Will he ever sleep better??? Or should I give in???

[deckchariot]

Do you think those EWs could be habitual?  You could try w2s around 4 or 4:30, you'd go in a stir him, but not fully wake him.  I've not used w2s for EWs, but have for naps, and I know mums who've used it with good success for EWs.  I would give the early bedtime a few days to see if that helps to sort things out first, as it's easier to do than w2s

I hate to suggest this, but you may want to limit his nap to no more than 2 hrs.  Around 18 mos, sleep needs decrease for bubs, and many only take 1.5 hr naps and 11 - 11.5 at night.  I know at that age with my dd, we had to start cutting off 30 min of her nap because she started waking at 5 if her nap was too long.  I know it seems so wrong to wake them, but for us it fixed our EWs.

[Francy&Ricky]

Ok, before trying w2s I'll stick to the early bedtime to see what happens...

As for the nap...I see your point and think I do agree with you.
But I am not sure it will be easy because it won't be me but nursery school staff who shall wake him, but I could try...anyway, let's try one thing at a time. First early bedtime, then w2s and if things will not change, I will try cutting his nap a little.
 
But there is one thing I can do: cut his morning naps during weekends and at school when he is too tired.

Does it sound good?

[Francy&Ricky]

BTW your LO is adorable in your avatar - lovely cheeky grin and great tousled blond hair that you just want to put your fingers in!

x

Thanks Frances!! To me, he is the most beautiful not sleeping baby of the whole universe!!!!! But I am just his mom.....

PS. I'll keep u posted on how nights will be getting....

[brenda2]

is he sometimes taking 2 naps?  this for sure could be why he is cutting his nighttime sleep short.

we have had some EWs on and off with DD and i was thinking maybe her nap should be cut down a bit - right now she does 1 x 2 hour nap like clockwork.  scary to do it though!  she's not such a great waker upper at the best of times.

[franchick]

Ugh! I just hated the transition to one nap - it seemed to take *forever* lol! However, once we actually got into a routine of sorts we had a few blissful months of 2 - 2.5 hour naps and 'good' bedtimes. Then the whole 1 to no nap thing started.... we got there in the end though!

[Francy&Ricky]

Usually, he takes only one 2-2,5 hours nap in the afternoon.

But, sometimes, when he is very tired and didn't sleep well, he takes also a 45/60 min nap in the morning. Usually, it happens during the weekends. And that's what I will try to cut.
I remember just two or three episodes at school in the last 3 months.

But I agree with you girls, it could affect night sleep.....

[brenda2]

frances - when did your LO start trying to drop to no nap?  my DD has been good with her 1 nap (doesn't fight it usually and seems to need it) but her nights are just getting shorter and shorter, and bedtime is getting later and later to avoid EWs.  she's waking happy in the mornings though so i don't think she needs more night sleep.

[Francy&Ricky]

Ok!

During weekend we continued with early bedtime (7.30) and had less sleep during the day.
The result was: 2 nights with waking up at 5.30 and not 5.00.

Is it working? Or was it just pure chance?.....I hope not........

NWs: still 2 per night.

Let's see what will happen during the week, as DS will go to nursery school and will sleep longer in the afternoon. Just want to see if early bedtime could work alone without cutting a part of afternoon nap.

Hugs.

[Francy&Ricky]

No way...

Last night we had 6 NWs!!!!!!!
But I think he has a molar coming in....

I'll keep you posted. Hope it comes in soon.

[franchick]

Teething is just the absolute pits.... hopefully when those big teeth come through you will cut the NWs a bit.... sorry for the 6 NWs - not nice for you all.

Brenda - our LO started to drop to one nap in the run up to age 2 - I can't remember exaclty when, but I think at about 22 months... it took until about a year later to reliably have a good run of days without a nap. Nowadays (nearly 4 yrs old), she will have a day time nap maybe once every 2 weeks or so. It sounds, in retrospect, like she needed her nap for longer, but we were having 10pm bedtimes and it was driving us all nuts!

[Francy&Ricky]

Hi there.

I will tell you what happened since my last post…
Now Ricky is asleep by 7.30. I tried to manage 7 but couldn’t as now it takes him more than 30 minutes to fall asleep….

Last molar came finally in ( thank God!) but now I guess we have milestones problem…he started to make big big efforts to speak and in just one week he came out with 8 brand new words! I am not sure this could affect sleep, but have a suspect about bedtime…

Here follows our schedule of the last few nights:


May 5
7.30
11.00
0.30
5.00
5.30

May6
7.30
10.30
11.30
3.00
5.30

May 7
7.30
9.00
11.30
5.30

May 8
7.30
11.30
1.30
4.30
5.30

May 9
7.30
5.30

May10
7.30
0.30
5.00
5.30

May 11
7.45
9.15
10.45
3.00
5.45

Do you see any improvement? I am not very positive, I just see a difference between 5 and 5.30 waking, but it is still too early. The biggest change is that he sleeps now 10 hours totally and this is one hour more. (Is it enough??)

Michelle, I think I will try with W2S at around 4.30…should he have a jolt or something like that to make it work? I think I’ve read it in Tracy’s book.

Sorry for beeing so long...

TIA

[deckchariot]

The 5:30 does seem to be habitual, so a 4:30 w2s might be just the thing.  I would just stir him in his bed, but try not to wake him totally.  How long is he napping for during the day now?  I"m wondering if day sleep is robbing night sleep.

[Francy&Ricky]

During the day he is napping 2 hours (1-3 pm), sometimes 2,5.

I thought about that too, but during last weekend he napped less (1,5 hours) but didn't sleep more...
But maybe two days are not really enough to make some difference...
I will start tonight with W2S at 4.30. Let's see....

Is 9,5-10 hours a good amount of night sleep for a 20 mo old child? I ask because, as I told you at the beginning, he does not seem truly rested when he gets up.

Thanks

[knackered]

Can i jump in for a sec? Am I right in thinking that on nursery days he goes from 5.30am to 1pm with no nap? Is there any way the nursery could put him to bed earlier or do they have a fixed nap time? I went through a very similar scenario with my DS1 when he was at nursery - that long long stretch from wake up to nap just made him totally OT - and meant the nap wasn't restorative at all.

Perhaps on the weekend you could try offering him his nap at 11.30 or 12ish to see what would happen and help him catch up on the sleep. Then it might be easier to put him to bed earlier too.

What do you thin?

Anna x

[Francy&Ricky]

Anna,
you are right. He goes from 5.30 am to 1 pm with no nap.......
Up to a couple of months ago, if he was really tired they tried to make him nap during the morning, but they cannot put him to bed so they tried with the pushchair. Most of the times he refused to sleep, he was having fun....
Besides, as you guessed, they have fixed meal and nap times.
But now they don't report to see him tired...on the contrary they say he is really nice, happy, good behaving...he plays, eats, sleep...in a word, he is a very good boy.

Anyway, I agree it is too long A time, more than 7 hours! 
And I must admit that when I pick him up in the afternoon he looks tired...

I also have another concern.
In one of my previous posts we discussed of the possibilities that sleeping too much during the day could steal night sleep. I am afraid that if he gets a 30-60 minutes nap in the morning he will be able to continue to sleep 2-2,5 hours during the afternoon. Don't you think it will be too much?

Ragarding weekends, actually he sleeps less during the afternoon, but we were trying to cut the morning nap just to make sure it did not rob night sleep....