14.5 mo. 2-1 crazy!!!

[sherry lynn]

Wow!! What wonderful news.

It depends on how you want to play it really. If you want things to be a little more stable and don't want to push your days out too much then you can put him down at the same time but wake him up at about 11:15 regardless of how long he sleeps. That's how a lot of moms do it. That way they day doesn't just keep getting more and more pushed out.

Just be careful to keep a good eye on him and his next A time because the shorter the nap the shorter the next A time.

Does that make sense?

It seems like you've been doing well though, and you could keep things like they are for a little while. If you want to put him down 10 min later or so that's fine too

[babyboy26]

I think I understand.  I'm going to try and stick with what we've been doing for a little while longer and see what happens.  I don't want to push too much too fast, as he really seems to like and need his am nap.  I might put him down 10 or so min later in the am if he has had an 11.5 hr night.  If he keeps taking ages to settle in the am, then I might shorten that nap to 30m instead of 45m, that way we are closer to having the pm nap at around the same time, and not pushing the day back too much.  What do you think?

[sherry lynn]

That's what I would do   Keep things as they are for a few days and see how they play out. So happy to hear success though

[babyboy26]

Yes, I am happy about the success too.  I was so hesitant to do the short am/long pm, as I tried it in the past and it did not work out well.  What I really like about it most is that there's almost no guess work as far as As are concerned.  Pretty much the same time every day for am nap, and since I wake him from that, pretty much the same time for pm nap.  Makes it easier to plan things, and it is less stressful because I'm not counting hours and minutes so much anymore. 

I do think it might be getting sticky, though, as he seems to be taking longer to fall asleep for the am and pm nap.  Here's what happened yesterday:

7:05 wake
10:55-11:40 nap 1 (45m I woke him)
3:05-4:15 nap 2 (1hr10m I woke him)
7:45-6:35 bed

For both naps, he played for 25m before falling asleep.  This was the first night I got less than 11hrs in almost a week.  I think it was because I let that pm nap go too late, which I did because he fell asleep later. 

Today, he did take his nap from 10:35-11:20 (I woke).  This was after putting him down at 10:20, so he still took 15m to go to sleep.  I put him down for the pm nap at 2:15, and it is now 2:37 and he's still babbling, although getting a bit more quiet with it. 

So, I'm thinking he may be telling me that he needs a little more than 3hr A after a 45m am nap.  Problem is that I can't push the pm nap back too far, or it gets too late and then affects bedtime.  I'm wondering if it is a good time for me to try and shorten the am nap to 30m, and then do a 3hr A following that.  What do you think?

[clazzat]

We do a 30 min am nap here, and it works really well for us.  One thing I learned with dd1 and and applying to dd2 is that there is a "must-wake-by" time - so I absolutely can't let them sleep past a certain time (regardless of how long they have slept for) if I want them to go to bed.  For dd1 it is 2.30 (she is nearly 3) and for dd2 (14 months) it is 3.

[sherry lynn]

Kara - I agree with clazzat here. And with what you said in your post. I'm sure the shorter night was do to the nap going later. So give the 30 min nap a try and see how it goes. At 14.5 months I'm not surprised at all that he needs more than 3 hours A time for that 45 min nap. Even at 12 months my LO needed 3h15ish.

[babyboy26]

Thanks, clazzat and sherry lynn!  He didn't fall asleep until 2:50 yesterday, and I woke him at 4:00.  He was asleep at 7:45, but woke at 6 this am  

[sherry lynn]

  Hope you have a better day today.

[babyboy26]

We are still having EWs...and with the time change, things are messy!  Am doing the 30m am nap today, followed by 3 hr A...hope it works!

[sherry lynn]

Good luck. Things are messy ATM here too with the time change. I hope it only takes a couple of days to get back on track. If you are having EW  then that's really a sign to either push out the morning A time (or) cut the morning nap. I hope that 30 min morning nap works for you.

Usually it only takes a couple of days to get back on track after DLS, hopefully that will be the case for both of us

[clazzat]

I have had problems with EWs for ages (various reasons, mostly teeth) and I found that I couldn't really cut the am nap as she was too tired, but I could shave a bit off the lunchtime nap and now she is sleeping longer at night.  Now I limit the total day sleep to 2h (ish) which is generally 15-30 mins in the morning and 1h30-45 at lunchtime (normally 1h45 having been 2h+).  We have had a week of 11.5h nights, which is practically unheard of!

[babyboy26]

Wow, clazzat!  That sounds great!  Here's what happened yesterday:

6:20 wake
10:30-11:00 nap 1 (I woke)
2:05-3:40 nap 2 (I woke)
7:45-6:25 bed

The good news is that he is not fighting naps or bedtime, and settling within 5-10m for all.  I am thinking that it's possible that he needs more A before bed.  He would happily play longer if we let him.  I think this must be where it gets pretty tricky.  I don't think he would go to sleep much earlier for the pm nap.  Should I just keep this the same for a few more days and see what happens?

[sherry lynn]

Yep. I would keep it like that for a few more days. Even longer if he doesn't fight bedtime. If he starts fighting bedtime I would cut the second nap instead of making bedtime later because he's already going down at 7:45. Maybe even just cutting that extra five minutes or so would help. Then if that doesn't work then maybe bedtime at 8.

I'm so happy they day went well for you.

[babyboy26]

Ok...so here's what happened yesterday and today:

Yesterday:
6:25 wake
10:30-11:00 nap 1 (I woke)
2:15-3:30 nap 2 (woke on his own...I think he was actually asleep at 1:55, as there was silence until 2:05, then a few coughs, then he chatted for 10m)
7:40-6:20 bed

Today:
6:25 wake
10:35-11:05 nap 1 (I woke)
1:55-3:25 nap 2 (he actually woke at 3:10 crying...whined until 3:15, then back to sleep until 3:25, woke whining again)

Do you think he needs a bit of a shorter A between naps since he's getting only a 30m am nap??? 

[sherry lynn]

Yeah, go for 5-10 min earlier. Some need as little as 2.5. But you don't want him to take an UT nap either. So just work on it slowly.