2-1 went smoothly...so what's this??

[squeakersmum]

OK - so DS was a TERRIBLE napper until around 10 months when he started having a long am nap (around 2 hrs) and 1 hr in the pm. 

We switched to 1 nap cold turkey just after he was 13 months old due to nap refusal, NW and EW which worked really well and we were consistently getting 2.5 hours.  Which reduced to 2 hours fairly quickly and seemed to stick there.

Now, for the last 10 days or so his nap has been consistently getting shorter...and shorter.  I'm listening to him whinge in his cot at the moment and that's after 45mins!!!!!!!

Yesterday it was around an hour and 20 minutes and the day before he woke at an hour but I managed to persuade him to go back down for another hour.

So, what's happening?  I've just been up and the poor guy is so tired at the moment that his eyes are closing the moment I pick him up - but he's been going off independently for months.  AAAggh - now he's chatting again!!

He has had a bit of a cold and he does use a dummy - but again, for months, he uses it to get to sleep and then we hear it thunk out of the cot.  I've tried putting him down earlier for the nap too - but he just plays and then gets really upset.

Any thoughts/advice would be very gratefully received!!

Steph XXX

[~inbalance~]

How long has he officially been on one nap??  I wonder if a bit of accumulated OT has caught up with him.  That always seems to happen to us, we'll go along blissfully for awhile and I think things are working, and then somehow the OT builds up and everything kinda falls apart.  You could try either a two nap day or an early bedtime to counteract it and get back on track.

[*Liz*]

Or is it teeth? They have caused a lot of trouble around here lately - first the molars and then the canines.

What is your morning A time usually as well?

[squeakersmum]

Um - so he's been on one nap since Christmas Eve (I know weird timing), so around 6 weeks?  Hmm reading it like that and seeing as he's been having bad naps for about a week of that it doesn't sound so long.

We had 2 2 nap days in the first couple of weeks too - could def be OT couldn't it.  

So what do you think?  Mega early bed tonight or do I try and put him down for a cat nap in a couple of hours (he had 45 mins after 5 hr A and has been doing 5 hr A after nap before 7.30 bed)

LizJ - his morning A has been 5 hrs since we went to 1 nap

Thanks!

[~inbalance~]

Or UT even?  Hmmmm, now I'm wondering!  lol  I'm trying to remember if 5hrs was enough at that age or maybe he's ready for more.  Interesting....ideas Liz??

[*Liz*]

Are the nights OK as well? Or have they shortened at all?

And has your LO tended to be high or low on A times and sleep needs?

Sorry - should have thought harder before typing last time 

[squeakersmum]

Nights have not been great but I have assumed that the NWs have been because of cold/query teething (seems to have been doing this for ever!) and then messed up naps.  Once he was on one nap he was going quite happily from 8pm to 7/7.30 with the occasional 8am.  For the past couple of weeks we have had at least 2 NWs per night with a 6.30/7 wake up.  Last few nights have just needed resettling but we did have a few 1hr and even a 2hr NW last week (again I assumed this was teeth).

As for sleep needs - When he was little he would sleep well at night and then have 45 min naps, I think the longest he was doing was 13.5 or 14hrs when he was on 2.5 hr single naps.  FWIW on 2 naps his am A times were around 3 - 3.5 hrs apart from after his 45-1hr nap in the pm when he would do bed around 2-2.5 hours after wake up.

Thanks for taking the time - just when you think you've got it sorted they throw you a curveball eh?!