Support Thread for 2-1 Nap Transition cont'd pt 3

[Ambinsi]

I'm going to post our EASY and you can tell what you think. She's 15 months old as of the 29th.

She usually wakes up around 6:30-7 so I'm going to use 7 as a baseline:

7am - wake up and bottle
8:30/9 - breakfast
11:30 or 12 (depending on how she seems) - nap
1 or 2 - lunch
5 or 6 - dinner
7ish - attempt bottle and bedtime

these are all estimates and times of course vary but this is the general routine. She also has a few little snacks and drinks water throughout the day.

There are definitely some issues here....and I'm wondering if our entire routine needs an overhaul. I'm wondering if she's waking up early from these naps because she's hungry? I usually give her a little snack upon wakeup and then lunch a bit later on. There's also the refusal of the bedtime bottle and I don't know what to do about that. She's still on formula which is a whole other post....but its my understanding that most kids have milk before bed and she just refuses it 9 times out of 10. That's why she's still getting a bottle first thing in the morning - she's hungry when she wakes up and its the only bottle she'll take all day.

Do you think I should try to give her lunch BEFORE her nap?? Maybe that way she'll be full, sleep better, and lunch and dinner won't follow each other so closely.

I also want to add that she IS teething - three molars just came in back to back to back and a forth is cutting, as well as another tooth on the bottom.

WDYT??

[scucci1979]

Poor thing! I would move lunch before nap or you can do a split lunch-before and after her nap. Will she take any milk before her nap? I find that helps!
So is she only sleeping one hour in the day? I was thinking can you move her nap a little later and see if that gives you a longer nap?

[clairebear79]

Agree with Sabs - I would do lunch before nap too.  Maybe 11 or 11.30.  I'm thinking maybe b/c she has lunch 1-2pm & then tea 5-6pm she may just be too full to take her BT bottle. What do you think?   

[Ambinsi]

I think it makes sense....we will try today. I have tried moving the nap later with no real success but never tried early lunch.

Today she was awake at 6 although she didn't start fussing until 640 so that's when I got her. We did the bottle immediately and I am thinking breakfast at 830. What time do you suggest lunch and nap?

[scucci1979]

I would do a spit lunch at 11am.  Do you think she would go down at 11:45am/12pm?
This is what I do normally. We are still on three bottles.
wake 6:30am
7am bottle
8:30am breakfast
11am lunch
12pm before nap bottle
2:30-3pm snack
5pm dinner
bottle 7pm 

we got a 6:30am wu with a 7:15pm bt. I guess she was ready for that one nap.  Keeping my fingers crossed.
Going to be working on shifting bt a little later so I can get a 7am wu. 
Aiming for a 12pm lunch.

[Ambinsi]

Oh Sabs....I am seeing your response 30 mins too late! Sigh. I attempted an earlier breakfast which I don't think she was ready for since she didn't eat all that much. I then gave her a yogurt a couple of hours later and attempted a snack. She ate most of the yogurt but refused the snack. I made a bottle but got totally distracted and wound up putting her down without trying it (pregnancy brain). I will definitely try the bottle tomorrow though. My hopes are high but I know the reality of dealing with her and she eats what she wants when she wants. If she doesn't want food/bottle she will push it away. She's not one to eat just because she was offered food but oh boy, I wish she was!

I attempted a nap at 11:10. She was just a mess by then....I was afraid to push any longer and she might get OT. I guess I will see what happens.

Sounds like you had a great night!

[scucci1979]

No worries. It is all trial and error.    Just a question, before nap time, have you tried changing her scene or do a low key A in her room. this can give you an extra 10min.  Alyssa does the same thing with the bottle.  Normally, I would give her the bottle after her nap but I find that when I give it to her before her nap, she goes down more easily.  Also, she doesn't drink that much-about 4ozs now, so I know she will be dropping it soon.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you! Hopefully, she will give you a long nap.

here is an update: I put Alyssa down at 12pm, don't know if she was a little UT but went down easily. Woke up 1,5hours later blowing raspberries. I had to rock her back to sleep. 

[Mama J]

Ok, so I'm pretty new and am in need of advice on the 2-1 transition.  We started one nap last week with my 14 month old and he did great with it!  However we've had a bit of EW in the mornings, but naps have been wonderful.  The EW has gotten a bit out of control though.  He woke up yesterady at 5:15 when our wake time is supposed to be 7.  When this happens I give him a short nap around 10ish and then a later nap at 3.  The issue with this is that he's then not tired at BT.  Last night it took him an hour to go to sleep.

I really hate the inconsistancy of going from one nap to two, but I'm not sure if it's such a good idea to keep him awake from 5:30ish to 12:30 (naptime).  Has anyone tried it?  Do you think I should just try to keep him awake and just try to make sure he's busy?  What do you suggest?

