Please help with schedule (new to this board)

[jul28baby]

We have been trying to transition DS to one nap for almost 2 months now.  It was going great for one month, he was lengthening naps and the EWUs were gone but now we are having short naps and EWUs again.   I have a 3.5 yr. old in school so I need to pick her up at noon so it is tough to accommodate only DS schedule.  Here is our schedule currently:

WU 6am
Nap 11-12/12:15pm (DD was on spring break so I could do an earlier nap time but the length of nap has not increased and makes it tough to get to BT)
BT 6pm

*I know it doesn't look terrible but 6pm is very difficult to do and we had a great schedule that looked like this before the EWUs started again...

WU 6:45/7am
Nap 12:15-2:30pm
BT 6:30/7pm

I know it takes time to transition but we have been at this for 2 months and I have been super consistent.  Any ideas on how to get back to the 6:45/7am wake time?

Yesterday DS ended up taking a nap from 3:50-5:10pm, he was exhausted and crying from being so tired (he had only napped one hour).  We put him to bed at 7:30pm and he went right to sleep  but was up at 6am.  We knew he was still tired since he woke up screaming (that's his thing when he is still tired).  So we let him cry and he fell back to sleep from 7-8am.  I know crying isn't the baby whisperer way but my little guy has never wanted to be soothed in any other way.  We have tried pacifiers, rocking, patting, shhhhing, pu/pd, etc. 

Any thoughts?

[katie80]

How old is your DS?  Is he getting teeth at all or doing anything else new developmentally?

You're right, 2 months is a long time to be at something consistently and not have it 'work'/even out.  If he's getting teeth or having a developmental leap, sometimes that causes the morning A time to dip, and now it seems that he's becoming OT (overtired).  My DD took a *LONG* time to transition to one nap, and then even after we were on it solidly for a good month, I had to go back to giving her two when she got OT from teething or something else.  I've also done my share of 6 pm bedtimes, and I know how tough it can be!

Since you're a bit restricted due to picking up your 3.5 yr old, have you tried to do the short morning catnap, and then a later nap in the afternoon?  This would most likely help him to 'catch up' a bit for a few days, and then hopefully get that morning wake-up later again.  I'm not exactly sure how it would look, as I don't know how old he is, but we did something like this on those days:

Wake 6 am
CN    10 - 10:20 am (most likely it should only be 20 min)
Nap   1:30 - 3 pm (or 3:30 if he'll go that long)
Bedtime 7/7:30 pm

How does that look?

[babybarr]

EWs can def be teeth.  However, I would be tempted to go back to the previous routine as that was working - so start by moving the nap back to noon.

[jul28baby]

DS is 13.5 months old and def is getting a molar so we are doing Motrin for that.  I haven't tried the 20 min. CN so that is a possibility and worth a try.  Thanks for your thoughts.

Thanks Katie and Laura!

[katie80]

I would definitely try the CN, then.  13.5 mo is still pretty young to be on one nap, especially when teeth come around to muck things up.  Good luck and let us know how it goes!

[jul28baby]

Here is how today went:

DS was up at 6:20am.  I PD at 10am for a CN and he was asleep by 10:05, woke him at 10:25am.  I PD at 1:15pm thinking he'd be asleep within 10-15 min. but it took him a full 30 min to fall asleep so right now we are 1 hour into the second nap.  I think I need to push him a little more and PD closer to the 1:30pm time (I just always worry about OT). Planning on a 7pm BT.

[katie80]

I think that probably sounds about right, maybe push 10 - 15 min more for the pm nap.  It can take a few days to really figure out that right middle time.  But, I'd say getting to that 7 pm bedtime today is a great start! 

[jul28baby]

So he slept from 1:40-3:40pm when we woke him up.  We did bath at 7pm and by the time he was in jammies and we read books he was asleep by 7:30pm.  We figured we could push him a little since he took such a great PM nap.  We'll see what happens tomorrow morning.

Just a side note....3 nights ago he refused his bedtime bottle (his only one), last night he did too so tonight we did a little extra soothing at BT b/c we decided to drop his bottle (he didn't even care)  So I'm feeling pretty good about being done with bottles and him seemingly making the decision.  Although I think it was b/c his teeth hurt and he didn't want to suck on the nipple.

[katie80]

Sounds great!!  How was the wake-up?

[jul28baby]

Yesterday he:
 *woke at 6:40am
*PD for 10am CN and he was asleep 10:15-10:35am
*PM nap  - I PD at 1:30 and it took him an hour to fall asleep (nap 2:30-3:45pm)

Today he:
 was up at 6:50am (yeah!!!) so I didn't even attempt the 10am nap, I didn't think he'd take it since he slept a little longer.  I PD at 12:05pm after I got DD from school and he slept from 12:15-1:50pm so I PD for bed at 6:50pm and he was put by 7pm.  I'm thinking that if he wakes after 6:30am, I might not get that 10am CN or I will need to limit it to 15 min.

What do you think?

[katie80]

Wow, great wake-ups!!   That CN really helps to catch up and stretch out the day a bit.

I think your cut-off wake time is going to be a bit of trial and error to see when he'll give the CN and when not (probably somewhere around 6:45ish am).  Yesterday, I think you could've waited to put him down til 1:45 or even 2 pm and he probably would've gone to sleep a little quicker because of the extra A time, but again that's trial and error.  Or, you could definitely just do the 15 min CN as well.  You just don't want to be too quick to cut it out, because a few days in a row like today (even though it wasn't bad; just a tad shorter on the sleep total) can really build up OT quick while they're still on the younger side of one nap and teething, iyswim.

It sounds like what you're doing is really working and you've got a great plan.  Good work!

[jul28baby]

Thanks so much Katie.  Today he was up before 6:30am (not sure exactly when so I PD for a CN at 10am).  He's not asleep yet so we will see.  It is so hard to judge and it seems like just when you figure it out, it changes

[katie80]

It is so hard to judge and it seems like just when you figure it out, it changes

For sure!! How did it end up this morning?

[jul28baby]

He took a CN from 10:10-10:20am and I PD for a nap at 1:45pm, he is still playing 25 min later.  I'm afraid our BT is going to get pushed back to far if I put down for a nap too late.

[katie80]

So, it was only a 10 min CN?  I would think 1:45 pm might have actually been a bit too late, then.  Or, if that was a typo, and it was 20 min, I don't think putting down at 2 pm is too late, really, as you can wake him at 3:30 pm and still do bed at 7:30 pm. 

It is a tough call, though, when bedtime starts to get too late.  You just need to decide what's best for your family:  the shorter one nap and earlier bedtime or the two naps with later bedtime.  Of course, you can always cut the CN shorter and put down earlier for the pm nap.  After a 10/15 min CN, I'd go for a middle A of 2 - 2.5 hrs.

In terms of the lovey throwing, I'd just leave him to it, unless he starts to get really upset.  Then you can do a type of WIWO and only retrieve the lovey every few times or so.