope I haven't jinxed it!).

[becky1969]

My guess is teeth.  The rashy bum is the give away to me.  My son ALWAYS got a bad rash on his bum while teething.  And he didn't usually get fevers, but he did with the canines.  Just keep an eye on him and see what develops!  The restless at night could be either teeth or illness.  I"m sure it will disappear soon.

I think you've got a kid who's very sensitive to being OT, hence the not great naps his whole life.  You're going to LVOE this kid on 1 nap.  He's probably going to nap great for you and until he's fairly old.  You're nearly there!

jrmommy -- would you mind making a new post? We like to keep our posts as individual as possible so that we cna help the most people! Since we're already several pages in on this post, it's unlikely you'll get much attention here.  So start a new one, put the link here and I promise I'll give you a visit and some advice once it's up!  Thanks!

[Evilmena]

Yes, he's very sensitive to OT and I was a hawk with sleep.  I have definitely learned a lot about sleep though from this child that hopefully will help me in not making the same mistakes with the next!

His fever went down before bed last night with some Motrin and he fell asleep at just after 7:30pm.  No wakeups though, or crying, just some coughing and little murmurs here and there.  I really hate that I can't go in his room though for fear of waking as I worried about his temp going back up.  Well, he awoke crying this morning at about 5am.  He had a fever again so I gave him more meds and waited a half hour until it went down.  It didn't as quickly so by that time he was up and about, gave him milk and some breakfast - he wasn't crazy hungry and then I put him down at almost 8am.  He cried when I first left him but soon stopped and fell asleep and I just called hom and he was still sleeping at 10am.  Poor kid, I guess he's making up for his 2 hours too early waking!

Today, nap schedule may be out the window, I just want him to get rest to fight whatever this is.  We'll see how the day progresses.

[lilflav]

Your lo is just like mine!  She was a 30 min napper until 10 months!!  We are a little further along in the switch then you, but as soon as I started stretching her naps got longer.  I have recently gotten her first 2 hr nap since she was 5 or 6 months old (and that was like one  occassion).  So I hope you are right, Becky, that we will love this stage!

[Evilmena]

I hope to love this stage...I really do, whenever it gets here!   

So he slept 2.5 hours this morning (after his 5am waking and 2.5-3 hours A time).  Then he had a 1/2 hour nap at 2pm and I put him to bed at 7pm...he chatted on and off until about 7:40pm I think.  Hopefully he sleeps well tonight and no EW.  His temperature was gone by the time he woke up from his 1st nap and he seemed to be in better spirits.

[Evilmena]

Again, posting to keep track:

He woke up today at 7:10 am, having mom put him down at 11:30am-12pm.  Last night he cried out at 12:30am but after a few minutes fell asleep then brief cry at 6 something and back to sleep until waking.  Fever is gone which is good.  Hopefully we're going to get back on track!

Update he slept for 1.5 hours this morning from 11:30am-1pm so although the length was pretty good, it still puts us in either two nap territory or super early bedtime.  Considering he still has a bit of a cold I'm putting him down for a catnap at 4pm (he's still chatting on and off at 4:15pm) and won't let him go past 5pm.

Do you think maybe I can stretch him to 5 hours A time or is that not recommended for his age?  Maybe if we stretch him to 5 hours he can go down at noon and maybe he'll sleep longer?

[becky1969]

You can most certainly try 5 hours! It's def. worth a try.  And I wouldn't give up after 1 time either -- give it a couple of days to see if it works for him.