Trying to get on Daycare schedule causing EW

[Chariel]

Hey again! Thanks for the advice and the links, it was good to have a look at the other schedules. I don't think he is teething as I had a good look in his mouth again today and his gums don't look red or swollen at all, but still something to consider, might want to try some Baby Motrin tonight if he wakes. You had a good point too Evgenia about the trip to my parents, it was a pretty tiresome day for him with a ton of company and yes everyone wanting to see him walk and be his usual adorable self (which he then of course wasn't

Something I considered today is that Jude will have a approximately 35 minute drive home every night and he always falls asleep in the car. So today he took two crappy naps, first one 45 minutes which I didn't mind since want to cut that one down anyway and then he slept about 50-55 minutes for his second nap. His first nap as I said earlier was about 9:50 and his second he fell asleep around 1:45, he fought me with that one too. So he ended up with an A time of 3 hours 10 minutes between naps, not sure if it was too short or too long but anyway. So at 4:05 we hopped in the car and went for a drive and arrived home 40 minutes later and sure enough he did sleep. So he will probably end up having that cat nap whether I want him to or not on his way home for the sitters. We had him in bed by 7 tonight and he fell asleep pretty well so really REALLY keeping my fingers and toes crossed that tonight we have a better night. Not sure if I'm just being stupidly optimistic but I feel that we will I will let you know! Thanks again!

Charmaine

[Evgenia]

I hope that little cat nap did help last night!

Not too sure about that cat nap. On one handside I think it is robbing his pm nap and I would think 11m is too old for 3 fairly short naps. on the other hand if he is falling asleep in the car himself there isn't much u can do to keep him awake while u r driving. Hm... How long is th A time between the pm and CN?

I honestly do think if u manage to get his pm nap to 1.5h or more he will drop the CN in the pm.

How did u gat on last night and today?

[Chariel]

He slept from 7 last night until 6 am! Yay! No NW whatsoever. I woke at 4:30 of course and didn't get back to sleep until DH got up with Jude at 6. We are having a snowstorm here today so DH is home for the day which is great since now my throat is just killing me and I still feel so cruddy. So trying to decide what to do today. I think we nipped that OT in the bud with the CN yesterday so we can make a fresh start.
Here is the two options I am thinking of
Nap 1 - Asleep by 10 am awake by 11
Nap 2 - Asleep by 2:30, awake by 4 (if we are lucky)
Night sleep - in bed by 7 asleep by 7:15

or
Nap 1 - Asleep by 9:45 awake by 10:30
Nap 2 - Asleep by 2:00 awake by 3:30 or 4 (if we are lucky)
Night sleep depending on 2nd nap

Which one do you guys think looks better? Or would you suggest something else? Should I try and cut down that morning nap even more?
I'm hoping he will have a longer PM nap and then you are right and he won't need that CN especially since today with the snow we can't go for a drive. I feel that he is super susceptible to OT if it is too long from PM to bed time. I guess I will just have to do an early bed time if he doesn't nap well and doesn't do a CN. Jude is a pretty consistent 11 hour sleeper (before this whole NW/EW disaster) so it always makes me nervous to do too early a bed time.  Anyway, keeping my fingers crossed again today for a good day.

[Tweakster]

Hi there, well the first option gives you 2.5 hrs day sleep and 10.5 hours A time - your longest A in the morning which might be better for him if he has a harder time with long A to bedtime.  It still gives you the 13 hr day/11 hour night.

All you can do is try.  Really if he refuses the PM nap he will tell you if the one hour is too much for him. 

[Evgenia]

I'm with Wendy on this one, the first option gives him two nice naps one 1h and one 1.5h which I would think is just perfect for him.

And with a later am nap it will be that little bit easier to consolidate these two naps into 1 when time comes.

Use ur gut, whatever feels right for u and ur lo, u know him best.

Lets us know what u choose to do and how u get on!

[Chariel]

Funny that you should mention nap refusal Wendy as we got a good dose of it today. Went with the first option so had him asleep by 10 and then up at 11, put him down for his PM nap at 2:15 and I was going to head out to the gym but saw pretty quickly it wasn't going well so held off (DH was putting him down for the nap). Glad I did, we played his CD like three times, laid him down every few minutes, Finally at 3 I nursed him as it had been 4 hours since the last time and did his nap time routine all over again (which doesn't usually involve nursing) and this finally worked so at 3:15 he was asleep. He woke at 4:35 or so. Still aiming by asleep by 7:15 and hoping that it all works out.

