Support Thread for 2 to 1 nap transition cont.

[rach321]

OK so we had a 0430 initial wake up - talked to himself for 30 mins then had a bottle, put him back to bed then he was up again at 6.30.  Managed to keep him awake till 9am then back to bed so it looks like its going to be a 2 nap day today!

[Groovia]

Hi!

 DS2 is 13 months old and we've been dabbling in 1 nap days.  Funny thing is, he'll wake up at 6:30am or 7am, go down at 10am and sleep until 1pm.  Then naps are done for the day, and he is EXHAUSTED when we start bath/bedtime at 5pm.  That happened twice this week.

BUT, if I push his nap any later, he'll only sleep 1.5 hours or so, and still ends up OT.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, DS1 has preschool, so after drop off,  we get home around 9:30am and have to leave to go get him at 11:30am, returning home at 12:30pm.  I usually attempt 2 naps on those days, but if he refuses, like yesterday, then the earliest I can get him down is 12:30pm, and I get a shorter nap.

So we have no school until Jan. 5 so I hope we can get this thing sorted out.  He woke up at 6:30am this morning, and I know he could sleep at 9:30, but I don't know how far to push it.  He also has a cold, so I feel bad waking him up when his body craves rest.

[Brodster'sMommy]

Jaspersmum, I am so sorry for the day you've had. Is it getting any better? I've had days like that and they make feel like I'm losing my mind!

Rach, that's great that you were able to get him back to sleep. Those EW are so tough!

[rach321]

Well we did 2 naps as planned  - morning one was 1.5hrs and afternoon one was 30-40mins then he was asleep by 7.10pm so finger crossed he will be ok tonight and not too early in the morning!
Hugs to all the 2-1 people out there - this is tough! Hope the sleep fairy is kind to us all!

[JaspersMum]

Thanks Brodster'sMommy . . how is your little man doing?

Our yucky day yesterday ended okay.  DS got to sleep at 7.15 but still woke at 6am again this morning.  He's asleep right now thankfully - we're doing a two nap day so hopefully he's catching up on sleep and we have a better wake up tomorrow.  Although I can hardly complain I guess considering rach321 you are getting 4.30am wake ups!!

Groovia, definitely sounds like your routine needs tweaking.  Have you considered shortening your morning nap to get an afternoon nap in?  That's what I would do.  I was having the same problem . . DS would have a great morning nap if he went down around 3.5/4 hours after wake up, but then I could not get a catnap in and he would be a wreck by 5pm.  I ended up doing this for awhile:

Wake - 6.30am
Nap - 10am - 10.30am
Nap - 1.45/2pm - 3.15/3.30pm
Bed - 7ish

[JaspersMum]

Another EW but this time DH heard him before 6am!  I shouldn't have put him to bed so late!  Here was our day:

Wake - 6am
Nap 1 - 10.00 - 10.30
Nap 2 - 2.55 - 4.40 (got to bed toooo late)
Bed - 7.20 - sleep at 7.40 (cried out at 8.10 - probably due to OT)

I could start a new thread and ask 'why the EWs?' but I know why . . he had 4 days of 1 nap and he couldn't handle it.  I should be putting him to bed super early but its just so hard with DH who doesn't get why it needs to happen.  He's okay with the EWs and I certainly am NOT!  This is my plan for today:

Wake - sometime before 6am!!
Nap 1 - 10am - 10.30am
Nap 2 - 2pm til whenever, at least 3.30pm
Bed - 7pm at the latest if I can help it.

[Brodster'sMommy]

Jaspersmum, bummer about the EW. Agh! They are killer. How are you doing sleep-wise yourself? Let us know how the night goes.

Groovia, I agree with Jaspersmum. A shorter morning nap should definitely help. Let us know how you get along!

My little man is still sick. And I now have his awful cold. This is one nasty bug. I was up more last night then DS bc of how yucky I felt. Hope no one else gets this. We are contining on 2 nap days until DS starts sleeping better. He had a 3 hour stretch last night which shows he's improving.  Here's to each night getting better and better!

Here is my schedule so far today:

a: 7:10
s: 10:55 - 11:45
s: 3:20 - ?
s:

Hopefully he'll sleep an hour then bedtime will be around 7:45pm. 



s:

[rach321]

Been a bit all over the place today. LO woke screaming at 0040 which is really unusual for him, he usually just winges and sends himself back to sleep but we had to do 2 PD and he settled down and chatted to himself/blew raspberries and was fast asleep again by 0125.  He then woke at 0600 had his bottle and went back to sleep until 0820 (unheard of and has never happened before but I'm not complaining cos it was lovely on a sunday morning!).  He then took a nap at 12.30 but only an hour and then had a 20min catnap at 5pm and off to bed by 7pm.  We are travelling all day tomorrow to see my parents for the week so it might be a bit off plan tomorrow, hopefully we can make it up on Tuesday!
Hope you all have a good night!

