15 month old with nap issues?

[Evilmena]

Another update:

no wakeups last night...a few nights in a row now (hopefully he won't do it tonight either as he's alone with Dad tonight).  This morning he woke up at 6am...ugh.  Told mom to put him down at 10/10:30am as long as she could stretch him.  She took him out for a long walk, put him down at 10:30am and he woke up at 12:30pm...2 hours!!

Only thing is unless I put him to bed at 5pm we have to try a catnap.  I KNOW he'll most likely fight the PM catnap (although sometimes when he gets good sleep, he actually sleeps again).  I told her to give it a shot at 4/4:30pm and see what happens.

UPDATE:  I was right and wrong...she put him down just after 4pm and he slept for another hour...when he sleeps he sleeps!  Oh well, hopefully he's catching up on the OT and he'll wake not so early tomorrow morning so we can get back on track!

[becky1969]

Wow -- 3 hours daytime sleep? He *was* tired! I hope it helps him catch up too! And this means a later bedtiem probably too, which hopefully will give you a later waking which HOPEFULLY will help push nap out!

4 hours A time sounds like was the ideal spot! I'd go with that and see how that works out!

[Evilmena]

Yes, 3 hours daytime sleep - I was shocked and yet I had a sneaking suspicion after having a long morning sleep that he would actually have another long sleep - it's when he doesn't have long sleep that he fights the nap, the kid is backwards!  lol   So we put him to bed at 7:30pm and he awakened at 6:15am, talked for maybe a half hour?  And then he fell asleep again and woke up at 8am.  I told mom to put him down at noon (upon your previous advice of late wakings) so we'll see how that goes.

UPDATE(doing a happy dance!!!)  I just called my mom...she put him down at 12:15pm and he's still sleeping...almost 2.5hours later!!!   YAYAYAYAYAY!!!  I know this doesn't necessarily mean it's smooth sailing from here on in but I'm so happy he's gotten 2 consecutive days of good sleep to keep him on track, get him out of that nasty OT cycle that was creeping in, and helping further us along in getting rid of the morning nap!!!

Thanks so much for your constant support and suggestions ladies, you've been extremely helpful!

[becky1969]

YAHOOOOO!!!! You've found the magic spot for him!

You have a very sleepy bub like mine.  Mine is EXACTLY like yours -- the more sleep he gets, the more he gets! LOL! I know all kids are this in some way ("sleep begets sleep") but I think both our kids exceed the average sleep expected for their age.  For instance, my son sleeps MORE at night if he gets a 3 hour nap than if he takes a 2 hour nap.  At 3 he shouldn't need 15-16 hours of sleep/day! But that's what happens when he takes a 3 hour nap! Goofy! And I think you have the same kind of toddler! As long as you respect his A time he's going to be an awesome sleeper for you! You are SO close to crossing into 1 nap land permanently! WTG mom (and grandma!)!!

[Evilmena]

So, to bed last night at 7:30pm, no wakings, this morning's wakeup 6:20am...guess this will be a 2 nap day??

[becky1969]

Well yay on STTN! And an 11 hour night is very good!

Probably will be a 2 nap day.  We're finding 4 hours works best with him, right?  Now, the thing is to preserve that PM nap you may not WANT that first nap to be very long, so you could push his A time since you're going to wake him you don't really care if he's OT.  I might push him to 11 and see how he does.  If mom says he's just knackered and puts him down earlier, that's fine, but we could use this earlier morning waking to really test his A time limits and see what they are.  But that's up to you.  If he sleeps well in the AM and then will still take a short PM catnap, you can do that if you prefer.  My kid just would never ever nap in the afternoon after age 1 if his AM nap was more than 45 min.  But if yours will, then you can stick with that pattern.

[Evilmena]

Thank you for the options.  I think we'll go with the 4 hours - he has done longer but with the past 2 days I'd rather go with this pattern and see what happens.  If he sleeps well he may well sleep again in the PM or have a short one, or maybe he'll have none!  Everyday is different with him!

1.25 for the am nap and she put him down at 9:45am instead of 10:30am because he was unusually fussy this morning.  He went down at 3-3:30pm and slept for 45 minutes but it still hugely cranky.  I told her to give him some Motrin...maybe we're FINALLY going to cut some teeth??  It's been 6 months and we still haven't moved from 6 teeth...oh joy!

[speechie]

Yay for the success on the past few days!
Boo to the teeth-we're cutting more eye teeth here- definitely makes for a cranky kiddo...

[Evilmena]

I know but he's been cranky on and off for months now and these teeth just won't cut!!  He's only got 6 teeth (4 top, 2 bottom) and nothing for the last almost 7 months!

Oh well, he'll probably get them all at once!

So I put him to bed at 7pm and he talked on and off for over an hour...but he happily chatted in his crib, blowing raspberries, practicing his words...hopefully this means he won't wake so early tomorrow putting his nap at noon for a one nap day...we can hope can't we?   

[Evilmena]

My hope was useless...he awoke at 6:20am...which seems to be his new awake time.

I told mom to push it to 11am if she could...c'mon Jack, let's get this going already!!

[becky1969]

It's a 2 steps forward, 1 step back process. Sigh.  Hang in there!

I don't think it's bad for her to push him in the AM.  If he short naps, he seems open ot taking another nap in the PM.  And if you could push bedtime later it actually might get you a later waking so that could help too.  What I mean is taking a 2nd nap means bedtime is later than it is on 1 nap, and if 1st nap is later then 2nd nap is later, then bedtime is later.  I wouldn't stretch his pre-bedtime A time as that's a good way to get EWs.

[Evilmena]

I thought that might be the case a couple of nights ago or even last night when he feel asleep after 8pm but he still woke up early.  I guess because it hasn't been consistent?

Oh well, he napped for 1.5 hours this am starting at 11am and I put him down at 4:30pm and he's still sleeping so I imagine it will be at the very least an hour.  So how much A time would you give if he's waking at 5:30pm?  Keep him up until 8pm...would that suffice?  How late is too late a bedtime?

[becky1969]

With bedtime I proably would try at 8:30 if he's sleeping that late.  Honestly, I would probably recommend keeping that PM nap to no later than a 5 pm wake up to preserve a decent bedtime.

Bedtime depends on your family routine and how much A time kid can handle.  Waking at 5:30 a lot of kids won't go to bed until after 9! So, you're going to probably have to experiment with having a clock time at which you wake him so that you don't make bedtime too late.

However, if he goes to bed at 8:30 and wakes at 7:30 then we're getting somewhere and can hopefully push for 1 nap (at 11:30/11:45) the next day.

[JBsMommy]

Hi Ladies! I just wanted to mark my spot on this thread!
My 13 month DD is starting the transition and this thread has been very helpful!

[Evilmena]

Well, he woke up this morning at 7:15am and I put him down at 11:45pm and now he's awake, before 1:30pm.  These are the days I'm not sure what to do.  I shouldn't put him down for another at 5:30pm, so just put him to bed at 6pm?