18 month sleep regression support thread

[*Kara*]

well - we were up at 530am again   10 hrs.  So I am going to push her as far as I can today and cap her at 2 or 2 hrs 15 mins depending on how she is... will hold BT as close to 730pm as she allows.  I think it's teeth mostly.. pain meds make no diff to her nap/sleeps but she does seem quite gurgly in the morning and is a little burpier than normal too... and we had a lovely teething poop this morning too.  Gross.

[clairebear79]

oh yuck Mama_C!  Does he do long NW like that when OT   We only ever get cryouts when OT, but we get the dreaded EW instead.  WRT the later nap - the beauty of the later nap is that it doesn't necessarily mean a later BT.  Because they have more A in the AM, they don't necessarily need to go to bed any later in the PM.  IIWM I would try later nap with usual BT & just see.  If he fights it then you'll know from the off if it will work or not.  I've certainly found that to be true with O.  I was surprised to read today that you can apparently push as far as a 2pm nap capped at 45mins & then still go to bed at 7/7.30pm & STTN to 7am.  I'd never have thought that possible!!!

Kara - boo!  I really hoped it would pull off.  I think IIWM I would go as far as she will this morning but I'd be wary of pushing her more than 6hrs or she will likely be OT from the long morning.  Then I would shoot for around 5hrs A after her nap so a 6.30pm BT.  Definitely no later than 7pm.  I think if you do a later BT it may backfire as her day will be too long & she will get OT from short night/long morning/long afternoon IYSWIM?  Perhaps just try & stay with the 11.30am nap for 2hrs / 5hr A to bed for a few days then nudge it on by 15mins at a time so 11.45-1.45 with 6.45 BT, 12-2 with 7pm BT & so on.  What do you think?

[Mama_Mia]

oh yuck Mama_C!  Does he do long NW like that when OT

he didnt used to, but it is whats been happening for the last 2 weeks whenever he skips his nap. The weird thing about his long NW's, he doesnt cry out for me much. He spends most of that time fussing and rolling around. Every now and then he will cry out for me but if I try to rock him back to sleep he will start playing.

I would try later nap with usual BT & just see.

I will try that. So far today its noon and he is eating lunch. I am going to try for nap at 12:30 and let him sleep until 2 to catch up on some sleep from last night. But I have a feeling IF he naps it wont be before 1:pm.... Keeping my fingers crossed.

[stardust599]

Oh dear.

Downhill again thanks to my Mum!

Last night was fab, asleep 7pm to 6.20am and good mood this morning shouting for  breakfast!

Got Mum to watch LO at ours today since I didnt want to mess our sleep up after progress yesterday. I wrote out our exact routine again and said that LO to be PD at 12pm which would likely have given us a perfect nap and BT.  The plan was that Mum would keep LO at ours for a decent nap then go to hers for the rest of the afternoon and I'd pick her up later there. Theres no place for LO to sleep at Mums as she has too many animals and doesnt like to keep up the blackout blind or white noise we bought. So frustrating!

Well Mum decided at 11am that it was too nice a day to be staying near home for nap and took her back to hers so LO got a small CN in the car all day and that was it! She slept on our way home at 5.30 for exactly 20mins and I had to wake her so of course she was inconsolable for 30mins and is still awful.  And now I have no idea what time to do BT at and just know we are in for a rough night and day :-(  Mum just doesnt listen or goes against what we say and it's really getting me and OH down. For other reasons too we just think it's better if LO only goes for short stays now :-(

So after the funeral today and then this it's been a horrible day. Sorry for the off topic rant, I hope everyone else is having a better time than.us!

[*Kara*]

Awww Stardust   I'm so sorry that your mom is such a pain!  Poor LO is the one who pays the price for her decisions!

I hope she went down okay for you tonight and has a good sleep.

Claire - thanks so much hun.  I made the choice at 532am to go ahead and push her as far as i could!  Went to playgroup for just over an hour and she came home and followed Dh around quite happily!  Ate some lunch and she was knackered!  Managed to get her to 1215pm without too much protest actually!  Loads of cuddles from 1130am onwards though... just kept things very mellow.  Will let her nap 2 hrs 15 mins and do BT 5 hrs later at 730pm, unless she clearly needs to go earlier.  DH works until after she is in bed so I can keep things very quiet with just us two tonight - what is it with dad's always winding them up so much?

I think I have solved some of the environmental things that may have been contributing to her poor sleep - changed her crib back to a flannel sheet (the girl needs comfort!), got her sleepsack/bed clothes figured for our weird temps now.  I have a 2.5 tog GroBag (will be looking for a 1.0 tog after nap!) and used a long-sleeved onesie (I think you call them BabyGros that side of the pond!) and she was toasty but not hot this morning.

[Mama_Mia]

out temps are aweful right now too Kara.. Its wicked hot when M goes down but gets cold about 1-2am.

Well he napped from 1-2pm and I can tell he is still tired so I'm going to put him to bed at 6:30 and hope for a better night. After being up for 3 hrs last night I am really hurting today from my appendectomy. So glad DH will finally be home tomorrow, its been a VERY long 9 months without him.

Sorry, I'd respond to everyone else but just chillin as much as possible trying to get well.

[*Kara*]

Hugs Mama_C - so glad to hear that your DH is coming back home! 

