Toddler Support Thread for 2-1 Nap Transition Continued

[gavinsmum1]

Alyssa~ what does your overall day look like?  Maybe it's the first A that needs to be adjusted?  5 am wake-ups are NASTY. Just unearthly in my opinion.

Anyone else experience the shortening of naps once they've crossed over to one?  We've gone from 1 hr 45 min to 1 hr 30 to 1 hour 15 to 1 hr 20 to 1 hr 10.  The last two he's woken crying from~ seems like not enough sleep, especially now at 1 hour 10 min. He settle smack on 5.5 hours after any of those naps, but the first A time is eluding us.  Nights have gotten slightly longer in response, but that nap's not long enough I suspect. Is he getting OT? How much should I cut the first A?

[hjrmom01]

GM1 mom...our days vary so much. We had been doing a 1pm nap because of 8am wakeups. Naps vary from 2-2.5 hrs. Can't figure out the right A to bed

These are the last few days:
3/23 woke 7
Nap 1-3:20
Bedtime 8:30

3/24 cried out and woke at 5, back to sleep, woke at 6:30 up at 8
Nap 12:25-3:00
Bedtime 7:40

3/25 NW 12:50 tylenol, back to sleep by 1:20. Cried out at 5, and woke when given Motrin
Nap 12:28-3:25
Bedtime 8:10/15
Cried out at 10:45 settled self

3/26 awake by 2:15, fussing 2:45. Motrin and tylenol and laid on floor. Asleep by 3:20 woke back up 3:40, benadryl and back to sleep until 7:40

[Tweakster]

We are all over the place here with daycare, illness and teething.  Everything all at once!

At the very least he is napping 1.5-2 hours at daycare (and quite easily they say, at least some hard work has paid off) and we have managed to get him 11+ hours sleep with various techniques (early bed, DF of Motrin, diluted bottle at EW). 

We took Finn to the docs last night to get his 12 mth immunizations but he had a low grade fever and his lymph nodes are swollen so looks like he's getting sick on top of the whole teething thing.  Expected really since he started daycare.  It seems they are a cesspool for germs!

If I have one piece of advice it's early bedtime during teething, a shorter final A actually seems to be the case around here.  Might be for other LO's too.  Even if we do get NW or EW he sleeps really soundly for that first block of sleep.

Wishing everyone well - that these teeth hurry up, that noses stop running and that LO's have a good solid restful weekend :-)

[Tweakster]

Hi Wendy,

You have been so wonderful and helpful. I have learned SO much from you. Thank you for constantly adding your two-sense into my crazy days! When Finn was on 20 minute naps, how long of an A were you able to have after that?

I was also wondering, have you noticed that with this age that if you don't get the right A time to where they are truly ready for their nap or BT, that they really have a hard time going down? I used to think it was that I needed to do sleep training, but I know my DD can sleep independently. I'm starting to think that it just has to be the "perfect" time to where they are truly ready to sleep; otherwise, forget about it!! =).

Thanks again!

Hi there Christine, at first he could only manage 2.5 hrs but that quickly jumped to 3 hours.  But going beyond 3 hours was dicey.

The right A time has always been key for us, and also our downfall most of the time ;-p

[nelliestar]

Hi Christine,

Our A times are a bit strange and not typical so I wouldn't take much notice of them!

DS is on the high end for daytime sleep needs and his A times are quite low really.
We do 1st nap at 3hrs 45 mins from wakeup (was 3hrs 30 til 2 weeks ago!) then nap for 1 hr 15 mins then A time of 3 hrs 45 again then nap of 45 mins then A time of 3hrs to 3hrs 15 to bedtime. This is our schedule at the mo with teething going on. Our A time to bed can be shorter and it doesn't seem to affect him going down. What is happening now which is good is that DS has started to go to the living room door and sign that he wants to go to bed when its nap time! Cute...

Hugs and lots of luck,

Nell xxx

[hjrmom01]

alright ladies...I need your input on our NW's here. What do you think this is all about?

