Up since 4am..... Please someone out there help me...

[Malavoy]

My 9 1/2 month old wakes up for 1 1/2 hours every night at 330 or 4..... My husband and I are at our wits end. We've tried teething meds, ended the cosleeping, ended the paci and we DOES put himself to sleep for naps so we know he can do that! I'm a teacher and completely exhausted!!!! It's not new milestones bc he's been crawling, standing for a while now..... When he wakes he cries and we settle him with our hand on his back and then he plays for the next 1 1/2 with crying mixed in. If we rock him he'll fall asleep pretty quickly but wake up for the transfer. I don't like rocking him bc it's a bad habit but we resort to that at the end of the 1 1/2 hours.... Which is provlbably why he goes down easy bc he's so tired then.

Wakes at 6am
naps at daycare 9-10
naps at daycare 1-3
bedtime 7

we cant move the 2nd nap any later bc he has to be up at 3 for daycare girl to drip him off with me.... If I pick up he will sleep until 330 some days.

What am I doing wrong??? As i write this I've been up since 400 and have to get up for the day at 545 which is in 15 min......

Thanks!
Mary

[Malavoy]

Well at first his cry isn't desperate and I let it go but then it goes to that next level...

For naps he gets put in his crib and falls asleep on his own. Sometimes a little fussing but not where he needs anyone.

Not close to walking. He doesn't cruise yet, just pulling up, etc.

Based on our schedule when should I add that A time? Also, on the weekends when he is with me I'm lucky if the two naps are 45 min.... I figured that was bc of all the stimulation at daycare. Also, those shorter naps don't change his night issues like I thought they may... Anyway, should we only do pm nap 130-3?

Thanks! My husband says thanks too!

[deckchariot]

I'm wondering if he's approaching the 2 to 1 nap switch?  My dd started at 10 mos - we would get EWs - and we NEVER had EWs.  Have you checked out this FAQ:  http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=95670.0

There are basically 2 approaches to the switch:
1) keep 1st nap at the same A time every day, but gradually shorten the length of it; at the same time, move pm nap earlier (by the same amount you shorten nap 1).  When nap 1 is <30 min, attempt to cut it out and just have 1 nap.
2) push morning A time later, allow your bub to sleep as long as they want in the am, then do a late pm catnap (can be a shorter A time than in the am, as you don't want them to take a full nap); eventually cut out pm catnap.

If he needs a longer A time before bed, then option #1 is generally better.  If he doesn't and HATES being woken from the am nap, option #2 may be better.  In both cases, you can offer an early bedtime if one/both of the naps is bad.

Whichever approach you choose - it's best to go gradually - so either cut 15 min off the am nap every 3-5 days or lengthen the am A time by 15 min every 3-5 days.  It also is helpful to know about how much day sleep is "optimal" for your ds and how much A time he needs (minimum) between his last nap and bedtime - that can help you plan out the day.

hth
michelle