Me again!

[nelliestar]

Hi!

I chipped in on Tylerbug's thread (Sleep gone crazy) but don't think its fair to hijack it with loads of questions so here I am (again!)

Bram is 26 mths and textbook/angel with spirit now he is a toddler - tantrums happen on and off.

We had a problem with EW just before his 2nd birthday and all you brilliant people helped us out.
The problem now is Bram wakes at 5.47am (for the last week) plus EW from 3 a night to 10 on Sunday 

He cries out and gets more vocal if we don't go in. Often he has got himself into a funny position in the cot and is sometimes sitting up. Sometimes he is really upset and it takes a while to calm him. We have tried meds in case it is teething. Don't think he has 2 yr molars yet but hard to see as he doesn't let you look! The meds haven't changed things so don't think he's in pain.Last night he had trapped wind and had to rub his tummy til he fell asleep. could this be the whole problem?


Naps - At home he has 2 hrs (5 days a week) and at nursery he has anything from 40 mins (bad day) to an hour, not usually more.

We capped his home nap for 2 days (1 hr 30 mins) and things didn't change but I'm thinking of carrying on with it. We did early bedtime for a couple of nights and nothing changed

He was doing - Up 7ish nap1.30 to 3.30 at home or til 2.30 at nursery and bed 7pm.
Now - up 5.47am nap at 1 and bed at 6.30/7,

He's pretty grumpy when at home but better at nursery. He loses it but that could be his age?

Any thoughts? Thank you xxxxxxxxxxxxx

[sianie]

Hi again! 

It does sound like he's OT. When did you start capping his nap & for what reason?

As I mentioned on the other thread, if he's prone to wind then look at his diet to see if anything is aggrevating this.

As he only takes short naps at nursery, I wonder if this is causing a bit of an OT build up. On the days he's not at nursery could you let him sleep a bit longer to catch-up a bit?

It could also be teeth, 2 yr molars can take ages to come through.

You will need to give any change of routine more than a few days to work, more like up to a week.

[nelliestar]

We capped his nap as we wondered if he was getting too much daytime sleep.(When the NW and EW started) Actually I didn't like doing it as I feel DS is quite high sleep needs. DH and my folks sort of persuaded me! We only did it twice as I chickened out. My thinking was his short naps at nursery mean he needs to catch up when he's at home. And this is what I usually do. DH still thinks I should cap tomorrow but if it sounds like he is OT then I won't. It actually made me happy when you said he sounds OT as I know what to do about that! Shall I up his daytime sleep do you think? Because of the EW should I do the nap earlier?

He has periods when he seems to have wind issues then he will be ok for months then start up again. He loves dried fruit but I will cut back on it.

Thank you for helping me xxxx

[Roseii]

Nellie do you think he could be having bad dreams? Might a little night light help if he's getting distressed and calling out to you in the night?
xxx

[momtonb&ab]

if he is waking at exactly the same time it probably is OT....i would suggest a regular nap (yoru 2 hours or so) and perhaps wake to sleep to see if you can break the 5:47 habit?  a few nights of that (and maybe earlier bedtime if he is shortening his nap - don't be afraid of 6pm for a five or six nights) should sort things out hopefully.

[nelliestar]

I had forgotten about W2S in my brain fuzz. Will try that tonight at 4.45am - is an hour before right? I did wonder about bad dreams - will give that more thought.
Will do a 2 hr nap today (and for me too!) and report back.

Thanks so much everyone xxxxxxxxxxx

[sianie]

Definitely try a 2hr nap today, that's a 'normal' amount of DT sleep for your LO's age, especially with the shorter naps at nursery.

Have you got BWSAYP? There's a section on W2S on p191 which you would find useful.

FX....keep us posted! 

[nelliestar]

He;s down for his nap now after a rather tantrummy playdate at Nottingham Castle this morning. Took him 2 mins to go silent.

Will give him 2 hrs, do bedtime at 7 and W2S at 4.45am.

My folks are babysitting tonight until around 11pm as we are going on a rare date to a comedy club - last thing I feel like doing but its all booked. Would like an early night really but never mind!

Thanks a million again and I will keep you posted xxxxxx

[nelliestar]

Update : )

Bram had a 2hr and ten min nap then went to bed at 7pm. He didn't wake during the night!! : 0

Did W2S at 4.45am and he slept until 6.30am - yay! Really pleased!

Will do W2S again tonight and tmrw. Will check in and let u know,

Thanks everyone. fingers X'd xxxxxxxxxx

[sianie]

Yay! 

Great news! I'd carry on with the longer naps on the days he's not at nursery. On the days he is at nursery & has had a shorter nap then move BT a bit earlier!

[nelliestar]

Will do! Although an earlier bedtime on nursery days may be difficult as we only arrive home at 6.25pm and bedtime is 7pm! Will try my best xxxxx

[momtonb&ab]

great news!

[nelliestar]

Spoke too soon!!

Last night we had no NW : ) and it was the second night of W2S.
As before I went in at 4.45am spoke gently to him, took out his dummy and jiggled him around a bit. He stretched and moved around, reached for another dummy put it in and settled back down.

At 5.35am he woke chatting etc until 6.15am then went quiet until 6.50 then was up for the day. DH was on EW duty and took the listener into another room. He said DS wasn't crying so he didn't go in.

I'm wondering if I didn't do W2S quite right and didn't rouse him enough? DH is doing it tonight and I an on EW duty tmrw. What do you think?

xxxxxx

[Tweakster]

Hi there Nell, just offering hugs and also to comment on how sad it is that we need to have a duty roster around toddler sleep lol  We have the same.  Arrrgh.

Couple of comments:
- pain meds did not help us much with molars, we were still treated to NW and of course the ever present EW
- Finn is the same as Bram at daycare and then loses his mind at home when tired, I've read lots of theories on this and I think it's completely normal but more pronounced when they are tired
- We just went through a week or more of nap cutting and it has made a bit of a mess here, be careful :-)

Other than that I wish you much luck with W2S, it has never worked for us.  I have also heard to try it earlier in the night, like around 11 or so, as it resets their sleep cycles for the entire night.  Worth a shot!

I'll keep following along - 5:47 would be a good day in our house now lol

[sianie]

Hey Nell!

I've also heard the same as Wendy re: doing W2S earlier, it kinda makes sense, as doing it in the early hours when LO's are naturally in a lighter sleep they are more likely to fully wake & then not want to go back to sleep/or if they do only for a short time, as they have already got a decent few hours of sleep behind them.

It's very tricky when you throw daycare into the mix too...there's not a huge amount you can do about him having shorter naps there.

I would carry on with the longer naps on days he's at home.