This was H's day yesterday:
3/26 up at 7:40 (NW 2:15-3:40ish)
Nap 1 1:05ish-2:50
Bedtime 8ish

then he woke up crying at 12:30 but it only lasted a minute or so. He calmed himself down but then just laid there sucking on his lovey, awake. I checked the monitor at 1:30 and he was still awake trying to go back to sleep. I think it was by 2:30 he was back to sleep. But he never cried out for me.

Does it sound like UT or teeth? He is still sleeping and it's 8am. I just don't get these long NW?! He's got 2 molars almost all the way in and a third is about halfway in, 4th yet to come up.  That was a shorter than usual nap for him, too.  He seemed fine all evening, it's so hard to tell what's "tired" vs "toddler meltdowns" you know?! And after we get out of bath he's always signing "night night." I used to think he was asking to go to bed, now I think he's telling me that's what comes next,

[gavinsmum1]

Alyssa, it is remarkable that your LO seems to be doing exactly what my little guy is doing~ with the exception of naps.  We've had these random NW which he sometimes just resettles himself, but sometimes we'll need to go in and lay him down.  There were two nights this week that he was awake for 1-2 hours between 3-4 and 3-5 am!!  At first it was shocking, but then we realized after he'd slept in to a blissful 7:15 that it actually allowed us to bump his routine a little forward.  Unfortunately that was all wrecked by a gigantic dirty/soggy diaper and refusal to go back to sleep at 6:00 this morning. ARG!!
Anyway, I don't know what the heck is going on either at night.  The other night, Jesse laid there forever and after an hour he did climb up and start hollering for us, but we just laid him back down and one of the nights he did resettle with some Motrin I think.  Just brutal.  I wouldn't guess UT, but rather just adjusting to the new configuration of sleep and the long A times, or teething.  He's also doing our little nap/bt song when he comes out of the bath, which has made me think he's trying to tell me that he's ready for bed, but it could just be him telling me he knows whats coming next.  We're still on the quest for the right A times here too, but I'm starting to realize that with the one nap, Jesse's a little better at regulating his sleep, so that if he has a shorter nap, he makes up for it a little bit at night.  Ah well, all I can do is keep trying.

[hjrmom01]

sorry Jesse is doing the same. Yesterday because we got the later wakeup we did nap at 1:30 and I had to wake H at 3:50. Went into crying hysterics at bathtime so I put him to bed at 8:30. 10.5 hr night. SIGH! I can't win!!!! I don't know if it's teething or what. Do I just make him do the 5 hrs?!

[marlowsmom]

Christine- I suspect after the 20 min nap no longer has an effect then we have to bite the bullet and go to one nap.     I suspect that the day would look something like:

Wake 630am
Nap 12-2 (pushed out to 12)
bedtime 7pm

This is all wishful thinking because it isn't going to go that smoothly.   From what I understand, the you have to have the same A before the nap and the same A after the nap until bedtime.     I'm going to hold onto the 20 min AM nap as long as I can.    For Marlow, it will be a few more months until she is ready to make the leap.    Of course, once its done it will take about a week for her to settle into a new schedule.

Thank you for the compliment for Marlow.   I think she's quite cute so I intend to keep her      Your LO is super cute too.    I'm jealous of all the hair she has.

[Smookies_Mama]

I posted this in the other 2-1 Forum, by mistake:

"I don't know what's happening, really.
I've read the book. I had DD on the napping schedules suggested in TBWSAYP so it'd be easier...for 2-1.
GAH!
Lately, she wakes at about 0700...sometimes 0730. She gets milk and brekkie right away. She gets bored around 0930, I give her a snack. Then its naptime at about 10-1015. She's always been high needs for sleep...but I can't push her past this time. I carry her, we go for walks, I've read to her...I've been trying for a month now! She only sleeps til about 1115-1130. I do WI/WO...and it just ends up in tears! For the both of us, some days! Even when I put her down for her pm nap...depending on her behaviour it can be anywhere from 1430-1530...she only sleeps for about an hour and 10. Then in bed for the night by 7.
I'd like to get her down to one nap by the end of May, so that when the really nice weather is here, we can enjoy it and she can sleep during the times of strong sun.
I'd like my schedule to look like this:
Wake at 7ish
Nap at 1ish for 2 hours
Bed at 7ish...
Is that too hard? She's 14 months (13 corrected)...is this too early? Is the 2-1 harder with Spirited babes?
Can someone tell me exactly what to do? I'm so darn frustrated!"

