Help me get my 13 mo spirited "sleep challenged" DS back on track!

[scribegirl]

Hi all, I have been using the boards a lot this past year trying hard to "whisper" my now 13 mo DS, who has been sensitive in the sleep department. He used to have to sleep with black out blinds AND a hat pulled over his eyes to block out all light, and didn't start STTN consistently until 9 or 10 months.... but I digress!

For about a month, this was his good schedule:

7:15/7:30 am wake
10:30-11:15 am nap #1 (we were waking him from this)
3-5 pm nap #2
8 pm bed

He just is getting over a bad head cold that had him out of commission for more than a week and I am trying to figure out how to gently move his schedule back to that ideal 7:15/7:30 AM wake without ruining him. He is just that sensitive. I think I didn't realize how sick he was so for a few days, was waking him from his AM nap at the usual 45 min mark and he definitely needed more sleep. So his wake time started creeping earlier and earlier until it reached 6 AM.

I realized he probably needed more nap time but by then it was too late. Two days ago, I tried to give him as long as he needed for both naps but he woke crying after 45 min in the AM and then after just 1 hr in the PM..... really really tired.

Yesterday this was his day:

6:45 am wake
9:45-11:15 am nap #1
2:45-5 pm nap #2
8 pm bed
6:15 am wake this morning

Probably too much day sleep resulted in the early wake but it's hard to tell..... after both naps yesterday and this morning he woke crying hard so I'm not sure if it's actually OT and he still needs more sleep?!?!?

How should I be getting him back on schedule? My instinct tells me that he needs to be moved gradually but respecting the same A times so that he doesn't get OT. Or perhaps stretching out the A time between the two naps to bump the PM one a bit later?

He was happy to go for nap #1 today at 9:30 AM but I do I then wake him at 10:15 AM a whole hour behind his regular schedule??? I don't really want to start getting up at 6 AM again and with my 3 year old DD it's hard to get DS in bed by 7 PM (regular bath and story time for both kids).

HELP! I know this will sort itself out but I worked sooooooo hard to get him to wake at a respectable hour in the morning that I'm sort of dejected that it may have all back peddled now. Thanks to any tips or comments that you experienced mums can give to me!

[scribegirl]

Today so far is like this and I don't know what my strategy should be:

6:15 am wake
9:30-10:15 am nap #1 (woke him up)
2:30-3:15 pm nap #2 (woke himself crying so likely OT)

When should bedtime be? I think the 4h15 A time was way too long but now I'm stumped about how to finish the day and how to get it back on track in the long run..... especially if he keeps waking around 6 AM

[babybarr]

I would try an early bedtime for a day or 2, maybe even by as much as an hour early to get him caught up.  Then fingers crossed he'll slip back into his old routine.

What did you decide last night and how did he sleep?

Also another thought is if he is waking from that second nap crying you may want to shorten the A time in between the 2 naps, say bring it forward by 30mins and see what happens.

[scribegirl]

Hi, thank you so much for following up! We did put him down early last night -- at 7:20 pm or so (hard with a 3 yr old tearing around!). He had a NW at 10 pm but settled and then an EW at 5:20 am, when I nursed to get him back to sleep. He woke for the day at 7:15 am. So it was a definite OT response, I'm guessing.

I will definitely shorten his A time between naps -- yesterday was NOT what I intended to do but again, juggling 2 kids throws off the plan a bit when one goes off his/her sked.

To battle the chronic OT should I be trying to lengthen overall daytime rest or try to keep it at the ideal 2h45 mark to preserve the night sleep (but just move forward the bedtime)? By this I mean, earlier naps, longer naps and shorter A times?

[babybarr]

To battle the chronic OT should I be trying to lengthen overall daytime rest or try to keep it at the ideal 2h45 mark to preserve the night sleep (but just move forward the bedtime)? By this I mean, earlier naps, longer naps and shorter A times?

I guess it depends on your LO.  We never get long naps so have to do early bedtimes.  So why don't you try today a slightly shorter A time between the 2 naps and fingers crossed you'll then get a longer 2nd nap and can have bedtime say 7.30pm (only if your 2nd nap a good length though) - how does that sound?

[scribegirl]

Sounds amazing in theory! I'm all for it...only, would someone please send the memo to DS?

Yesterday was great on paper:

5:20 am NW (back to sleep at 5:30 am)
7:15 am wake for the day
10:50-11:30 am nap #1 (fought it for 20 min and then we woke him)
2:45-4 pm nap #2 (woke on his own)
7:40 pm bed

Then the dredded NW that turned into an EW at 5:30 am... he cried and cried and I finally gave him a Tylenol because I figured out he was in pain (I think from teeth). But now what? I've read in a few other threads that it's quite common for there to be sleep disruptions at this age due to 2-1 switch and teething so I guess we just have to ride it out and try to keep the OT in check with longer naps (if possible) and early bedtime (if possible!)?

[scribegirl]

HELP! The day has not started off well..... was hurrying to get DS back to bed after 5:30 am EW but didn't end up doing so until 9:30 am. That was def. OT so he woke screaming at 10:15 am.

Now what??

5:30 am EW
9:30-10:15 am nap #1
1-3 pm nap #2 ?
6:30 pm bed ?

[babybarr]

Your times sound ok, watch for tired cues between the naps and get him down quick sticks if needed.

Sorry I haven't posted sooner.  Hope you're ok.

[scribegirl]

Well, as I said before, everything is doable in theory...! Our 2nd nap didn't go as planned (foiled by a poop) but I pushed to get him down for an early bedtime and he slept 12 hrs until 6:45 am, which is a vast improvement to 5:30 am.

The day ended up like this:

5:30 am wake
9:30-10:15 nap
1:40-3 pm nap
6:45 pm bed

That got him back on track towards a normal day but I think his A times have grown so yesterday, despite the good wake, he started fighting the naps and stretched his 2nd A time to 4h15. I decided to aim for a longer PM nap so cut the AM really short and pushed it earlier so that the PM wouldn't fall so late in the day.

Today was like this:

6:30 am wake
9:35-10:15 nap
1:30-3:30 pm nap
7:30 pm bed   

We'll see if he sleeps well or wakes early but I guess part of 2-1 is moving the PM closer towards the middle of the day right? Fingers crossed we can find his ideal! I appreciate your eyes on this

[babybarr]

You can move the PM nap closer to the middle of the day by shortening the AM nap (well that's the theory anyway!!)  If he continues to fight that pm nap then I suggest you cut the am nap to 30mins and then bring the pm nap forward by 30mins.

Keep me posted.

[scribegirl]

Today he was just full of energy (I think completely recovered from his runny nose and OT) so he surprised me by fighting both his naps.

6:55 am wake (so happy and played in his crib until 7:30 pm!)
10:15-11 am nap #1 (went down at 10 am but played)
3:30-4:45 pm nap #2 (tried to put him down at 2 pm but he kept playing quietly in his crib)
8 pm bed

I will try the 30 min nap tomorrow as it seems he is completely heading towards 2-1.

[babybarr]

I will try the 30 min nap tomorrow as it seems he is completely heading towards 2-1.

Give it a go and see what happens.

The other option is if he fights that am nap, when he finally sleeps is to shorten it even more to preserve pm nap and bed.  HTH