Support for dropping the nap age 2-3 part 2..

[babybarr]

Well we're on day 5 of no nap!!!  I know, are you shocked?!

He has slept marginally better the last 2 nights -still not *great* but we'll see.  He looks shattered though so not quite sure what to do yet... 

[*Liz*]

He is going to need some time to adjust isn't he?? But there would also be no harm in throwing a nap in of you think he needs it. How much sleep are you getting in 24 hrs?

J napped 1 hr yesterday from 1.30-2.30 then bed at 7.30. Asleep in minutes and I woke him at 7.20 this morning. Bliss  . Doesn't happen often though!

[babybarr]

He's been saying when he's tired esp. about 5pm, so we've been asking him if he wants a nap.  I'll def bear a nap in mind though.  I have been enjoying him being asleep in 2mins!!

When he was napping he was getting between 10 and 10.5hrs a night and an hr nap.  He's been getting (I think) between 11 and 11.5hrs at night with no nap - so about the same.

[~*Nicole*~]

How come when I try early naps and earlier bedtime Ava won't fall asleep early???

[babybarr]

I don't know Nicole!

Have you been trying an early bed with no nap - perhaps then you'll have a slightly earlier wake and can get back into the whole napping thing again?

[*Liz*]

You do get a lot of dramatics over it all don't you?

I wonder if her times and days are just too varied and her body clock needs a more set routine?

When are you due Nicole? I think if it were me I might be tempted to actively try and drop her nap over the next few months so it is gone and Ava is back on a sensible routine and bedtime before your new LO arrives. Just to give you predictability out of one of them iyswim?

[sianie]

Laura, O seems to be handling it well considering. Could you add a short nap in every few days if he's really struggling? I would be tempted to maybe try another couple of days with no nap to see if he adjusts?

Glad you've had some better days Liz! FX they continue!!

I agree with Liz Nicole, having some consistent days with Ava might help things to settle down & 're-set'?

M has her last molar coming through so has been more tired than usual (although this didn't stop her reciting 'The Wheels on the Bus' between 3 & 4am this morning  !

[babybarr]

(although this didn't stop her reciting 'The Wheels on the Bus' between 3 & 4am this morning  !

We had "old macdonald had a farm"

[sianie]

lol, Laura! What's with them eh!

[~*Nicole*~]

I'm due April 29th.

It is really hard to have a consistent day though! If I try for a nap, she may or may not take it. If I actively have her skip, I can't leave the house w/ her from about 2/3pm onward or she'll fall asleep in the car. Either way, the nap is not necessarily at the same time....which means bedtime is all over the place. So, I either work hard to get a set nap or find a way to avoid her falling asleep in the car or I'm housebound all afternoon every day. Sigh. I am not sure I could make it work. Actually, I'm more concerned w/ a predictable wake up time than bedtime as I am NOT a morning person. I don't know that I could do the EWs that would come from the OT or just the regular early wake times from an early bedtime as well. Does that sound like I am selfish??? This is hard.

[babybarr]

Nicole - could you go on a short car journey without her falling asleep?  You may find if she falls asleep for less than 20mins you can wake her?

[~*Nicole*~]

Short car journeys she can USUALLY handle, but I can't guarantee it, she has fallen asleep within minutes since this whole nap skipping/late bedtime stuff started. She used to NEVER fall asleep in the car. Sometimes she wakes easily, other times grumpily, and still other times I can't wake her without full out jostling her about as she will keep falling back to sleep.

I wrote down from the 22nd through today and it's hard to see a pattern. Just looks like a UT/OT mess. She just fell asleep for a nap at 3pm today. If I wake her at 3:30 I THINK I can try for a 7pm bedtime based on how long of an A she did well on after a 30 min. nap the other night.

[sianie]

If things are so up in the air Nicole then I would see how a 30 min nap goes with an earlier BT. FX!!

[~*Nicole*~]

So I went up at 30 mins. Turned the light on and woke her up. She was a bit cranky and wanted to be held. I brought her downstairs and the poor girl fell asleep on my shoulder. I jostled her and her eyes would open and then close again. I asked her what she wanted to do this afternoon. She looked at me and closed her eyes again. I didn't have the heart to put her on the ground and MAKE her wake all the way up. She slept on me while I called someone on the phone. I kept jostling my arm so she'd get moved around and talked loudly and she just kept sleeping. I finally woke her at 4pm b/c I KNOW she won't go to bed tonight, but I really couldn't imagine being any "meaner" in how I was trying to rouse her. At one point I had asked her "Are you ready to wake up now, sweetie?" and she looked at me w/ glazed eyes, said "NO!" and passed back out.

[sianie]

Oh no Nicole, bless her! It's awful when you have to wake them...she must have been really tired! Hope you manage to get her down at a reasonable time for BT....