How long did it take you to get a consistent nap after moving to one nap?

[okinawamama]

Oh Shiv, why didn't I talk to you months and months ago? We have yet to have a schedule, and we have been just playing with A times.....for 12months. Now looking back I think the lack of schedule was due to my constant search for the "magic" A time. I should have set the nap time (reasonably of course) and let his body develop a natural biorythm rather than having it be different everyday.  Ah well.

[*Becky*]

I personally think it very much depends on your lo. We went to one nap and I too decided to set a naptime around midday. We only got 2 2 hour naps and the majority were around 1.20-1.30. After 3 weeks of this DS was totally OT and so we are now back to doing 2 if the wake up is before 6am and one if it is after 6am. I have just found that a short nap over a longer period of time just does not sustain him.
He is teething canines though so this could be the main culprit. I guess what I am trying to say is that setting CAN be a great move but it does not work for every lo, particularly if they are touchy with their sleep. Good luck everyone xxx

[Tweakster]

We've used set times in both nap transitions, dropping the CN and this 2-1.  It definitely helped us.

[kayra]

ugh i just lost everything i'd written thanks to DS-as if he hasn't annoyed me enough today with his bad nap-i know i'm an awful mother to say that and at almost 19mths the fact that i still haven't figured this out is really getting me. although i feel angry at DS for sleeping badly I'm actually cross at myself, it's not his fault at the end of the day!
we'd been doing pretty well with 20min am nap then about 2hrs pm nap, but now he's refusing the am nap, which is fine by me but he isn't always doing a decent pm nap, I know he needs more than 1.5 hr sleep, he's barely doing an 11 hr night. I just cant seem to find the magic 1nap time. he wakes between 6.30-7 (bedtime 7.45-8), putting him down for his pm nap before 1 is just a no go, even if he sleeps 2 hrs, that means he's up by 2-2.30 and thats way too long a stretch till bedtime, he's always gone for a shorter A before bed. but I've played around with 1, 1.15, 1.30 nap time and it varies. Then when he's done a rubbish nap and not made up for it at night the next day i think i'd better give him 20min in the am but he either refuses or then again messes up the pm nap and it becomes a vicious cycle. It's really beginning to annoy me, I know that that doesn't seem like the right word but that's how I feel. Esp. since I have to work during his nap time, so when he wakes early i don't feel 'oh well he's up early, try again tomorrow', which is the way I should think. What is a reasonable A time to aim for before his nap? I *think*after his nap he can't really cope for more than 4-5hrs but that could be to do with his total day time as well-I feel like I don't know anything anymore.
anyway, hope i'm not stealing your thread Okinawamama, I was planning to start a thread but when I saw yours I just jumped in

[annette.xx]

I know exactly how you feel kayra at nearly 15 months im still no clearer on it all than at 3 months!!! actually think I may actually have more NW now than she did at 3 - 6 months!!! lol!!

Im reading along daily with interest hoping to find the magic key...

I really want to set the nap time like you did shiv but im chickening out everyday cos I never have a consistant wake time - should I just go ahead and set it anyway? 12 pm seems like a good time so maybe if I start with that? DDs wake time is 7am on a very good day but on a dodgy day (very common nowdays!!) its more like 6am, I cant get her to bed until 7pm (cos of work commitments) so thinking 12pm is the best place to start??...

so if she has EW and wakes at 5.30/6 am should I just plug away and stick to that 12pm naptime and whatever the result just carry on until 7pm and keep offering naps/bed at the same time and let her decide whats going to happen? Im sure I remember reading somewhere that after a few weeks of hell if you set the nap and bedtime (never change by more than 15 mins) then you come out the other side and its a much simpler life!

I get scared of nap refusal from OT if the first A time gets to 6 hrs+ but I think this may be the only way to get some consistancy...

