13mo Long NWs, and in the midst of 2-1 trans - Help!!

[jackman]

Hi Laura
I wish I could say that No News was Good News.  I didn't write anything as I think we are going thru some horrible teething right now (first molars)?

Tried your 7pm BT on Sat and Jack fought me like the ens for 2hrs. Then he continued to wake every 20min screaming until 4:30am. Gave him meds, but didn't seem to help him. It was the worst night since he was born. He woke Sun at 7am and his naps were off. Tried for an early BT again, but was another bust. Night sleep was only a tad better than Sat's. Still had loads of NWs.

Yesterday I put J down earlier for his naps by 15min to see if he could catch up for lack of sleep. Naps were a total of 3hrs (2 of 1.5hrs)but night sleep still had loads of NWs. He went down after 4hr30min even though I tried after 3hr30min. So stubborn he is!!!

We seem to also be suffering from severe SA and I'm hoping it has to do with the teething. SA only appears at night and honestly I dread BT. Naps are so easy for J.

So until something surfaces on the teeth front, I will just have to ride things out. I'll be back once things settle a bit.

I'm open to any advice if you have any to ease the SA a bit during this time?? 

Thanks and hope you are well Laura. xxx

[babybarr]

Oh hun I am sorry (((((hugs)))))

Teething molars can be really rough, is he showing any other signs of illness?  Waking every 20mins can indicate pain - perhaps an ear infection, they are pretty common with teeth.

Well you tried the early bed and it didn't work, I guess something else to cross off the list

I'm wondering if when he is better trying the odd one nap day may help?

[jackman]

J is still recovering from a chronic cough that he has had for 3months. Right now docs have him on steroids that he takes with a nebulizer. I've been avoiding giving him breathing treatments right before BT as the steroids can cause his little heart to race and make it difficult to settle for bed. Even thru all the coughing, we didn't have nights like the one on Sat. which was HORRENDOUS!!

I do think once things settle, J will be able to handle the one nap days here and there, with hopes that it helps with night sleep. When that time comes, hope you don't mind me coming back to pick your brain a bit for a good routine for J. 

Thanks Laura. 

[babybarr]

Of course not, I'll *try* and help anyway

Hope he feels better soon, I'll send you some sleepy vibes in the meantime ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[jackman]

Hi Laura! I'm back as I promised!! 

Well teeth never surfaced and to be honest I'm not sure what was going on with J, but since I last posted I decided to bite the bullet and go for 1 nap days. It seemed that his second nap was giving him a second wind and he could last nearly 6hrs until BT. Totally crazy!!!

I'm hoping you can help me tune into a set nap for Jack as right now I'm sorta going by the seat of my pants and the nap times vary. I really hate guessing how much A time to give him as our nights are still not great. Jack seems to be waking earlier and earlier, but to be expected as I put him to bed earlier in the evening. Another weird thing is that once I put him down for bed, he'll wake (most likely from OT) and think he just took a 30-45min nap. Sometimes he'll wake after a couple of hours and he'll want to stay up another 2hrs+ until he is ready. I just can't figure out why he is fighting BT. It could all be OT, but not sure what else I can do.

Maybe I'm doing the wrong thing by pushing the one nap, but I feel that he gets a bit more sleep at night with one nap compared to two naps. Nights are short (8hrs) and naps are averaging 2-2.5hrs.Hoping nighs will lengthen over time. Here is our EASY:

WU 5:30am (this was yesterday) otherwise 6:15-6:45am
Nap after 4.5-5hrs, usually for 2-2.5hrs
BT 5hrs

I know it takes a week for the little bodies to adjust. I just need some guidance for what is appropriate for Jack's age and I'll take it from there.

Thanks and hope you are well.

[babybarr]

I think your routine looks fine.  You could try pushing the first A to 5hrs regularly and then 5hrs after the nap.  Or perhaps set the nap at 11.15-11.30am to try and get you out of the super early bedtimes.

