Am I handling this right?

[LeeLeeMelis]

So Wesley(2.5) has always been a rather particular sleeper.  Around Thanksgiving time he started with super early wakings (5am) and it was really tough. Someone suggested to adust his nap time and I think it's working but I am soooooo afraid of OT I often dont cut his nap short enough and though 5:50 is better than 5:00 I'd still like him to sleep until at least 6 if not later. Am I being fussy?

Is this the only thing I can do in hopes of ever getting to sleep later than 5:50 with my 2.5 year old? Is OT as big of an issue with older kids as opposed to babies? I cut him off at 2 hours now but want try to gauge on his activity and I'm not doing very well. He still acts very tired for nap time and even when we push his bed time a bit it makes no difference. He typically  naps from 12:30-1:00 for two hours and then bedtime at 7:30.

I did purchase a product like a Gro clock it should be here next week. Any input would be greatly appreciated! I'm tired with my pregnancy and feel bad only having the energy to have my son watch a bunch of tv when it's wake up time. He's becoming an addict!

[sianie]

Hi!

If it helps my DD is a similar age to your DS....we started getting EW's & BT resistance a few mths ago & so I started to cap her nap. Initially I capped it at 1.5hrs & it's now down to an hour. At around 2.5 yo their sleep needs can change quite a bit as they can handle longer A time & head towards dropping the nap completely  !

So he's currently getting around 10-ish hrs of sleep a night right? What was his previous WU time before the EW's started?

It might well be that you need to cap his nap a bit in the hope that he does a longer night. A 2hr nap at 2.5 yo is quite long. I would cap at 1.5hrs & stick with it for a few days to see if this helps his EW's.

Does this help?

[LeeLeeMelis]

That definitley helps. I just hear about friends' 2.5 year olds still sleeping for 2.5 hours and I have to wake him from a DEAD sleep so I always feel bad.  He used to sleep until 6:15-7:00 and I'm totally fine with that. Of course when baby comes this will all go out the window but I need some sleep for now.

Thanks so much! We'll cut him off a bit earlier today:-)

[sianie]

If it's any consolation my DD loves her naps and I nearly always have to wake her (which I hate doing & she is never happy about it!  ).

Try cutting it back & give it a few days to see if things improve. Let me know how you get on!

[LeeLeeMelis]

Yesterday we got him up at 1.45 and he slept until 6:10 so a definite improvement.  I still hate waking him but it clearly made a difference. Thanks again for your help and reassurance!

[sianie]

You're welcome!