[clairebear79]

Hi all

We are getting pretty big PM nap refusal here.  I'm not sure what to do about it.  Any thoughts

Yesterday:
Wake: 6.30
Nap:  10.10 - 11.40
CN:    3.45 -  4.15
BT:    7.00

Today:
Wake: 6.30
Nap: 10.45 - 12.00
CN:  4.35 -
BT: 7.00

His A time this AM was way longer than the last 2 days, yet he slept a shorter nap.  What do you make of that???  And he's then gone on to do a 4.5hr A time, again waaay longer than he did yesterday on a longer nap.  He was at IL's today & he never sleeps as well there as at home but this is typical of what we are getting ATM.  I'm going to wake him from his CN in a few mins, so his total day sleep today is going to be 1h 35.  I feel this is way too little & that its making him sleep long nights through utter exhaustion.  He's always been an EWer until the last few days when we switched to long am/short pm.

[*Ali*]

Personally MamaJ I would first of all try to offer one nap after a similar A time to what he normally has. So if he normally WU at 7am and naps at 12.30 I would have offered the nap around 11am and let him sleep as long as he wanted to see if you could stick with 1 nap. Then you could do BT earlier if he didn't nap longer. And he might still sleep through the night until a later WU. It does depend on whether your LO is the type to tack lost day sleep onto the nights though. If you do go for 2 naps though I would have tried for a short nap earlier than 10am so you wouldn't have to let him have a long one as late as 3pm.

[scucci1979]

So we got another 6:30am wu this morning with a 7:15pm bt.  It looks like this girl likes to do the one nap thing cold turkey. I find that doing two naps, messes her up. YKWIM?  Anyhow, I put her down at 12pm for her nap today and she chatted for 10min. This is unlike her. Do you think a little UT?  I am preparing myself that I may have to extend this nap.

Claire, great wu times.I knew he would do better with the long am nap.  The only way I could get Alyssa to take a pm cn was with the buggy. I would cover her up so it was nice and dark and walk.  Do you think you AP this nap.
 The only other thing I can suggest is, do you think he would be able to handle a one nap day? But, you would have to push that am nap out so he is doing at least an A of 5hours. 

[scucci1979]

update: she woke up 1hr and 15mins into her nap. I had to pat her to sleep. Do you suspect that she is tired but not tired enough to enter the next sleep cycle?

I feel like I am constantly walking on pins and needles when it comes to her nap.

[clairebear79]

I feel like I am constantly walking on pins and needles when it comes to her nap.

I know exactly what you mean!

The only way I could get Alyssa to take a pm cn was with the buggy. I would cover her up so it was nice and dark and walk.  Do you think you AP this nap.

Tried buggy 2 days ago & he was rubbing his eyes & crying but refused to sleep.  As soon as we got in the car to go home he was out within 2mins.  So I AP'd the nap in the car again yesterday - just kept driving til he woke, but he only had 30mins (1.5hr AM nap).  Today he was at IL's, they said he looked like he was getting tired so they brought him home so he could nap in his cot.  He didn't sleep in the car & I PD as soon as he got home - took aaages to settle.  It just seems a struggle every day, like there comes a point in the day where he thinks 'nope - I'm not going to go down'.

The only other thing I can suggest is, do you think he would be able to handle a one nap day? But, you would have to push that am nap out so he is doing at least an A of 5hours. 

Now, this is where I'm not sure.  I read on the 2-1 sticky you can get PM nap refusal waay before they are ready for 1 nap, so how do you know if its the right time to try?

As I said before the last 2 days he did 3h 40 A time.  Day 1 I woke him after 1h 45 to make sure we got PM nap, yesterday he woke himself after 1.5hrs.  Today he did 4h 15 A & only slept 1h 15.  His A times just don't make sense to me?!!


As for Alyssa - I wouldn't worry too much about a little chatter before sleep - Oliver does this all the time.  IDK if 1h 15 is UT when they are on 1 nap or not?!

[scucci1979]

I capped Alyssa's am nap to 1.5hours. She did the odd 1hr and 45min nap. If I didn't cap then she would refuse her pm nap. I think his body is starting to regulate with the long am nap. He needs to adjust and some days that nap will be shorter then other days. YKWIM?  Now you just have to figure out the right A time that will give you a nice long nap.  I personally think with a two hour am nap, he will refuse that pm nap.

[Ambinsi]

Just wanted to fill you in on how yesterday wound up going....
After putting her down for that nap at 11:10 she took a 2h15m nap. This is the longest nap in history that I've ever gotten out of her. I don't know how and why this happened but I was ready to check if she was breathing!!!!!!!!! That was her one nap of the day and DH attempted dinner at around 5/5:30 and she wasn't too interested in food. She took a bottle before bed but wound up getting up at 5am (after I just said we don't have EWs....I should have kept my fat mouth shut!). At 5am I gave her a bottle and she went back down until almost 7:30. So does that really count as a EW?

Today we had a day out and it wasn't as smooth as I would like. I anticipate a rough night ahead.....how do you ladies handle naps when you're out for the day?? I usually revolve my day around her naps but what do you do when that's just not possible? I am SO NERVOUS for #2 to arrive in the midst of all this drama. AHHHH.

Clairebear - I share your confusion with A times....its a mystery to me.  Its like every day is different.