[jackman]

Thanks Laura. I was thinking if we have another EW like yesterday that I wouldn't put J down any sooner than 11, so your suggested time of 11:15-11:30 for nap would work. Today he woke at 7 and went down for his nap at 11:40am. Slept for 2hrs10min. Shooting for 7pm BT.

[babybarr]

Good plan.  Good luck

[jackman]

Hi Laura. It's been awhile, but hoping to pick your brain again. 

Jack is still teething, but I just want to keep some sort of routine so I can at least get good naps even if NS sucks!

We went to one nap for about a week and Jack ended up in severe OT land. So I went back to two naps and things settled down. Still on two naps but slowly pushing out the first A time and cutting the second nap, but wanted to get your thoughts on everything.

We are getting EWs (hoping these are due to teething) and Jack is taking FOREVER to fall asleep. His last A time can vary from 4.5 hrs to 5.5hrs. He will not settle any sooner than 4.5hrs. So EASY is this:

EW 5:15am (I've been feeding him and he has gone back to sleep. I know not good, but it helps to get him to a later WU).
WU 6:15-7am
Nap 1 10:15am - 11:45am (most of the time he wakes on his own or wake after 1hr15min)
Nap 2 3:00pm-3:45pm (most of the time he wakes on his own)
BT 8:15-8:45pm

So my thoughts are this: If I push Jack's second A time a bit, could it help with an earlier BT? Will this help to even out the A time and so it isn't the last one of the day that is a marathon? Or do I have to keep cutting that second nap? Even if Jack takes a 30min nap, he can go for nearly 4hrs to BT. He seems to be wanting around 11hrs15min worth of awake time and some days even more like 12hrs.

Also is the only way to combat EWs is to do short am/long pm or can the pushing out that first A time do some wonders? As you can see, I'm reluctant to cut naps, but I might be at the point where I have to as BT is getting soooo darn late these days. We are stuck between two nap (might be too much) and one nap (not enough).

Thoughts? TIA.

[babybarr]

I think you have 2 options really.  You could alternate one and two nap days, and on one nap days do an earlier bed.  Or you could push everything back a tad and cut that afternoon nap to say 20mins which then should help you do an earlier bed. 

The EWs could be teeth yes... 

[jackman]

Thanks Laura.

I did do a one nap on Sat then a two nap yesterday. One problem that happens on one nap days is that Jack will wake once I put him to bed and think it was a CN!!!! Then he wants to stay up until normal time to go to bed. Why does this happen??

If I were to push everything back and do the 20min CN in the pm, what time would you suggest for the naps and BT?

Will keep working on it....TIA.

[Buntybear]

I did do a one nap on Sat then a two nap yesterday. One problem that happens on one nap days is that Jack will wake once I put him to bed and think it was a CN!!!! Then he wants to stay up until normal time to go to bed. Why does this happen??

Hi! Is the last A time long enough for him to be properly tired?? Do you have a BT routine that is different to his nap wind down??

x

[jackman]

Hi Claire!!!! 

You know, now that you bring up the WD routine differences between night and day, I'm starting to wonder. DH and I went out that night (haven't been out in months) and the babysitter put Jack to bed. I told her to shoot for an A time of 4.5hrs since his nap was only 1.5hrs that day (thought 4.5hrs was good amount of time, no?). She said he was dying and crying to go to bed around 6pm and when she went into his bedroom, Jack literally just passed out. So I wonder if he didn't realize that it was BT?? 

For BT we usually do bath, bottle, books and lullabies compared to naps where we just walk in to Jack's bedroom and he passes out (don't understand why he is like that for naps but not BT). For the last few weeks, Jack just rolls around and stands up/lays down for at least an hour or more before drifting off to sleep. I'm always worried that he is sooo OT that I try to put him to bed at the appropriate time or should I say what I think is appropriate and he fights like the ens.

Will keep your point in mind about WD routine at BT next time I try a one nap day. THX.