~~here's my update at the end of the day:
DD napped from 1020-1230 (YAY! woke up HAPPY!) Went down again at 1615-1700 and in bed asleep by 1920h. Did moan and stir a little just now at 2000h, but settled herself.
The two hour stretch this morning was the longest nap she's EVER had! I'm hoping this continues tomorrow! It'll make play dates hard for a bit, but that's ok. The end result is worth it!
Is there anything that anyone wants to add? Am I overlooking something to be able to get to the end happily?~~

[gavinsmum1]

I don't know what to tell you, Alyssa.  We've been finding that Jesse will nod off for 5-10 minutes in the mid am.  We've had a few days where we've needed to travel 30 min to the city and he's just tanked out for a quick catnap.  This morning it was in the bike trailer!!  We've just tried to push his nap to about 12:30, so he's doing 5.25 or 5.5 hours before nap and 5.5 after.  Today he had loads of fresh air outside, so he was exhausted and I put him to bed at 7:15, so a 12 hour day with an hour and 45 min nap.  I'm just trying to tell myself to relax, he's adjusting, things will sort themselves out.  But then I read about kids into the 2's having sleep issues still and it keeps me up at night! LOL!  Things were NOT this difficult with #1!!

[marlowsmom]

Cee- Stick with it because it takes a few days to her to settle into a new schedule.   Good luck!    Its hard for me to say if your LO is ready for a one nap a day schedule.  

Marlow is 12.5 months old and she can handle about a 4 hour A.   If I push her morning A in an attempt to go for one nap a day then I will get about 1.20min nap.      My LO schedule is
Awake 630am
am nap 1040-11pm (20min)
pm nap 2-330pm
bed time 730

I was hoping that I could get Marlow to one nap a day when DST happened since we went ahead one hour but no such luck.   The first day I attempted it was the first day of DST.   She slept 2.40min for her nap.   The next day 1.5 hours and the next day 1.5 hours.   Then the NW started so I went back to my original schedule.    At her current pace she won't go to one nap a day until she's about 16 to 18 months.    

[Smookies_Mama]

Thanks Marlowsmom!
Today she woke up at 0730 and wasn't ready for nap until 1045...so we'll see how long the nap is. If it gets later and later everyday...then I suppose we're in the right direction. And I'm sure there'll be stbacks too. I'm waiting for them.
I do find it tough to keep her occupied in the am, now that she's looking for more to do. I don't always have a car, the programs that are within walking distance don't start til 9am and are 30mins walk away. So it pushes things tight. I suppose for lack of anything else, we can go to the grocery store (we went today at 0815, it had just opened, and DD got all kinds of fresh samples!) or Walmart.
What do you guys do to pass the time in the morning when you're not quite awake yet?

[~Jen~]

Marlowsmom - We are doing the same thing as you. DS is 13months and textbook.  We tried a few 1 nap days and at first had a couple nice long naps but then the nap started getting shorter and shorter  and lately if I push him past 4hrs A in the morning, we get a 1.20min O/T nap.  We've gone back to our old routine for now.

Wake 6:30
Nap 1 10:30-10:50
Nap 2 2-3:30
Asleep 7:30

I just can't figure out where we go from here.  I guess once 20mins in the AM doesn't work anymore, we just go for the 1 nap and hope for the best!  (Is there really much point in cutting the AM any further?) I think we are still a ways off from making hte jump though judging how our first attempt went last week.

[marlowsmom]

Mrstboo,

I may be able to answer that question for you in a few days because Marlow has short napped her pm nap two days in a row now.    Just when I started to wonder how long she was going to stay on this track she up and changes the game.   
I guess I'm going to keep her morning schedule the same and extend her pm A time so she has 3.5 hours of A.     I'll start her nap at 230pm and she can sleep until 4pm.    Then I can push her bedtime to 745pm or maybe 8pm.    The only thing is if I push her bedtime too much then she will EW.


I've thought about the day when she refuses her am nap or I run out of hours in the day.   I suspect that I will push her to one nap and then give her an earlier bedtime.    I also suspect that I will hold on to her new schedule as long as possible.