So I guess this means that tomorrow I should cut that morning nap? Or do I wait and see if he sleeps well tonight again? I was doing a lot of reading last night on the board pretty much until I couldn't see straight and what I seemed to get out of it is sometimes it is best to be flexible and if they have a bad night or a really EW to let them nap for a bit longer but if they have a good night to limit it. So I'm wondering if I should do say a 40 minute nap on a good night and an hour nap on a bad night? Does that sound like a good place to start or should I go for broke and wake at 30 min? Today when I woke him after an hour he was in great spirits and full of energy so I know he is plenty rested after that.

Sorry to keep rambling but another thing I was considering if he is going to take that CN when he is at day care on the way home should I just say let him have a long nap during the morning and then that CN only on the way home? So have that be his two naps a day, a long AM and short PM.  I'm thinking not just because of my thought that he still might be still too OT before bed but wondering what you guys think of it?

Anyway, I'm pooped so going to take a night off of trying to figure this out and watch a movie or something! Hope you guys are having a great day and that Finn's teeth are not causing him too much trouble!

Charmaine

[Chariel]

Just an update. No NWings last night but Jude was wide awake at 5:10. Which I can handle but I have this bad feeling we are right back where we started when I first did this post. Don't want to spiral into that OT cycle again but at the same time he is obviously ready for less day time sleep. I wonder now if it was just coincidence that when I started adjusting his naps he started waking early. I think he may have done it anyway.

So I had a dentist appt this morning at 8:45 so DH and LO came with me and Jude fell asleep on the drive in. Not sure at what point he fell asleep as I really wasn't expecting him to do so and was surprised when we got there and he was fast asleep. By the time I got out of there it was 10 and he slept on the way home about half an hour. Now it is almost 1:30 and I'm trying to put him down for another nap as I really don't think he slept too long at 8 this morning and his morning nap was only 30 min so I thought 3 hours A time would be plenty on that short of a nap. Have already been in once to lay him down so we will see how this goes. I'm thinking if this nap is really short I will take a drive at 4 like I did last time but I know that may not be the best way to handle things but it is tempting since last time it resulted in no NW and a 11 hour sleep! Well, Jude knock on wood seems to have settled so maybe I am on to something here, maybe I really thought by this time I would have him all figured out but he is always throwing me for a loop

[Tweakster]

HI there, if you are going to cut the AM since we know 1 hour is too much then I would try 45 mins.  You could do 50 mins but 45 is probably more appropriate at this age.  Or at least I know 50 mins is still too restful for Finn to do 2 naps.

If he's going to nap in the car there isn't much you can do, it might be ok in the end because it might help stop any cumulative OT from building in the week.

[Chariel]

So today I actually only had to go in once and he settled well for his PM nap. He woke at 2:45, giving a 1 hour 15 minute nap. I decided just to see what happened to go for a drive at the same time and this time he did not fall asleep, he was happy and didn't play with his toys or anything but just rested during the drive. I think you are right that it might be a good thing as obviously if he needs the sleep he will take it, if not like today I guess he will just hang out. We were aiming for in bed my 6:30 asleep by 6:45 but he is fighting it some. Hope he settles soon. What I'm thinking now is I will tell the sitter to go ahead and offer a nap at 9:30 for 45 minutes (I will test that out the next few days and see how it goes) and 1 or 1:30 and if he doesn't nap well then hopefully he will catch up on the way home. I'm not sure what I will do on the three days I have him, I guess play it by ear and if we need to take a drive for awhile then we will do it. Thank goodness this 2-1 switch does not last forever! Thanks for all your help ladies, I will probably bug you again if things deteriorate!

[Evgenia]

Will he only take that short CN in the pm in the car? If u r home with him try him out in the cot/crib if he needs one and see if that suits. and if it does - saves u on taking those unncesarry drives

U have a great plan, fingers crossed Jude is on board with it

Keep us posted