18 month sleep regression support thread

[lily528]

yea she cried out quite a few times before midnight and then seemed to simmer down a bit more.  she woke at 7:30!  latest morning in a quite a while...so I'm def thinking she was OT...11.5 hr night...she's been yawning even still this morning...not something she does and it's a damp dreary day here so I'm gonna stick with the 1pm nap and hope this gets her back on track

[trimbler]

Hi again Just checking in - definitely finding there's not so much time to pop on here with these decreased sleep needs/late BTs! Well I think we did have limited 'success' in M not taking so long to get to sleep with moving the nap to 1pm and capping at 1h 45mins, but after a few weeks of this and still rarely getting even as much as 10.5h nights, (e.g. 8:15pm - 6:45am at best), I've decided to take the plunge and cap at 1h 30mins :/  The only 'decent' nights (ie for us, 11h+) we've had recently are when for whatever reason he's had a shorter nap, say 1h - 1h 15mins. So I'm figuring that 1h 30mins can't be all that bad, keeping the A time to BT the same as what it was when he had a 1h45 nap - since it was taking him so long to get to sleep then anyway. So tonight he still seemed to be in discomfort at BT (finally starting to actually cut these canines!) but seemed more tired than usual and got to sleep around 8:10pm... Will just have to see what the night brings!

I think I've got myself a bit stuck on the idea that he has to have 13h sleep overall - given that he's never ever had the 'average' amount of sleep for his age, even as a newborn the most we could ever hope for was 14h on a rare good day! But his A times have tended to be on the shorter side, so he's always been late dropping naps. So anyway I was thinking that maybe a 1.5h nap plus an 11h(+?) night would actually be pretty reasonable for him now, and maybe that's all he needs? But he still definitely needs the longer nights or he's just not happy in the morning

Hope you all see some progress soon... Mama_C - great news on the talking I know what it's like to worry about that, i've been doing my fair share (when not worrying about sleep!), but just in the last couple of weeks M really seems to be getting the hang of it - still just single words, but enough to stop my worrying, for now! And I'll second Sara - 'car' is a good word

[clairebear79]

Trimbler.  I think that sounds like a good plan.  We've already capped at 1.5hrs & are getting 11hr nights at absolute best but more typically 10.5-10.75hrs.  DS's nap & BT were getting sooo late it was causing a problem on workdays as I have to wake him at 7am, so we've shifted him back to a 1pm nap & 7.30pm BT & he's now waking at around 6.20pm.  He's still not been settling til 7.45pm, even with the 1.5hr nap, so as from today we are capping at 1h 15 & are hoping this will increase his night back up to 11hrs.  I am also a bit fixated on the 13hrs sleep 'average'.  Up until a few weeks ago that's what he was having but all of a sudden we're averaging 12hrs.  I suppose it must be the norm until the nap is done.  We too always have the best night's sleep when he has a shorter nap, and he even had his first no nap day at the weekend & pulled a 13hr night!  Good luck - hope it goes ok!

[lily528]

So I stuck with 1pm BT even though we had the later wu of 7:30 rather than her new norm of 7:00 because she had been yawning and I'm convinced she was OT last night, hence the night cry outs before midnight...it worked out just fine...I seemed to have been right because she not only went right out at 1pm but slept til 3:20!!!  so she clearly needed it...we'll see how BT goes though as that will be a shorter A to bed...I plan on sticking with 8pm BT....if she's not ready then I guess she'll play a bit before drifting off, but if she IS ready she'll be right where she needs to be  

I'm pretty sure I'm just going to try to stick to the schedule and let her do with it as she needs..no more stressing...of course if I find she is playing for long periods of times on a consistent basis when I put her down I will adjust things but for now I think although some days differ than others, days like today tell me we are on the right road at the moment...maybe I'm wrong but I guess we will see

I'm glad to see you are all finding what works for you...we moms on here I think know our babes like nobody else imagine there are moms that don't even know what an A time is?!  LOL so many go with the flow and their kids fall asleep standing up or in their highchair..whenever I see that I kind of think how awful they don't have a clue what their kid needs...I love to see so many moms on here desperate to get it just right so our babies get all that they need...it's amazing! 

[*Kara*]

Sounds like a great plan Melissa!

[ZacsMumme]

I think I've got myself a bit stuck on the idea that he has to have 13h sleep overall

HUGS - I'm like this with 13.5 hours. Why??? I have no idea - is not like Z was ever HSN, or even avge when he was younger

I try to tell myself to not worry about the day to day...but think of the overall week, or a 3 day period Its easy to talk myself into  being OT when he is clearly not. I think this is because he is so sensitive and I know he needs his sleep.

Great one Melissa!

SO yesterday I PD for nap at 12.35 and he chatted till 12.50 or so, then I woke at 12.35 with BT at 7.10 and he STTN with a chat at 5.00 (to his cat and cow ) then woke for the day at 7 I think he does need that slightly later nap, and then shorter A to BT. The shorter A doesnt seem to worry him...I wonder if he is okay with the short A as long as his overall A time during the day is right KWIM?

Anywho....that last molar is cutting so it could just be that!!!

[*Kara*]

I wonder if he is okay with the short A as long as his overall A time during the day is right KWIM?

YUP!  Same here

[Mama_Mia]

I wonder if he is okay with the short A as long as his overall A time during the day is right KWIM?

Being Z, I would guess he'll be OK with the shorter A before bed. M on the other hand is not so the later nap made his BT later.

Melissa, it sounds like you are on the right track and have a good plan in place.

[lily528]

it felt like it but then she played in her crib until 8:45 lol oh well she was fine with it I'm ok with it too...she took her sleep when she needed it today so I guess that sometimes means a later BT

[ZacsMumme]

argh so Z is totally UT for his nap. I know it, he knows it but im still PD too early and he takes it He is showing all UT signs though.
Tomorrow im going for a 1pm nap for 1hr45mins and BT of 7 (given tonight is ok) wish me luck!

[lily528]

good luck Sara!


I was wrong about ava playing and being UT or so I think anyway because 5 mins after I posted she was just drifting off she stood up crying...she was pooping :/  she always goes on the potty so she never goes in her diaper and was uncomfortable but also in pain I think...it was very hard and BIG   We tried to go potty a few times today and she'd push then say no...not sure why but lately her bm's have been difficult for her...she does eat quite a bit of yogurt..maybe too much?  going to have to look at her diet and see if I can do something to help her...no good having it affecting her sleep too poor thing...wonder how this will go now...not having fallen asleep until 9:15 or so after finishing on the potty getting a clean diaper and i rocked and sang to her a bit to get her sleepy again....blah not sure what to expect now

[ZacsMumme]

it was very hard and BIG

hugs...interesting you say this. Zs BM have been a tocuh on the hard side and I think its to do with me cutting his bottle back to 100mls at lunch. I am trying to compensate with water but he also has his fair share of yogurt and bread too

[lily528]

I cut out her nap time milk some time ago but not sure it had much of an effect. I def think its the yogurt but she eats a good amount if fruit daily. I give her 1/4 juice and the rest water in the a.m. I usually fill it once more with just water by the end of the day. Wonder if she needs more??? The juice I use is fruitables it's a mix if fruit and veggies. My son use to get the runs if he drank too much of it so I'm surprised she's having this issue. I really want to help her. It's affecting her even WANTING to go potty now :/

[ZacsMumme]

oh poor boo Actually Z eats a good amount of fruit too, though is rubbish with veges at the moment
Were also teething here so I would have thought if anything he would be runnier than usual
Do you have probiotics? They could help - though were on those too

[*Kara*]

Are you ladies medicating for teething??  That can cause hard poops too...