Toddler Support Thread for 2-1 Nap Transition Continued

[marlowsmom]

Christine-  I think its OT build up that needs to be slept off.   OT doesn't go away after one good day of sleep; it takes a couple of days for them to catch up.   At this age, I believe they need about 2 to 2.5 hours nap time.   

Alyssa- The jolting makes me think he was in some kind of pain.    That molar could be causing the NW.   It doesn't sound like UT to me.    Orajel makes some teething swabs.   Marlow is a thumb sucker so regular orajel numbs her gums, tongue, and lips.   She can't feel her thumb in her mouth.    Also with regular Orajel I don't know if I'm hitting the direct spot.    On the other hand with the swabs I have direct control of where I need to go with the medicine.   It doesn't numb her lips and tongue either.   
Also I use Motrin because it lasts longer.    It says that it lasts 6-8 hours.   If I give Marlow a dose at 630pm then I give the second dose at 1am.    It last about 6 to 7 hours.   If I don't give her the middle of the night dose then she wakes at 230am which is exactly 8 hours later.   

Here is Marlow
Bed 630pm
Awake 530am - bottle, back to sleep
awake 715am
Nap 1215 to 115    1 hour

I'll do two naps tomorrow.    Bummer.   I thought with her long sleep this morning that I'd get a better nap out of her today.   She woke happy so I think it may have been an UT nap. HMMMM......

[marlowsmom]

FYI. Marlow woke because she had to poop.    POOP!!!

[~Jen~]

That happened to us last week when we were attempting 1 nap.  So annoying! I struggle with how to time lunch on 1 nap days.  We've been splitting lunch before and after the nap but with the nap still relatively early, I'm finding we squeeze in the snack and then he ends up needing poop either right before his nap or once he is in his cot.  How are you working meals on the 1 nap day?

The last few days its been taking DS ages to fall asleep.  I'm not sure where to tweak - is it OT, UT? He doesn't cry, just rolls around or chats.
 
Asleep 7:50 (took 40mins to fall asleep!! Just wouldn't settle )
Awake 6:25am    (I guess technically EW)
Nap AM 10:05 - 10:30  (rubbing his eyes and could barely stay awake so put him down early)
Nap PM  2-3:30 (took him 45mins to fall asleep. this was a 30min jump in A-time and then I woke him)
Asleep 7:30

Do you think all this rolling around before naps and bedtimes means he needs more A time or is he just OT?

[Tao]

Mstrboo, for us rolling around and playing, which sometimes happens at BT means UT. OT for us usually involves crying and restlessness (as she is a spirited one). Do you know what his OT behavior looks like? Does he get upset?

Sharon: Sorry to hear the one nap is causing shorter naps. I read that great link you sent us on 2-1 the bumps, how and when and it seems to say that the transition will take time, even a few weeks and that we may need to throw in some 2 nap days. I'm wondering if the one nap transition just takes a while for our LO's to get used to and that along the way they will be OT...Hmm..

However, I know what you mean about OT building up. Oh goodness. Last night she was up from 11-1:40 p.m.! At first I tried AP just to get her back down because I rarely have to go in when she wakes up at night. She had already seemed really hyper all day yesterday (which may have been a sign of severe OT already). The AP didn't work as it seemed to make her more restless so we resorted to GW where my DH sat with her. Usually she is down by a maximum of 45 minutes of crying, but after an hour she was still screaming! My heart was breaking, so I was thinking it may have been teething so I gave her some Tylenol (I think her bottom tooth is coming through) and after 20 minutes she fell asleep only to wake at 5:30 a.m. screaming again.

If she wakes up screaming again tonight I think I'm going to head for the Tylenol right away. It's so hard knowing if it's pain or not...

Wish everyone a good night sleep tonight! I know I'll need it =).

[Tao]

Jen,

I forgot to share my meal schedule on 1 nap days. Usually I BF Sophie and then feed her solids an hour or so later. This is what our feeding schedule looks like on a one nap day:

630 Wake
630 BF
800 Solids Breakfast
1100 BF
11-1 Nap
100 Solids Lunch
300 BF
500 Solids Dinner
600 BT

To me, I consider BF like a snack to hold her over until her "real" meal. HTH!

[Tao]

Quick question =).

How many days did it take your LO's to get out of OTness? Today she went down for her second nap but suddenly only napped for 40 minutes. Could this be lingering OT from previous 1 nap days? The gradual building of OT is a lot worse than I thought!

Thanks for sharing your experiences with me.

[marlowsmom]

Christine- I think it depends on how much OT has built up.   Considering the amount of time your LO was on a different schedule I'd think if she had about 3 solid days of good naps and night sleep then she should catch up.     That's just a guess though. 

Marlow had a rough night last night; the first one in a while.   She had a rough day.    I went with my MIL into town and got stuck in traffic on the way back so I had Marlow munching on crackers.    Once we got home she wasn't really hungry to eat a full dinner and I reluctantly put her to bed.    She woke at 11pm for bottle, as I expected, then STTN.     There was still some tossing and turning during the night but no full blown NW.   
Today will be a 2 nap day....at least I hope so.

[~Jen~]

Just need to vent... we are having total refusal of PM nap over here today.  Did our normal 20min am nap and DS has been in his cot for over an hour this afternoon and is refusing to sleep.  Just playing and rolling. What the heck do I do now? Take him out and try for a catnap in an hour (around 4?) or just put him to bed at like 5pm and hope that tonight won't be as bad as I htink it is going to be?...

