I'm at my wits end! 11 mo still won't STTN!!

[~*~Little Miss Sunshine~*~]

I can't believe it's taken me this long to ask for advice, but I kept thinking that one day it'll just end.  Well, it hasn't.  My dear sweet son has only STTN a handful of times and he'll be one at the end of the month.  I don't know what to do.

Here's a brief history and an average day (ok maybe the history won't be so brief)

DS2 has basically been a good sleeper.  I've never really had to do any hard core sleep training like I did with DS1 (I attribute this mostly to starting DS2 on EASY from day 1).  Anyhow, it seems not matter what his day is like, he won't STTN.  He's always been BFed and he has had one feed since approximately 6 months of age (he had more than one before that). His wake times always vary so I assumed it wasn't a habit.  However, I've gone the last 1.5 wks without feeding him and I've been doing PD but he still won't STTN.  Sometimes it takes 2 hours.  He falls asleep independently for all naps and nighttime.

Here's a typical day:

E: 6:30 am (BF)
E: 8:00 am (solids - usually oatmeal and fruit puree)
S: 9 - 10:30
E: 10:30 (BF)
E: 12 pm (sometimes baby food in a jar or whatever DS1 may be eating)
S:  1 or 1:30 – 2:30
E:  2:30 (BF)
E: 4:30 or 5 pm (usually whatever DS1 is eating)

We start wind down around 6:15 or 6:30, I BF him then sing him a song and put him in his crib.  He usually goes right to sleep.
His NWings could be anywhere from 8:45 pm to 5 am.  He will usually be standing in his crib crying.  He does take a paci but has several in his crib and is able to get them on his own.  For the past 1.5 wks, as I stated earlier, I’ve been doing PD.  He usually isn’t crying the entire time that he’s awake.  He’ll lie down for a few minutes, then sit up to see if I’m still there, then lie back down again.  If I’ve walked out of the room or he hears me go back downstairs (the master bedroom is on the 1st floor, the kids’ rooms on the 2nd) he’ll start crying again.  I don’t know what else to do.  This doesn’t seem like it’ll ever end.  It doesn’t matter if he has 2 good naps, 2 crap naps, 1 good nap and 1 short nap,  only 1 nap….he ALWAYS wakes up.  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help me   I’m so frustrated at this point.

TIA!

[Tweakster]

Hi there based on the typical day you posted he's not getting enough A time and too much day sleep for 11 mths.  But how typical is that day?  Have you tried cutting back on the naps?

Big hugs, it sounds like it's really tough!

[~*~Little Miss Sunshine~*~]

I've tried naps all over the place.  I've cut the morning nap to 45 minutes which didn't make a difference.  And today for instance, his morning naps was 1.5 hrs but his 2nd nap was 45 minutes.  I've always had to err on the side of shorter A times with him or he will either have short naps or no nap at all.

[bubbabear1]

Hi there,

I am having the same problems with my 10 month old and I am in the process of extending 'A' times gradually.  I was worried about doing this as I always got a long nap in the morning and was worried about losing it but so far so good - I even got a longer nap in the afternoon so it might be worth a try if you havent already... It's still early days though so fingers crossed things keep improving!!

Good luck,

Siobhan

[Tweakster]

Hi there Anne, I would cut the morning nap to 20-30 mins.  And then see what he does.  He's doing exactly what Finn is doing now which is telling me he needs more A time and less day sleep.

[~*~Little Miss Sunshine~*~]

OK I'll give it a shot!  I really enjoy my napper  DS1 was a chronic short napper until he went to one nap around 16 months LOL

[Tweakster]

Yep I loved 2 naps while they happened, it took me to 7.5 mths to get them running tickety boo and they have now disappeared at nearly 10 mths.  Fun times hehe.

[~*~Little Miss Sunshine~*~]

Ah well, I enjoyed it while it lasted   But if I could get those nights sorted, I'd take the shorter naps!!

[~*~Little Miss Sunshine~*~]

So yesterday DS2 had a 40 minute nap at 9:40 (I would have woken him at 30 minutes but lost track of time - 30 minutes goes by quickly ) then had a 1.5 hr nap from 1 - 2:30.  Went to bed around 6:45 pm and was up for a little over an hour around 4 am.  I know this isn't just an overnight fix   I'll keep at it although I'm seriously considering just switching to 1 nap at this point.

[~*~Little Miss Sunshine~*~]

Hi Jane

I really don't think it's teething at this point.  He acts differently at night when he's in pain.  Today he had a little catnap in the car and then went down for a nap at noon.  We'll see how that goes.  I'm just afraid that when he's at the in laws, they won't wake him at 30 minutes.  In fact, I know they won't.  But they will listen if I tell them to just give him one nap.  Anyway, if it's not any better tonight I'll do the 30 minutes tomorrow and just deal with the repercussions of the in laws during the week.

[Tweakster]

Hi there Anne, I know it's really hard, I was up myself at 3:54 this morning - apparently we are still working out some kinks in our own 2-1 over here lol.  But I would hesitate to jump to one nap too quickly until he can handle the A times...I think you will end up with some real OT NW and this not solve your problem either.

[~*~Little Miss Sunshine~*~]

I know   You'd think I'd be much more pleasant and understanding as I was a nap mod for a time, but I've waited too long and am soooo tired.....this poor kid LOVES his sleep and has always been on the short side of A times but has also skipped naps now and again so who knows.  Thankfully he's a pretty happy kid too ......

[~*~Little Miss Sunshine~*~]

Thanks Jane.  I'll beg and plead with them to have them wake him, that's all I can do, right?

I have tried giving him some meds before bed when I suspected teething and it hasn't made a difference.  We'll see how tonight goes.  He slept for 2.5 hrs so woke at his normal 2:30 time, bed by 6:45.