I also read somewhere that once you go to one nap to resist offering 2 as it just messes with their bodys and makes it longer to adapt to OT... but ive always been too scared to go with this theory!!

anyone else having NWs?? ive been tweaking A times etc to ensure a 2 hour nap a day and a 12 hr length day (work permitting) and whether shes well rested or not shes still waking up in the night quite alot, even after caprofen (incase of teething) she still wakes again maybe an hour or 2 later so dont think its pain... I generally do wi/wo so dont think its too prop related - im now wondering maybe hunger?? seriously its been months since she sttn more than once in a week...

isnt this the best thread ever all similar problems! thanks for starting it!!

Annette.xx

[okinawamama]

Oh for Pete's sake. My little guy spike a 103 fever, slept well last night, but woke this morning a little cranky, so I immediately suspect teeth. I reach back there to but on some orajel, and felt a molar poking through. We go about our day and he's showing tired sign after tired sign, but I just ignore. He's still a little cranky so I give tylenol, After the tylenol, he sits down with me and watches a little tv. While sitting with me he falls asleep, which was 4hrs A time. I thought, he clearly is tired, due to the teething, so I lay him down expecting a decent nap and he gives one hour. SO frustrated. Now I can only hope that he'll lay down for a second nap. I HATE teeth.

[kayra]

Just wanted to send you some hugs Stephanie. We aren't teething at the moment but I totally agree, its horrible! Makes me want to never take my teeth for granted
Hope you all feel better soon, xx

[aimeeL]

Well, at least we're all here together, eh?  I was reading through today and was just feeling so...heartened.. that so many of us are going through THE EXACT SAME THING.

Stephanie - i know it - aren't teeth miserable??  L's molars weren't terrible, but her canines are not being too nice.. sighh..

Annette - I've started going the route of set naps, more or less.. L used to wake up around 6:30-7 a.m., but is now more like 5:45-6:15 a.m.. and naps are about noon-12:30 p.m.  Will admit - we HAVE gotten some nap refusal due to major OT, but luckily, on those days, I was home and just held her with me in bed - her kicking and crying the whole time, fighting.. but eventually she did sleep and slept well.  That's happened twice.  We're avging about 1.5-1.75 hrs, which I know isn't TERRIBLE, but it's enough to make me feel like she's teetering on OT.. however, once every couple of wks, she'll surprise us with a good nap (yesterday's was THREE HOURS), so hopefully that means she's catching up every now and then.

Anyways - here's to hoping our LOs start being a bit more consistent with their long naps, eh...?

[gavinsmum1]

This is like another support thread all on its own. 
I recall saying earlier that set naps were the way to go and what have I done the last few days? Two naps for two days and a loooooooooooong A time to his only nap today at noon.  I can't get any consistency, but who's to blame other than me who keeps changing things.  I did the two nap days to try to get a later bedtime and later wake-up, but again was setting myself up and he woke at the same lovely 6 am wake-up. I'm scared to death now because, as you've just mentioned, Stephanie, (sorry to hear about the high fever) molars are hell and we have none of them.  We've got a mere 5 teeth at 16 months and none of them molars or eye teeth, which are a whole other story. 
Hang in there ladies.  At least we know we're not alone.

[Shiv52]

I really want to set the nap time like you did shiv but im chickening out everyday cos I never have a consistant wake time - should I just go ahead and set it anyway? 12 pm seems like a good time so maybe if I start with that? DDs wake time is 7am on a very good day but on a dodgy day (very common nowdays!!) its more like 6am, I cant get her to bed until 7pm (cos of work commitments) so thinking 12pm is the best place to start??...

This is exactly what I would do Annette.  Obviously if you have an extremely early wake up you could do the nap early and a very quick catnap to get you through to your set bed time.   But if you keep the bedtime set and work on getting the nap set you'll be half way there. 

Stephanie..hope teething settles soon

I always think about how long it takes to establish a routine initially or when you initally up A times.  You need to be consistent for at least 7-10 days.  If you switch and change and do early bedtimes it won't work.  Thats not saying you can't be flexible and do an early nap or quick CN to get you through to bedtime.  It does all even out.  Here keeping to a bedtime really helped and nap then fell into place.

HTH!