We have the exact same temp issues - her room is quite warm when I put her down but cools right off overnight.  She doesn't like blankets at all - maybe because she has never really used one!  I snuck into her room and put a blanket on her at midnight a few nights ago - she was still up at 530.

Last night, I did a long sleeved onesie with her sleep sack and she seemed okay... it's a lot cooler today and rained a fair bit so she is in a sleeper and her sack.

[Mama_Mia]

WOOHOO.. M STTN !!!

So today going to do nap at 1:30 to see if that helps him go to sleep. But I am wondering, if I put him down at 1:30 and he doesnt go to sleep until 2 what do I do then? If I wake him at 2:45 dont I need to wait until 7:45 at the earliest to put him down for bed?

[*Kara*]

Mama_C - I would let him have no more than 45 mins... and do BT 5 hrs later as you thought

Claire - I am happy to report that A slept until 557am!!  WOOT WOOT!  So much better than the 530am I was lucky to get the last couple of weeks... the extra half hour of night sleep has transformed my baby girl back into the happier version of herself (she still has a toddler-tude though!).  Pushing nap to 1215 again (she woke OT at 1 hr 45 min yesterday so I had to help her back down and ended up waking her at 240 with BT 730).  So... I don't wanna push her too far too fast!  It's working!  Thanks so much!!!!

[clairebear79]

Mama_C.  I'd def try it.  If he doesn't settle right away, I'd give him his 45mins from when he went to sleep but still try BT at the usual time.  Just because the extra A in the AM might override the shorter A in the PM, yk?

Kara - yay!!!  Hang in there, might be a rough week or 2 while you get back on track but she will do it I'm sure.

Stardust - hope everything is ok today & she's managed to catch up a bit after the day with your mum?

[stardust599]

Thanks Claire. Actually not too bad here! 7.15pm last night until 6.30am. Good mood today. Nap 12.30 - 2.25 (uncapped). Was pretty tired by 6pm and think needed a reasonably early BT but had visitors so didnt PD until 7.15 but she was asleep without protest in 10mins. I hope she is still in a good mood tomorrow as have a feeling I let her get a little OT.  OH wants a day out tomorrow but i really want to be home for naptime!

Hope everyone else is okay x

[stardust599]

Oh my goodness! I think we may actually be creeping out the other side of the regression   

LO didnt need me at all last night and has woken happy amd well rested.  We did have a few call outs between 10 and 11.30pm but I had no teething powders left at bedtime and didnt medicate and forgot LOs amber teething necklace so could have been some niggling still!

The only thing we have been doing differently is bringing the nap earlier to get out of the OT/UT loop (thanks claire!) I havent capped the past week but then LO has woken herself before the 2hour mark anyway or i probably would.  The past 3 days i have also added 1oz chamomile tea to bedtime milk and the rest of the mug to bath. Otherwise i have not too many tips except ride it out and stay consistent! Its been a very long 6 or 7 weeks!

Now, we had a little blip this morning.  OH went to the toilet at 5.45am which woke LO and she stayed awake for 30mins then slept in til 7 so we're knocked later today. When baby comes along i'm 100% sure LO wont be able to sleep through us getting us for night feeds etc.  so I am going to start another thread on ideas for preparing LO now so pop along if you have any ideas.

Think i may hang out in here for a bit and see if I can help anyone else x

[*Kara*]

Well, made it through another day - she capped nap on her own about 5 mins before I was to wake her.  Kept BT at 730pm... took her 10 mins to settle (odd!) but I did hear a toot over the monitor   She was quiet right after that... woke at 559am.

[stardust599]

Ahh no!

Left Daddy in charge yesterday and look whats happened :-(

Yest PD at 12.35.  I went to bed and left OH with monitor.  I woke up at 3.30 to a quiet house! Went to check with OH who tried to insist that LO hadnt fallen asleep until 2pm! I honestly dont think she would have stayed quiet in her cot for 1.5hours and think she fell asleep aroud 12.45 as i didnt hear her from the bedroom after this.  I am pretty sure OH was too busy enjoying his PS3 to wake LO! So i woke her by this point it was 3.45! LO in awful mood all afternoon and inconsolable from being woken from a deep sleep :-(  At night she didnt fall asleep until after 8.30 then woke at 5am! She went back to sleep briefly from 5.45 then was up for the day at 6.15.

Now Ive gotten LO really OT.  PD at 12.15 and shes been having a 20minute party in there with no sign of going to sleep. It feels like she is just deliberately being really naughty.  She squawked NOOOO at me as i got her ready for bed then has been bouncing in the cot, kicking.the bars, letting out this awful shrieking cry so i went in thinking shed got stuck or hurt herself and she laughed and shouted hiya at me then kept asking for kisses. Funny reading it back but not while its happening to you!! Think  she is finally quiet/asleep at 12.45. I am waking at 2.30 regardless as otherwise theres just not enough A for her to fall asleep at BT!

[clairebear79]

Oh dear.  Well I suppose if nothing else, it goes to show that 3hr naps are definitely too much day sleep for her now.  It sounds like she was 'wired' at naptime rather than being deliberately naughty hun, though I know how trying it can be when they don't cooperate lol.  Don't blame yourself though, I think you did right to keep her as close to her usual naptime as possible, and I also think you do right waking her at 2.30pm.  She will make up for it tonight.xx