Encouraging a later wake up...

[LeeLeeMelis]

Wesley is just about 15 months and pretty reliably sleeps from 6:45-7 until 5:45-6:15.  I'm fine with these times as I work at night when he's asleep and it allows me to get in my workouts on busy days. he has had a few nights in a row where he goes to sleep closer to 7:30 because of many factors including getting him to sleep on is own or we were out for the evening. Nothing has changed the wake up time, I think he makes up for it at nap time. We are going to visit family in a few weeks and I would love to to be able to sleep a bit later and with all the visiting a later bedtime would be very helpful.  Would I just make sure he doesnt make up the lost sleep at nap time and wake him up earlier from naps?  He will sleep later if one of us falls asleep in the recliner. No matter what he wakes at that regular time. Is there any use trying to change this?

Thanks for your help!

[MLK]

Whenever we have an early wake-up and I need him to stay up later at night, I go back to 2 naps for the day. WOuld he do that still?  My LO is 16 months. After a few days of that it does take him a couple of days to reset his body clock though.

Lan

PS I love looking at the photos on your blog!

[LeeLeeMelis]

Wesley can sometimes manage one nap with an early bedtime but usually has two naps a day. I was trying for a long time to get him to one nap but realized he wasnt ready for it yet.  On a two nap day he goes down at about 9:30 and sleeps for about about an hour and then again at 2 for about an hour. He's never been a long napper.

Thanks for checking my blog!

[MLK]

Has he always woken early or is this a new thing? If he's always woken early it will probably pretty difficult to get him to sleep later, except maybe hoping that as the mornings get darker he might sleep in!  If he's only started waking early then you could try a routine tweak to see if he will go back to sleeping later.

You take some great photos - the area you live in looks so beautiful, and your little boy so calm and sweet!

[LeeLeeMelis]

at about 7 months he started waking at 5, coming to bed and nursing and sleeping until 7. We stopped nursing at 12 months but the habit of waking up at around 5 was tough to break. No matter what his naps were like the day before he still wakes a bit before 6. It is VERY dark at 6am here, we have to literally wait until the sun is up to go out for our run. Last night he was dozing during story time at 6:55, I was trying to keep him up as much as I could but he really needed sleep. He refused his afternoon nap yesterday and actually did really well and didnt seem like he needed it through the afternoon. I'm so afraid he is going around tired and is going to catch the nasty flu or a cold that is going around.

I'm scared to do it but does W2S work at this age? I'm also thinking it could be his diaper. Many mornings he is soaked through a bit so I think he may be cold. I'm going to double diaper him tonight and try a little less milk at bedtime. I'm willing to try anything right now!

Thanks for your help and comments on my photos. Wesley is a such a good boy, very loving and a pretty mellow kid. 

[MLK]

It kinda somes crazy, but sometimes putting toddlers to bed EARLIER can help them sleep later! The reason is if they are overtired at bedtime they go into a deep, very sound sleep for a few hours but then can miss out on that last sleep cycle around 5am in the morning. Also if he is refusing the afternoon nap you're looking at the 2-1 transition. What about trying a 6:30 bedtime if he is dozing off at 6:55? I often did 6pm bedtimes sometimes during the 2-1.

I've never tried W2S, so can't help you there I'm afraid!

It's worth giving the early bedtime a try for a week to see how it goes. You are lucky lwith your sweet little boy!

[LeeLeeMelis]

Thanks so much for your input. I do think he is nearing the 2-1 transition as today he refused the afternoon nap again and had a good morning nap. I have messed around with a very early bedtime but wasnt sure if that was what created this problem. We'll keep working at it. Neither of us is sleep deprived or miserable so that's a good point. Good luck with your litte ones!

[MLK]

If he's refusing the PM nap I guess he's telling you something. There are 2 ways of dealing with the 2-1: good morning nap and late afternoon catnap, or morning catnap and longer afternoon nap. I've done both! Ds1 was an early waker so I did a short catnap (in the swing!) for 20 mins around 9am, then a longer nap around 12pm.

DS2 sleeps later inthe morning (yes!!!) so  I did a longer am nap, late afternoon catnap with him  - also it fit in with the school run.

What if you gave Wesley a short nap (20-30 mins) in the stroller or carseat a bit earlier than his usual time - you want him to have enough sleep to get through to lunch but not so much he refuses the afternoon nap IYKWIM? Any more than 45-60 mins in the morning and he'll probably refuse the afternoon sleep.

Then lunch followed by a nap around 12pm. If he still refuses, then get him up and try 30 - 60 mins later. Then bed 4-5 hours later (depending how long the nap was.

You might have to keep persisting for a week or two before you see any results - good luck, the 2-1 is tough!

[LeeLeeMelis]

I dont know what I did right yesterday or perhaps the stars just alligned for us but Wes slept until 6:30!

I even managed to get myself to bed early so we are a rested feeling good duo this morning! He naped from 10-11:30 (which is a long nap for him )yesterday. Refused an afternoon nap but slept on the way to the store for about 15 minutes and was in bed at 6:50. 

Here's the question of the day, how do I do it again! I dont really like the idea of taking a drive for him to sleep and that's pretty anti BW:-) We have a playgroup at 10 today so I think we'll have a long walk this morning bring a snack for after playgroup and get him to nap right after that. We'll see how the afternoon goes.

Thanks for your help!

[MLK]

Yay on the late wake-up! It might have been the late ultra short catnap that meant he wasn't so overtired at bedtime. When DS2 had a good long AM nap, I wouldn't give him a PM nap until after 4pm sometimes - as long as it was short (30mins or less) it didn't affect bedtime for him. Maybe Wesley is the same? If he didn't take that catnap I'd put him to bed at 6pm.

I know that drives or walks in the pram for sleep aren't really BW but I think as long as the main nap and bedtime are independent, than a short nap in the car or stroller (like you did yesterday) is OK. Especially when you know they are tired but won't sleep in the cot! Also I feel so mean waking them up when they are in a deep sleep in the cot -  a nap in the stroller or car isn't as deep so they are more likely to wake after a short time naturally.

Hope you get the same tomorrow!

[Mashi]

I don't really like the idea of taking a drive for him to sleep and that's pretty anti BW:-)

Yes, but the catnap is always different! AP is often the only way you can get that catnap in...remember the phase of dropping down from 3-2 naps, and that evening catnap...most of the time the advice on the easy boards are to AP that catnap in if you need to, because getting the nap can be more important than HOW you get the nap in. Same with 2-1! 

[LeeLeeMelis]

Thanks for letting me know about the APing, I rock him to sleep for naps but he goes to bed for the night completely independently. I'm always torn between APing, now I wont feel so bad about getting  nap in the car in! We often take an afternoon walk with our doggie but I dont think he would sleep in the stroller anymore. We'll see! 

He took a short nap this morning on our way to our playgroup, had a grand time playing with his friends and then had a bit over an hour nap at about noon so hopefully he'll have a good night of sleep again.