12 months...Early Waking & Short Naps

[MalibuMommy]

Hi All,

What was normal: My almost 12 month old has been sleeping through the night 2-3 times per week; she goes to bed at 7pm, wakes up at 7am. The days she doesn't sleep through the night, she will wake at 11pm and 3am, and stand up in her crib. I go in, lay her back down and she falls asleep. It's pretty quick and not a problem.

Fast forward to present: She has the same bedtime (7pm)...BUT she has been waking at 5:30 am or earlier every day. She is not sleeping through the night; wakes up at 11pm and 3am, and will stand it her crib and cry. I have been laying her back down, letting her cry for 10 minutes, going back in laying her down, then letting her cry for 20 minutes. Usually she will go back to sleep after round #2 and wake up at 5:30am. Total of 1 1/2 hrs of crying... ugh!

Naps during the day: She takes 2 naps, #1 at 10:30am and #2 at 2:30pm.  She has been waking up after only 40 minutes and is cranky (before she would sleep 1.5 hrs). I have tried to put her back down to no avail. Total Daytime sleep: 1 1/2 hrs. Total Nighttime sleep 9-10 hrs.

*She has been teething, but when we give pain meds she will be ok. Pain meds are not working lately.
*I have begun the process of weaning. Have been dropping feeds...down to 1 per day.
*She sleeps in her crib, in her beduroom. She is an independent sleeper.

Question:
Am I needing to go from 2 naps to 1?
Does weaning play a part in her sleep problems?
Any advice is greatly appreciated

Thank you for your help!
With appreciation, Katie

 

[sianie]

Hi there!

Sorry you're having a tough time with your LO. The below link might be useful to you. Some LO's do start to transition to 1 nap at around 12 mo (although it can take a few months to go through the transition).

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=145285.0

It sounds as though there are a few things going on with your LO.....teething can cause havoc with sleep. Are you using ibuprofen rather than paracetamol based meds? (I think called Advil/Motrin in the US), as these are anti-inflammatory & therefore a lot more effective for teething. You could also try doing a dream med in the early hours if you feel teeth are really bothering her.

With the amount of total sleep your LO is currently getting it does sound like she is OT. How do you respond when she wakes at 5.30am? Are you still doing a 10.30am nap time when she's awake at 5.30am?

Do you feed her at all when she has NW's? Do you think she could be waking due to hunger? Most 12 mo still have x 2 milk feeds per day as they still need around 12 fl oz's of milk a day.

You say you leave her to cry, is she left on her own? BW do not support CIO (cry it out) methods of sleep training (when LO's are left on their own to cry) as it can be very damaging for LO's & breaks the bond of trust between parent & child. You could try WI/WO or GW instead...see link below.

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=80750.0

I'm conscious I've given you a lot of information so have a read through & come back to me! 

[MalibuMommy]

Hi Sianie,

Thank you for your quick reply! In response to your post, I am using Children's Motrin (Ibuprofin) and I agree, it does work much better than Tylenol for teething. I would also agree that my LO is OT; especially when she wakes up so early. She is ready for nap #1 at 8am!?  I have been pushing her am nap as close to normal (10-10:30am) as possible, but we usually can't make it. When transitioning from 2 naps to 1, would I push her nap #1 to 11am and shoot for a 3 hr nap?

In response to the sleep thread, she is a textbook baby most of the time, but is also senstive when it comes to sleep.  She becomes more angry when I try the pat/shush or go into her room to settle. As soon as she wakes up slightly, she will roll over and stand up in her crib.  I have give her sufficent enough time to re-settle herself each time she wakes up, however, I do not think she can figure out how to lay back down.  Since we have a video monitor, I will check it and go in to lay her back down, repeating the bedtime phrase. Should I continue to go in and lay her back down every time she wakes up, no matter how many times a night?  Will it prevent her from teaching herself to re-settle? If I stay in the room until she falls asleep, will she be using me as prop? Could you describe how WI/WO would work in my situation?

I do not feed her milk at night, and it's been a couple of months. She only began sleeping through the night when we weaned night feeds. She drinks around 12 oz. of milk during the day, plus solids. I am not sure if she is hungry... She does not take a bottle or a pacifier.

Thank you again!
Katie

[sianie]

Hi

This link should explain WI/WO in more detail...

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=167333.0

If she's sensitive when it comes to sleep PU/PD will just wind her up so WI/WO will be more effective. However, as with any sleep training, for it to be successful you have to be consistent with it. The NW's could also be partly developmental as she is standing up & not able to get back down. Try & give her as much time as possible to practice standing/getting down during her A time so she can figure it out. You do need to commit to sleep training to see results, even if it means you having to get up umpteen times at night. I guess it's short term pain for long term gain iyswim? When she wakes I would give her time to re-settle & only go in when she starts to get upset (not mantra cry)....lay her back down if she's standing, say something like 'it's time to go to sleep now' or whatever your sleep phrase is then move out of her line of sight. As she's been an independent sleeper you are not creating a prop by doing this, you are just reassuring her with your voice & presence that it's time for sleep.

It might well be that that 1st nap is too late hence you get a short nap as she is OT. Whilst you are getting EW's I'd pull the first nap forward a bit to 9.30/10am & see if that helps you get a longer nap (you'll need to do this for a few days to see if this works). With the 2:1 transition, usually you have 1 long nap & 1 shorter nap (although I wouldn't recommend you start this until your LO is back on track a bit as you don't want to add to her OT). Some Mums do a long AM/short PM nap, other prefer short AM/long PM...this will depend on what works best for you & your LO. The idea is that as you go through the transition (which can take a few months) you will gradually move the AM nap later (if you are doing long AM/short PM nap) so that eventually their nap is at lunchtime & you can drop the shorter PM nap. Does that make sense?

As long as she is getting around 12 fl oz's of milk & eating a good amount of solids that sounds like her NW's aren't hunger related.

Hope all this helps a bit?