[JaspersMum]

Yeah we got a later wake up today!!  Around 6.45am - I am very happy!  Our day went like this:

Wake - before 6am
Nap 1 - 10.05 - 10.35
Nap 2 - 2.05 - 3.45
Bed - 6.45 but not asleep til close to 7.15 (cried and carried on - ended up giving meds)

Very unsure what to do today . . . whether to do one nap or two.  Will see how he feels . . if he can make it to 4.5 hrs A time I'll go for one nap.  DH and I have made a pact to get him to bed early for the next three days in prep for xmas!

[Brodster'sMommy]

Rachel, that's fabulous! Please let us know what you decide to do for the day and how it goes!

[Brodster'sMommy]

So I've decided to close shop on my thread. DS is still sick, so am I, and the Holidays are right around the corner and well be out of town for 10 days. I'm sure he'll need 2 naps just to keep up. I'm going to try transitioning to one nap again once we get home and settled. But I will still be following along! I have already learned so much from these boards so I'm hoping when I try again in a week that I'll get it right lol.

Are any of your LOs getting new teeth through the transition? How's that going? 

[JaspersMum]

Definitely geting teeth here!  DS has had a swollen top gum for agggeeesss!!!  The left molar cut before this one without any swelling so I have no idea when this right one will cut.  I've learnt that at bedtime if DS squawks for longer than 5 minutes, he's either in pain or OT.  Same with NWs.

Hope you get better soon BM (Brodster'sMommy)!  And have a lovely break away.

DS was doing fine this morning so I decided on one nap.  We ended up getting visitors and so he didn't go to sleep til about 12.20pm - 30-40 minutes later than I would have liked!  This meant that he stirred at the 1hr15m mark (OT) but thankfully went back to sleep (and is still asleep!).  Will still do bed at 6.30/7pm tonight.

*update* bed was at 6.40 but didn't fall asleep til 7pm.  Not sure if he was UT?  He was falling asleep while I was feeding him around 6.30pm though ??

[*Becky*]

Hi ladies,
Just checking in to see how you are all doing
We have had to go to 20 min am nap as we were having nap refusals all over the place and one day with a 40 min nap all day! Seems to be ok at the moment but nothing lasts for long at this stage eh! One thing I have done is start wiwo for naps and feel so much more in control so that is great. Hope you all have a good xmas
 becky x

[rach321]

Merry Christmas girls !
We are still stuck with EW at 5am, has a bottle then back to sleep for 30mins if we are lucky! No idea what to try next we tried long am nap with CN in pm, CN in am and long pm nap, he's too tired at the moment for 1 nap and I would be putting him to bed at 4.30pm which isn't really practical - so I'm all out of ideas.  We have molar number 1 cutting through (1 corner through the gum) so not sure if I should just stick with 2 naps till he's done with that, but then there will be another one along! Here's today's EASY if anyone has any ideas - I'm too tired to think straight anymore!

0500 wake up and bottle
back to sleep for 30 mins
0900 nap (1hr) couldn't keep him up any longer without major meltdown!
1300 nap (40mins) wouldn't go back to sleep again - believe me I tried!
1900 bed out like a light, didn't hear a peep out of him!

We are away from home at the moment so I can't just leave him crying at 5am cos he will have the whole house up so I need some ideas for when we get home on Monday!
Rach xx

[JaspersMum]

Rach321, how old is your LO?  He definitely seems OT, having short nights.

Firstly, I would recommend not giving him the bottle at 5am when he wakes (when you get home probably - no use being tough while you're away).  He could be waking for it.  I think you have to decide on an acceptable wake up time/time to start the day, perhaps 6am to start with and then look at making it later down the track.  So you may have to employ some sleep training to get to that 6am mark, so wi/wo or PD.  You may have to use the same technique on one of his naps.

If he really can't last more than 3.5/4 hours in the morning, you have to stick with two naps.  And then you have to decide whether you want long am or short am.  I think he's also going to bed too late.  Stick with a 12/12.5 hour day, so if he's waking at 5/5.30, he needs to be in bed much earlier than 7pm.  Sometimes when kids go to bed earlier, they do end up sleeping longer, especially if they're OT. 

Here's a couple of schedules:

Wake - 6am
Nap 1 - 9.30 - 11/11.30
Nap 2 - 3.30pm - 4pm
Bed - 6.30pm

Wake - 6am
Nap 1 - 9.30 - 10am
Nap 2 - 1pm - 2.30/3pm
Bed - 6.30pm