Re: sleeping less and less - 16 mo off track

[babybarr]

Sounds good.  I always take 1.5hrs as a good nap here.  DS is very spirited here too!

Let us know how you go.

Xx

[mmom]

Last night was bad, but it is because of DH and I.  It was our friend's birthday and we were going out for a later dinner.  My MIL and FIL were watching our LO and our nephews at DH's brothers house.  So we had to put our LO to bed there.  Believe it or not, we did this a lot this past summer and it was always fine.  But the combination of it having been a while, our LO being older, and him wanting to stay downstairs with everyone, made putting him down hard.  He cried for about 40 minutes and didn't fall asleep until 7.  That was about a 6 hour A.  Then we picked him up at 10 and he didn't fall back asleep in the car and had a hard time resettling when we got home.  So even though he slept until 6:30 this morning, it was still a 10 hour night.  Maybe a little short of that.  We have a family thing this morning too, so his nap may be off.  He will probably fall asleep in the car since it is a drive away, so that will probably mean an earlier nap than usual given the later wake up.  But that is what he needs I think.  

This past summer we used  to bring the pack n play and put him down everywhere.  I know it was easier then because he slept in the pack n play every day while at day care and we did it all the time, so he was used to it.  But after last night, I am not eager to try this again.  DH was hoping it would be more successful, so that we aren't stuck in our house all winter at 6.  

Sooooo.....today we will have to do our best and provide an early bedtime if necessary.  Then tomorrow things will be back to normal.

[Mashi]

I think that's good that you have that attitude though Kara - it is what it is and make the best of it and then get back on track tomorrow!  Will check in then to see how you are doing!

[mmom]

Thanks Mashi!

[deckchariot]

Mashi's right - you sometimes just have to roll with it and make the best of things and then catch up when you can.  1.5 hrs for a nap sounds great, so I think you're heading in the right direction.  What was the nap like today?

[mmom]

Michelle, today has been a total disaster.  We got a later start than planned.  My LO finally fell asleep in the car at 10 and unfortunately, he only slept for 10 minutes because we arrived at our destination and everyone was in his face.  Then we thought he would fall asleep on the way home, but he was so OT that he was hysterically laughing at nothing in the back sleep and totally silly.  When we got in, we did our wind down and put him in his crib.  He has been in there for 1.5 hours rolling around, but not sleeping.  So after a crummy night of sleep, he has only slept 10 minutes today and it is 2:30.  What do I do?  As I write this, he is starting to get antsy.  He needs to sleep, but he is so OT that he won't.  I wish it wasn't snowy, because I would throw him in the stroller and he would sleep.  But I think I would fall on my butt if I tried that.

[babybarr]

Oh Kara, I am sorry. We have been there with little nap all day.  Car ride?  Early night and hopefully he'll make up for the bad day then?

Good luck.

BIG HUGS

Laura xxx

[mmom]

Laura, that is what we are hoping.  It is 4:30 now and I want him down by 5:30.  I am anticipating resistance and I want him down early in case it takes a while.  I was actually thinking 5, but DH is fighting me on it saying that there is no way he will sleep past 5 if we do that.

[mmom]

It is 5:40 and he is out.  Fingers crossed for a decent night.......

[Mashi]

Kara, it was the right thing to do!  A catnap at that point in the day will only put off his bedtime and the long nightsleep is what is restorative for him.  Even if he wakes at 5am, it's 12 hours....and then we are back to pushing the day ahead yes, but you can't push the day when he is OT, so he NEEDS that nightsleep.

Sending positive vibes - and it may not be as bad as you think! We got into a bit of a mess in about mid-October and had a week or so of EWs, lots of NWs and nap refusal.  Had one day where he slept 30 minutes for his afternoon nap and that was it - I put him to bed at 530ish and he slept until 630 or 700 the next morning -- a great night and broke our EWs. So, it's possible!

[mmom]

We had a short NW'ing at 3:30, but my LO slept until 6:40!!!!!  I can't believe it!!  We all needed the sleep in this house, because of the craziness of the past few days.  It was so nice to not be woken at 5!  Do I assume he caught up on sleep and do a 5.5 hour A?  Or do I still do a 5 hour A this morning, because of the past few days?

[Mashi]

We had a short NW'ing at 3:30, but my LO slept until 6:40!!!!!  I can't believe it!!

 

Really happy with this!!!

I am going to hold my hands up and say that I have no clue what A time to try! I am of 3 minds....

Mind #1 -- Go for 4h30m to 4h45min. Sounds odd, sounds drastic, sounds like setting up for failure.  But we are pushing 4.5 hours here. After a solid month of no problems on 5h15m we went down to 5h.  A few days of that and we got into an OT spell - and naptime ended up being at 4h15m, and he was sleeping 2.5 hours. Teeth, growth spurt, or both, not sure. But he has only just worked back up to 4h45minutes now.  Not saying that just because my LO does that at the same age as yours means ANYTHING, but it makes me wonder if we have been getting him OT by even having the 5h A time in the morning. He's learning to walk, he's teething.....all things that make him more tired.  So that is one thought I have.

Mind #2 - 5h.  It's pretty average for this age and we had a few days when the 5h of A time got a good nap.  So of course stick with what is working, right?

Mind #3 - 5h hasn't ALWAYS worked and we aren't sure if his nap refusal is due to OT or not....so that would be an indicator for 5h30m (or at least more than 5h)...right?

So totally noooooooooooo help at all here in what to do.  I have stopped worrying about the A time here for the morning, because it has been more random than anything. I won't let him go down at 4h, I make him go to 4h15 at the least, try my best to push to 4h30 but I also don't try to get him to sleep at 4h30 if he's not tired because that is so much earlier than he used to do. I have been totally 100% watching the signs.  First meltdown, first yawn, etc, and I start to get on the bed wagon!  So I am not really much help other than to say can you just watch him and see how he is, and put him down when he's tired??

[mmom]

I am hesitant to try the really shorter A, because of the past couple of times that we have tried it.  My LO slept even less.  I think the shortest I would go is 5 hours.  So maybe I will just play it by ear and see how he is doing today.  With a later wake up, I could push for a later nap and if it goes bad, still provide an early bedtime without it being too early.

[deckchariot]

YAY for a later wake up despite an awful napping day.  I would see how he's doing at 5 hrs and go from there.  He seems to respond really well to early bedtime, so you've got that to keep in mind if the nap isn't as long or late as you'd like.  Mashi is right that all the developmental stuff could mean he needs more sleep, but since you've noticed that shorter A time leads to shorter naps, I'd go with the 5ish hrs of A time and early bedtime if needed instead.

btw Mashi - love your 3 minds

[Mashi]

btw Mashi - love your 3 minds Wink

I'm a Libra...can you tell!!