17.5 months - how much do I cut the nap?

[babyboy26]

Lol, Laura!  I will have a glass of wine for you tonight!

Kara--we had a 1.5hr nap today...what A are you doing before bed on that length of nap?

[mmom]

Kara, my lo does a 5.75 A on that.  I have tried shorter, but that is naturally when he falls asleep.

[babyboy26]

Ok...we have been doing 6 (sometimes more) since the naps got shorter (was about 5.5), but are sometimes getting 10.5 hr nights and sometimes 11hr+.

[babybarr]

Well I think for DS we need 1.25hr nap and then his night varies (TBH half the time I don;t hear when he wakes so it's all guesswork for me!) The problem is getting him to do the 1.25hrs every day.  I can put him down at similar times and similar A times and sometimes he'll do it and sometimes not...

Kara aka Babyboy do you get the shorter nights after a good nap day or even the day after that?  I find that very often it's not the day straight after but the following one when you notice the issues.  I guess like when we have a late night - it's not normally the next day we feel it but the one after and I think that's how we end up in this OT/UT cycle thing.

Kara - mmon how was your night?

[mmom]

Kara, I think it it trial and error with that last A time.  I only found out accidentally with a 1.5 hour nap, that is what worked for my LO.

Laura, you have so many variables, so it is understandable why you are struggling.

Yesterday went like this for us:
wake - 6:35
nap - 1:20 - 2:30 I think he was OS from the class and I also found that he had a BM when he woke from his nap, which would also explain him taking a while to fall asleep.
sleep - 7:40

It is 6 and I can hear him talking.  So we got a shorter night.  I don't think I can necessarily chalk it up to a later bedtime because the night before we had a 7:30 bedtime.  So I am wondering that if even with the 1 hour 10 minute nap, if his A was too short after.  I know what kind of A he needs on a  longer nap, but I am not sure with the shorter ones.

[babybarr]

FWIW we are doing about 5.5hrs A on a 1.25hr nap.  If his nap is nearer the hr long then I do 5.25.

Our nap today was something odd like 67mins!!!

[babyboy26]

Interesting theory, Laura, about the shorter night coming the 2nd day after the good nap.  TBH, I'm not sure.  He has been really inconsistent and random lately.  I don't want to take over Kara's thread, so you're welcome to pop in on mine if you'd like.  I agree, 67m is a weird time!

Kara--so sorry you got an EW.  Wish I could offer more advice, but I'm in the same boat trying to figure this out!!!  Hope today is better for you!

[mmom]

We just got another short night.  10 hours.  I am so annoyed right now.  He started chatting at 5:15 and hasn't stopped.  I actually thought he was laying back down at 1 point, but he stood up again a few minutes later.

Yesterday was this:
wake - 6
nap - 12:10 - 1:40
sleeping - 7:05 DH said after our LO's bath, he walked into his room, pointed at his crib and DH put him in it.  He was sleeping within minutes.

I assumed we got an EW yesterday because of the craziness from the day before.  But what do I make of this morning?  Do I let my LO sleep 2 hours today because now we have 2 days in a row of EW?

[babybarr]

I wouldn't let him sleep 2hrs...  I think this is asking for trouble. 

Stick to a similar nap time and no longer than 1.5hrs and usual bedtime.  Otherwise I do think you'll end up getting into the cycle we were trying to get out of!  It really looks like 12 - 12.5hrs max sleep is what he needs - hence not letting him do the 2hr nap - but what do I know??!

[mmom]

I hear you Laura.  The problem is I am wondering if there a is a little bit of OT settling in.  The night before he slept 7:40 - 6.  So a 10.5 hour night.  Then last night was a 10 hour night.  So we are averaging 11.5/12 hours, not the 12.5  we were getting for a few days.  But I see how letting him sleep could also get us into trouble.  I never know what to do in these situations!

[babybarr]

Well ask yourself this question... would I rather a long nap today and risk the bad night or do I try the other theory to see what happens?  I think you have been doing the longer naps haven't you when you've had a shorter night?  i don't know which to suggest TBH, I hate waking DS, I guess the other option is to offer a slightly earlier nap and let him have to longer time, that way you still have your long A till bed - would that work?

Sorry not much help!

[MLK]

I could never wake my two up from naps consistently either - that's why we do the long nap and 10.5 hour night. One day I'll have to wake him though, as I have to be out of the house by 3pm for the school run.

Maybe he has a natural wake up time of 6 am so if you want an 11 hour night bedtime might need to be 7pm? I know, not really what you're after. My older son woke at 6am (or sometimes even earlier) for years and no amount of bedtime tweaking would change it. He started sleeping later when he was 4-5.

[mmom]

He generally wakes between 6/6:30.  This morning is definitely an EW.  I wake him from his nap every day.  I don't like it, but for a few days it was giving us 11 hour nights.  The past 2 days have been off with this morning being the worst.  He can't go down any earlier than 11 this morning, because we will be out.  I don't know....

[babyboy26]

Hugs, Kara!  This is sooooooo hard!  Hope you get a good nap!

[*Liz*]

((hugs)) Kara - just wanted to add that a few members have suggested to me that a longer nap and a 2.5hr nap is sometimes better at this age as otherwise they get too OT during the day and the 10-10.5hr night might just suit them better for a while until they can truely handle longer A's on less sleep.

Sherry said that she tried nap cutting to get 11 hr nights and found it never really worked consistently and things were bertter overall on a 10.5 hr night.

Just another option to think about - I'm assuming you get UT EWs here rather than lots of UT NWs.