[marlowsmom]

Have you tried APOP?    If Marlow refuses her PM nap and rolls around she then becomes OT and has a harder time to go to sleep so I have to APOP.     I also can just go in, lay her down, put a hand on her back to make her be still, wait about one minute and then leave.   Usually she will fall asleep.

[Tao]

I think that's a good idea Sharon, I used to APOP Sophie too and even hold her while she slept for a 30 minute catnap. That was when she was on three naps. Whatever got her to sleep and prevent OT at bedtime. Jen, do you think your DS has increased his A time recently? Maybe this is why he is rolling around and not sleeping?

Ahhh, this will be the second day of a full blown NWing. She woke up again at 1:00 last night. She literally stood up and started screaming right away. I'm thinking it was teething pain again so I went in and gave her some Tylenol as we had done at BT since 4 hours had passed. The problem is I can't get her to go back to bed without a full blown crying! I don't want to CIO but it's almost worse when I go in there. I gave her some meds and tried nursing/rocking her to sleep but every time I put her down she would scream like crazy! I tried this for an entire hour and finally my DH stepped in and said "she's had her meds, let her just cry and I'll sit there." It took her an hour and 15 minutes of screaming the entire time to finally go back down!

There must be a better way. It's so hard because a part of me wonders, even with meds, could she still be hurting while she's crying but I don't know how else to get her to go down since touching, rocking her just seems to stimulate her more. Sigh...I don't know what to do...

[~Jen~]

We used to APOP DS for his catnap when he was on 3naps and that was the only way he would take it - I hated that bloody catnap.  He dropped it early at around 5months and life was much better for us on 2 naps.  But since then he hasn't really let me AP him to sleep ( unless he is not feeling well).  Although if I had read your post earlier, I would definitely have tried to put my hand on him and see if it helps him settle.  I would normally guess he would just get excited by seeing me in his room - but it would have been worth a shot.

So.. in the end, gave up on PM nap, took him out of cot, let him have some time outside of his room but very low key A time and then tried again for a cat nap about an hour later.  He did sleep for 30mins but as expected was NOT a very happy chappy when we woke him up.  So gave him his dinner, a relaxing walk outside and then started BT routine.  He is in his cot now and seems fairly relaxed although not sleeping yet.  No idea what to expect from this day and what tonight will bring - probably the weirdest one we've had yet. 

I do think he is extending A times... and the short 20min AM nap is seeming to have less and less impact.  But my issue is that I can really only get him to do just over 4hrs A in the morning.  Anything more than that and we get a 1:20 nap (which i know for him is OT).  So where do I go from here?  After today's refusal I'm thinking back to 1 nap, have lots of early bedtimes and slowly extend his As... but first lets see what tonight brings with less than 1 hr daysleep 

[Tao]

Keep us posted Jen. I hope it goes okay!!

[nelliestar]

Just reading along and sending hugs to you all as we are going through horrendous canine teething at the mo so the 2-1 business is on the back burner for a while!!

Nell xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[marlowsmom]

Wellllllll Marlow's 2 nap day with to the crapper.    She refused her PM nap and wouldn't go to sleep.   I finally had to go in there and hold her for one minute until she finally got tired enough to fall asleep.    She slept 30 minutes then got up and pooped!!!      I cannot believe she slept 30 min.    She had a 30 min nap this AM and PM.    I'm going to have to put her to bed at 630pm maybe 7pm.    It seems like 2 naps is just out of the question.   I was really hoping I could do 2 days with one nap and 1 day with two naps for a while to keep the OT at bay.   
 
Christine-
Have you done WI/WO?    I just went through it and it was soooo worth it.   Marlow wouldn't go to sleep unless I was holding her.  She wanted to put her head on my shoulder and thumb in her mouth and close her eyes then it was ok to go in the crib.    Sometimes I had to stand there with my hand on her back until she got to a point that I could sneak out.    This especially sucked in the middle of the night.   Every time she had a NW I had to go up and do that above scenario.   I finally got tired of it and did WI/WO.   
The first day she stood in her crib and cried the hardest most unbearable cry but I stuck it out.     After a few minutes the crying subsided and she cried on and off.   On occasion she would launch into a panicked cry.    I'd walk in, soothe her, then turn to leave and she would be in a panicked cry before I could even reach the door.    I finally decided to ride it out and see what she does.    After 30 min she laid down and fell asleep.    The next day it took 20 min.   The day after that it took 5 min.   Now she doesn't cry at all.    She lays down and go to sleep (as long as she is sleepy).     If she has a NW, she doesn't disturb me with it anymore.   She lays down and goes back to sleep.   

[Smookies_Mama]

So after trying a long nap in the morning and a short pm nap...and then a short am nap and hoping for a long pm nap...she was MEGA OT...and I gave up. Well...lo and behold...doesn't she decide to only nap once today.

Our day was:
awake at 6.15am
nap at 10.15am
awake at 1.15pm...WOW!!
and in bed asleep at 6pm, asleep within 15 mins

I've got no expectations for tomorrow. Maybe that's they key?
But she was so well behaved. Not fussy! No fighting to put her to bed. The other day, at the height of her OT...it took 21 Pd's and a huge glass of wine (for me!) to get her to sleep. It was over an hour. That's the worst it's ever been. But establishing PD months ago...wow. It was worth it! Generally it's only once I have to do it. If I have to, normally she sorts herself out. It was just a BAD day.

I know she's ready for this change. Maybe I have to let her take the lead more...and show me what she needs, instead of me being so adament about 'how the book says' it should be. I definitely messed with her this week, but she's back on track and stealing the show.

Here's hoping this nap from today becomes a habit...then I can push it later, when it's well established.