need to tweak my EASY, again :(

[s_dhroliya]

argh, we are back to waking up at 5:45 am.  i think the answer is to extend her A times, but there arent enough hours in the day.  ok, so my LO is 12.5 months old and going thru something.  She has become super clingy, grumpy, wont go to anyone incl her dad....only wants me.  I think its just a phase.  Anyhow, my real issue is the EW.  this was our EASY for today:

5:45 am - wake up (tried to put back to sleep, but she wouldnt have it)
S - 10:15-11:15
S - 3:15 - 4:15
in bed by 8pm.

if i extend her A times, her bedtime will be later and later.  i have tried waking her earlier from her naps, but she just gets grumpy.  technically, if she wakes up super early, i should put her to bed early, correct?
thanks!

[sianie]

Hi there...

At around your LO's age sleep needs do start to change as they start being able to handle longer A-times & start to transition to 1 nap (which happens to most LO's between 12-18 mths).

The links below might be helpful to you:

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=95670.0
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=41952.0

What you are describing re: A times is part of the reason that the 2:1 transition can be tricky.....most Mum's do either a short AM/long PM nap or vice versa (depending on what works best for your LO).

E.g. I have just gone through the 2:1 transition with my DS who is 16 mths old.....at around your LO's age my DS's routine looked a bit like this:

Nap: 10am (1.5hrs)
Nap: 3pm (30/45mins)
BT: 7/7.15pm

The clinginess could be a bit of SA (separation anxiety) or OT. Is she teething at all as this can also cause EW's?

Does this help?

[s_dhroliya]

thank you so much for your reply!

shes currently doing about 4 hours of A time...is that too short?  Should i be aiming to increase it?

i think she might be going thru SA as well..im going back to work on Monday and i think she can sense it.  As for teething, shes one and still doesnt have any teeth!  And i dont see any signs of teeth....

so, you think i should focus i increasing A time or shortening a nap?

thanks again

[sianie]

Whilst you are getting an EW then I would probably keep the 1st nap at around 10am but cap one of the naps (up to you which one?)

Is your LO going to be going to nursery when you go back to work?

[s_dhroliya]

shes waking up at 5am, now.  yikes!

[sianie]

What has her routine been like the last couple of days?

[s_dhroliya]

first nap from 10:15 - 11:30
second nap 4-4:30
we tried to put her down for the night at 7:30, but she didnt fall asleep until 8pm.
woke up at 5am this morning

[sianie]

That's not much daytime sleep so it sounds like OT.

Were you waking her up from her naps or was she waking?

[s_dhroliya]

i was waking her up from her second nap because i thought i was supposed to
she woke up at 4am last night. 

[sianie]

Did you decide to go with long AM/short PM nap or vice versa?

You do need to cap one of the nap BUT if the 1st nap was a short nap then then the 2nd nap would need to be longer to make up for it, does that make sense? So her 1st nap was 1hr 15 mins...ideally this needs to be nearer 1.5hrs or so. Also, that's a long A-time between waking from her nap at 11.30am & going down for her PM nap at 4pm.

So for example, if you did long AM/short PM nap then your day may look a bit like this:

Nap: 10am (around 1.5hrs)
Nap: 3pm/3.30pm for 30/45 mins.

You need to get her daytime sleep longer so she's not OT at bedtime.

HTH?

[s_dhroliya]

i think yesterday was our worst night with her so far.  she was up most of the night and would up sleep for brief periods of time if she was on my chest.  if i tried to put her in the crib, she would start screaming!   i have just gone back to work, so maybe shes going thru SA? 

her first nap was 9:35-10:45
second nap 3 - 3:45.  we woke her up at 3:45.
bedtime: 7:30

What am i doing wrong??  is this just a phase?  basically im letting her sleep as long as she wants for her first nap and cutting her second one down a bit.   

[s_dhroliya]

.....and totally forgot to mention that my LO had a double ear infection and just finished her 2nd round of antiobiotics a few days ago.  maybe that has something to do with it?

[sianie]

Ear infections can cause sleep issues as it's more painful when LO's are lying down.

I would wait for her to get better before trying to get back on track so let her sleep as long as she needs during the day.

Hope she's better soon!