[annette.xx]

ah thanks that does help!

tho today was a nightmare she woke at 6am and MIL put her down for her nap at 11.30 (didnt dare stretch out too much!!) and she got a 30 minute nap! then she tried to put her down for another nap in the afternoon and she refused it (BIG TIME!!) So I put her to bed at the usual 7pm (as at work) and she did a 13 hour day on 1/2 hour sleep! ...im dreading tonight - already had a few wakings from OT and im pretty confident im going to get an EW tomorrow - so when she wakes at 5am what on earth do I do from there cos MIL has her again and im 100% sure that she wont be able to get her down for a second nap so it will have to be one...please please please advise!!

im thinking maybe just get MIL to put her down after 4 hrs 45 A time (to account for OT already built up - would normally do 5 hrs) then just do the one nap and hopefully will get a nice long one then just push through until 7pm again but at least she will have had more sleep...

Annette.xx

[gavinsmum1]

Annette, if I was there, I would hold your hand!  It sounds like things are tough, but very similar to what is going on here.  Let's just keep in touch the next few months and cry on each other's shoulders!!
We've got it bad here too.  We went back to having a few two nap days (really short am nap of 10-15 min) and then a super short second A time and it seemed to help on day one, but day two's night was 10 hours!!  Woke at 6 am after going to bed the night before at 8!! ICK!
I'm thinking that set nap time is going to be the way to go too.  I'm more convinced, but still wavering those days when Jesse's up early.  Shiv's advice seems pretty logical, but will it work for us?  Can we last 7-10 days? This is so insane.
Shiv~ why is it so important to set the bedtime first? I was thinking of setting the nap first, but maybe that's why I'm getting problems with OT?

[Shiv52]

The reason I would set bedtime first is that it increases your chance of getting a consistent wake up time and that A time throughout the day will be fairly consistent also helping a LO get used to the new A times without changes and early bedtimes which here would have led to early wake up.  My LO never made up for sleep at night.  We get 11-12 hours of sleep from the time we put her down to bed but you have a LO who makes up for lost day time sleep with an early bedtime then an early bedtime would work for you. 

Bedtime here has always been about half 8 and nap at 1pm or thereabouts.  We did set both from beginning but if you are having really early wakening it could be hard to force the set nap time was all I was trying to say I think! 

We did a CN about 4/5 times in the time we were setting the routine (every 4/5 days I suppose) to keep OT at bay (because the naps just weren't long enough yet) but it wasn't enough to confuse her getting used to one nap or the new A times. 

It really does depend on the LO though.  But in my mind 7-10 days to set up a routine can feel long when you are in the middle of it.  But when I think of the weeks and weeks I spent dropping that CN and getting to two naps and changing A times and sometimes doing a CN, 7-10 day was nothing in comparison.  Nor the next couple of weeks when the nap was extending!

[okinawamama]

All of that makes sense Shiv. I think I would  throw my hands in the air and say it wasn't working after just a few days.

We've had off days the last few days, due to teething or sickness, can't figure it out. The last two nights I was getting a crib party exactly 9 hours from the time he went down, he'd play for an hour or so, and then sleep for another 45ish minutes or so. So weird. His A times were incredibly short too, I was stretching him yesterday and he fell asleep in the high chair at 4hrs A and then slept for 3hrs and I had to wake him (that was the longest nap in his entire life). So obviously will be cutting that nap and crossing my fingers that will end the crib parties (however, the day before he had a regular nap and still had a crib party?)

My day before the teething/sickies was
7am wake
12-2 nap
7 bedtime
it was working great. sometimes the nap would be off by 15-20 minutes but we'd keep with the set bed time. It was working great! Today the fever appears to have broken, so I plan to push to get us back onto that schedule, even though he woke around 6:20ish.

[Shiv52]

I'd say once you can get back to your routine the crib parties will lessen!  Could be with not being well he just couldn't handle the A times and needed the sleep but it knocked his night sleep.  Glad he's feeling a bit better and hope you can get back to your one nap!  Typical they get sick or get teeth when you are half way there!